Prolly on the order of 20-30 watts of power... The bulbs are pretty much set in the amount of wattage they can deliver by length and style. So regardless of which manufacturer, all 28" T8 bulbs will have the same wattage.
Wondering About Green Fungia
- Thread starter Donya
- Start date
Aquascaper
Fish Aficionado
It's approximately 25w if it's a T8, 36w if it's a T5 and 55w if it's a T5 Power Compact
OP
OP
Would the change from T8 to T5 have a significant impact on heat output? The fixture is plastic...I did melt one tank light fixture in the past by an accident with a bulb that was too powerful; I had forgotten about that event.
Prolly not. Going up to PC would be a significant heat increase, but not T8-T5
OP
OP
ARRRRGGG 
now I'm really confused.
I went to Home Depot today to scout out lighting. The T5 prongs are too small...no way they would fit in the fixture unless I manually bend the copper connections in a little bit. Also, the T5s of the same length as my current bulb were significantly dimmer than my current bulb/fixture combo...an equivalent-length T5 is 15W, which was a a lot less than any of the T8s for the same size. My light is also a lot brighter than the T5s I was looking at on display...all the guys there said more light = higher T number. I am so confused
now I'm really confused.I went to Home Depot today to scout out lighting. The T5 prongs are too small...no way they would fit in the fixture unless I manually bend the copper connections in a little bit. Also, the T5s of the same length as my current bulb were significantly dimmer than my current bulb/fixture combo...an equivalent-length T5 is 15W, which was a a lot less than any of the T8s for the same size. My light is also a lot brighter than the T5s I was looking at on display...all the guys there said more light = higher T number. I am so confused
Mr Miagi
Veins are flowing with SW, now going back to FW!
ARRRRGGG
I went to Home Depot today to scout out lighting. The T5 prongs are too small...no way they would fit in the fixture unless I manually bend the copper connections in a little bit. Also, the T5s of the same length as my current bulb were significantly dimmer than my current bulb/fixture combo...an equivalent-length T5 is 15W, which was a a lot less than any of the T8s for the same size. My light is also a lot brighter than the T5s I was looking at on display...all the guys there said more light = higher T number. I am so confused
Ok, so we have established you have a T8 tube. You would like to upgrade to stronger lighting. T5's are unlikely to melt your existing fixture. So, your options are really limited. IMO, unless your a trained electrition, you should not attempt to bend copper wires, run more 1 bulb from one ballast, or attempt to wire anything (Infact, its illegal here in aus to do ANY electrical wire job....
). I would suggest you buy a new lighting fixture. It doesnt have to be a pendant light. Buy a kit, which comes with ballast, reflectors, tubes, wire, and the end caps. Its so much easier this way. You cannot alter you existing feature to fit any other bulb exept T8.
The guys at the local hard ware sound like total fools. The number behind the T does not represent brightness. It represents the diameter of the bulb, as mentioned by the guys in this thread already.
You may be better buying the whole deal, complete from the LFS if your not 100% sure about what your doing. You could go to a few online aquarium product suppliers and see what they are selling. RC has sponsers that sell lighting, check'em out.
If you dont want to spend more money at the lfs, go to your hardware again and buy the ballast, reflectors, and endcaps, and anything else need to run the T5's, but by the correct wattage bulbs from your lfs, or online aquarium supplier. Bulbs from the hardware wont have the correct kelvin rating, thats why your T8 probaly apears brighter, because its made for aquariums, the ones you saw there are not.
HTH a little.
OP
OP
I don't think my LFS actually has any kits that would fit the tank. The kits I've seen there are all either huge or already built onto a tank hood (they don't really do small tanks that arn't nano cube-type designs). So, in theory I should be able to get the specs on the bulbs at the LFS, and find a fixture elsewhere that accomodates the right bulb type? I have a feeling this might drive the price up enough that I have to wait quite a long time on the lights, but I figure I may as well look for the right stuff now to get an idea of what I'm wading into.
OP
OP
Talked to the LFS, they will be able to order in what I need at a pretty good price even though they don't usually carry what I would need.
