Question About Lighting Setup

[Gouken]

I dont know a lot about what kind of lighting set up it is since i got it and my tank for free, but i have been wondering about getting a new lighting fixture, there are a total of 6 roughly 3 1/2ft long lights in the hood and am wanting to know what some of your ideas about what kind of lights these are so that I can get some new ones. they are about 3 inches or so in diameter if that helps. I have been doing a lot of reading about T5 lighting since they dont use a lot of energy to run and they produce a lot of light and know that those are a lot smaller thant the ones I have right now...just wanting to know what you guys think as if i should keep the current setup and just get new lights for them since i have plants in the tank aswell.

 

[Rooster]

The diameter of the tubes sounds ENORMOUS !!!! maybe the actual lamps are inside protective tubes ? Whatever the case, I would guess they could do with being replaced, as as a general rule flourescent lamps tend to change in colour over time, and so become less useful to fishkeepers after perhaps 6 months or a year at most (your eye cant detect these changes, but typical symtoms are an increase in algae with reduced plant growth)