Info On T6 Bulbs

[cor2008]

Hi has any got any info on these bulbs. I have read that they will fit an existing t8 set up without modification. Is this correct as its pretty hard to find any detailed info on these. I fitted a 3rd t8 bulb to my record 110 tank today but am still trying to get more wattage somehow as with the 3 reflectors also added im not sure how effective the last bulb is (a bit of a squash to get it in).

Would these be worth getting to increase WPG

http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php?...mp;cPath=12_207


Also would my juwel reflectors fit directly onto these.

Thanks for the help

 

[Nick16]

you will need the brusings mate, about £1.29 i think. they go on either end of the tube and help keep it water tight as the tube is smaller than a t8 but will still fit the T8 end caps. i run a t6 on my tank.

 

[cor2008]

Hey Nick thanks for the reply. Do you find them good. I was thinking of adding 2 as a cheap way of finishing upgrading my tank (cheap compared with getting a new high lite set up ).

Oh and would the existing juwel reflectors stay on the tube (are they much smaller) or would i have to go and find some diy solution(getting tired of diy, been drilling holes in my tank lid all day to install an extra tube and been making a mess )

 

[Nick16]

Hey Nick thanks for the reply. Do you find them good. I was thinking of adding 2 as a cheap way of finishing upgrading my tank (cheap compared with getting a new high lite set up ).

Oh and would the existing juwel reflectors stay on the tube (are they much smaller) or would i have to go and find some diy solution(getting tired of diy, been drilling holes in my tank lid all day to install an extra tube and been making a mess )

i used the standard reflectors and the clips that they came with. (t8 and t5 clips) t5 fitted nicely. yeah they look good, if you are getting them from AE they plant grow ones are a pink colour and they daylight a greeny blue.

 

[cor2008]

Hey Nick thanks for the reply. Do you find them good. I was thinking of adding 2 as a cheap way of finishing upgrading my tank (cheap compared with getting a new high lite set up ).

Oh and would the existing juwel reflectors stay on the tube (are they much smaller) or would i have to go and find some diy solution(getting tired of diy, been drilling holes in my tank lid all day to install an extra tube and been making a mess )

i used the standard reflectors and the clips that they came with. (t8 and t5 clips) t5 fitted nicely. yeah they look good, if you are getting them from AE they plant grow ones are a pink colour and they daylight a greeny blue.

Cool man, think ill go order one of each then.

Anyone know why t6's are not more well known, not much info on them anywhere and not many places selling them.

Quick question, if i had 2 20w t6's with reflectors and one diy 18w with reflector on a 110l tank (29 us gallons) how many watts per gallon would i roughly have (as the t6's would be supposedly more powerful and the reflectors are meant to add a 100%, but i somehow doubt it)

Would this be a good set up for growing plants as i already have nutrafin co2 running and tropica clay under the gravel. Also plan on buying the tropica fert.

Any more info would be greatly appreciated before i go ahead and order them

 

[Nick16]

i never take into account the reflectors. the diy 18w, what time of tube is it? if its a t8 then you would have 40w T6 and 18W T8. =58w 40% of 20=8. so the t6's would be more like 28w so now you have 56w T6 and 18w T8 add them togeter and its 74w altogether. 30 US gallons. i make that about 2.5 wpg, good for plants which need moderate lighting. with that amount i would use CO2 but that my opinion. or easy carbo. and TPN.

 

[aaronnorth]

Anyone know why t6's are not more well known, not much info on them anywhere and not many places selling them.

They are quite new to the market.

Nick has got it right about the 40%, reflectors dont add 100%, because there is still some restike onto the tube, and not all the light is reflected down onto the water.

 

[Nick16]

yeah true true. i dont cound the reflectors, to me they are a bonus whatever they help. i think t6's are great underestimated IMO.

 

[cor2008]

Thanks for the replies, just ordered them now. Hopefully with this setup: 2 x 20 watt t6 and either one t8 juwel 18 watt or one t8 power-glo 20 watt ill be able to get some good plant coverage. Im also using the nutrafin co2 & just started dosing with nutrafin plant gro today as it came free with the co2 but plan on getting the tropica ferts during the week.

Anyone know if i should use the power-glo or standard juwel as the 3rd bulb. Im not sure about the power-glo as it mentions that its good for coral and plants as it is strong in the blue spectrum but i thougth i read somewhere that blue is not very good for plant growth. Its 18000k and shows peaks of blue and yellow on the graph whatever that means?

On a separate note i have what looks like brown algae growing on some of the leafs of my Echinodorus bleheri (it comes off if you rub it). Is this a lack of something? I have the plant about 4 days.

Thanks again.

Just read about brown algae there and it appears in new tanks with ammonia. My tank has been running for about 3 months and has never had an ammonia reading yet (fishless cycled).

 

[three-fingers]

Anyone know if i should use the power-glo or standard juwel as the 3rd bulb. Im not sure about the power-glo as it mentions that its good for coral and plants as it is strong in the blue spectrum but i thougth i read somewhere that blue is not very good for plant growth. Its 18000k and shows peaks of blue and yellow on the graph whatever that means?