Back to more coral-related questions...I've seen lots of recommendations to try "easy" inexpensive species first. I hadn't really wanted anything but just a single Fungia in the tank, but my knoweldge of corals is even less than my knoweldge of fish (which is not spectacular...). I will be reading like mad, but I was wondering if Fungias were challenging enough that would be a good idea to try my hand with an easier type first? I don't want to populate my tank with lots of corals, but I don't want to risk messing up with a Fungia either since the LFS would probably have to special order it in.
Back to more coral-related questions...I've seen lots of recommendations to try "easy" inexpensive species first. I hadn't really wanted anything but just a single Fungia in the tank, but my knoweldge of corals is even less than my knoweldge of fish (which is not spectacular...). I will be reading like mad, but I was wondering if Fungias were challenging enough that would be a good idea to try my hand with an easier type first? I don't want to populate my tank with lots of corals, but I don't want to risk messing up with a Fungia either since the LFS would probably have to special order it in.
crazyelece
Fish Addict
BTW T5 = 5/8"
The "T" designation means eighths of an inch. Hence T12 = 12/8 inches or 1 1/2 inches and T8 = 8/8 inches or 1 inch.
Anyway T5s efficiancy is directly proportional to the reflector used with it. In order to get the most out of a T5 lamp each bulb needs an individual reflector. If used under the same reflector (which is the case in many cheap fixtures) they are not much more powerful than T8s. If your tank is less than 14" tall I'd go with a power compact fixture.
Also buying flourescent tubes anywhere other than a store specifically stocking them for marine aquariums will be detrimental to the health of your livestock. The aquarium bulbs being sold at places like HD are really more for freshwater setups as they are more geared for plant spectrum and not marine. Stick to LFSs for your lighting needs to get the correct bulb spectrum for marine use.
The "T" designation means eighths of an inch. Hence T12 = 12/8 inches or 1 1/2 inches and T8 = 8/8 inches or 1 inch.
Anyway T5s efficiancy is directly proportional to the reflector used with it. In order to get the most out of a T5 lamp each bulb needs an individual reflector. If used under the same reflector (which is the case in many cheap fixtures) they are not much more powerful than T8s. If your tank is less than 14" tall I'd go with a power compact fixture.
Also buying flourescent tubes anywhere other than a store specifically stocking them for marine aquariums will be detrimental to the health of your livestock. The aquarium bulbs being sold at places like HD are really more for freshwater setups as they are more geared for plant spectrum and not marine. Stick to LFSs for your lighting needs to get the correct bulb spectrum for marine use.
OP
OP
If PCs put out a lot of heat compared to T5s though, that's probably something I will want to stay away from. It's an enclosed system so if I put a mega-heat light on it it would be prone to overheating. I could always take the top off and have it as an open-top, but then I would have to do a bunch of rigging like I did for my 5g to avoid salt spray...but, I havn't ordered anything yet and still have time do deliberate lol. It also looks like my family has an unused fixture for holding PCs that they might be able to mail to me. Not sure how big it is though; it may be a tad small. I remember that fixture used to get hot as the dickens so again I'm not sure I want to go that direction...
Any input on the idea of starting with a compatible easier species, if one exists?
Any input on the idea of starting with a compatible easier species, if one exists?
crazyelece
Fish Addict
T5s and PC put off around the same heat. If you buy a good fixture it will have cooling fans built in. If it doesn't just rig up a cooling fan along side or in the back of a canopy if that's what you are using.
OP
OP
Cooling fans for a something as small as a 12 gallon? Not sure what you mean by a canopy...
crazyelece
Fish Addict
A canopy is a wooden cover over the top of the tank. You can easily mount a fan and drill holes to provide ventalation. As far as size it doesn't matter. Even 6 gal nanocubes have cooling fans for the lighting.
OP
OP
No way to rig something up like that over the setup I've got...I've seen plenty of setups that havn't had such a thing so I don't see why it can't be done using a normal fixture that is braced on the tank.
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