On a separate note i have what looks like brown algae growing on some of the leafs of my Echinodorus bleheri (it comes off if you rub it). Is this a lack of something? I have the plant about 4 days.

Doesn't really matter which bulb you go for beyond what you think looks best, most plants seem to be able to adapt, and in any case mainly use both blue and red areas of the spectrum. So don't worry about special 'plant bulbs' and such at all.

If it's a new plant, those could be leaves that have been grown emersed, just wait and see if the algae goes away when the plant starts growing at full speed. Algae eating fish like ottos are great at removing that kind of algae off leaves too, but don't worry about it unless it starts to really take over.

 

[SuperColey1]

WPG rule assumes you are using reflectors anyway. If you don't have reflectors you can't use the WPG rule.

One problem though and don't want to put a damper on proceedings BUT:

1 - The T6 will give less restrike so more light Should go down, however T8 reflectors are made for T8 bulbs and therefore are bent to suit T8 tubes. You may not get quite as much as 40% extra

2 - The ballast is the power you will have so putting a 20W T6 will not provide 20W if the original ballast is an 18W ballast!!!

3 - A lot of original hoods will fit a 15W ballast in for 18W tubes and therefore both the T6 and T8 would be running @ 15W!!!

Must check these things out first.

Summary Will T6 be better than T8 using T8 reflectors on both. Maybe a little but not a lot. Will they provide more wattage? Not unless you change the ballast. Are they worth buying? £15 for no extra wattage plus having to get brushings. I don't think so!!!

AC

 

[cor2008]

Hi Nick or anyone who might be able to answer this.

I had already ordered the t6 bulbs before i knew about the ballast power on my juwel record 800 system and the fact that they may not get the max out of the t6 bulbs. So now i was thinking i could hopefully install one t6 in my new starter unit (looks exactely the same as here but not arcadia and powers up to a 30 watt bulb: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...=0&start=0) In fact i did the exact same job as colin.

My question is will the t6's fit into these bulb holders (dont know the name of the black insert ends ) with the caps that i bought as well or is the bulb size difference going to make a difference when using this system (as opposed to the juwel system).

Also as the bulb i going to be held from the reflector using the t5 clips is this going to be a problem as well (is there a chance of the bulb falling into the tank as the clips will not be a perfect fit).

Might as well ask all these questions now rather than trial and error (making a mess ) when the bulbs arrive.

Thanks again

Oh and supercoley as far as i know the jewel reflectors are made for either t8's or t6's so i cant see any reason why the specification would need to be any different for a t6.

 

[SuperColey1]

The reflector for a T8 is ben out further to try to avoid some restrike at the bottom end of the tube On a T6 it doesn't need to bent at his same angle to avoid the restrike.

With starter (Arcadi or any) when it says for example on the Arcadi ones 'to fit 15-20W tubes' that means it is a 14 or 15W ballast. They have to underpower the tube because putting 20W into a 15W tube could cause burn out.

I would see what it says is the minimum on the units rear label and that 'should' be what the ballast inside is.

Nick confirmed in another thread that he has a 30W ballast powering his T6s so he doesn't have the same problem.

Fluvals old hoods (The Duo series) are all underpowered. The Duo 800 2x18W hood uses 2x15W ballasts meaning not 36 but 30W. The Duo 1200 2 x 36W was powered by a 2 x 30W ballast so not 72W but 60!!!!

I don't know what Juwels are like. I would assume they don't do this as most people that have opened their I bars seem to have the full wattage when they need to replace their ballasts.

AC

 

[cor2008]

Hey supercoley nice one for the reply.

This is confusing stuff

I purchased a single 30 W t8 ballast. I didnt realise the technical stuff behind it so i presumed that was plenty of power to run a 18 or 20 watt bulb (is this correct or am i in trouble running a lower watt bulb and need to run a bulb closer to 24 or 30 watts??)

I didnt fully understand your last post but did you mean that the juwel system may be able to run the 20 watt t6 bulbs (i dont mind if i dont get the full 40% extra but it would be a waste i guess if it didnt add anything)

If it would be a waste adding them to the juwel ballast i was thinking of adding one to the new 30 w ballast which should have the power to get the most out of the t6's (i presume im correct there?)

Thanks again

 

[SuperColey1]

What the ballast does is to restrict the power from your power source (240V socket) to the applicable amount of power for your tube. It in effect takes the place of a resistor due to the higher power needed.

What it does is regulate the power so instead of getting peaks and troughs in the the power it makes the power constant.

Therefore if you have a 15W tube then a 15W ballast will regulate the voltage so that a power surge doesn't increase the power to the tube etc. Like a limiter.

Remove the limiter and the tube won't last very long.

therefore if you have a 'restricter' that is regulating the power to an amount above that of which the tube needs is means you are in effect not using it as a limiter anymore. The tube could therefore receive too much power and die. May not be instant, may not be a week later but the chances are very high it will happen well before the tube has had it's time.

What you need to read from the 'rear' of the ballast is the rating. It should say 25-30W for example and therefore is saying it is regulated to be suitable for 25W-30W bulbs. The real answer here is it is for 25W tubes but 30W tubes will work without full power using the same unit.

AC