t5 lights

[Burk Campbell]

Is anyone using the new T5 lights if you are please email me and let me know
if you like them. I will be buying them within the next 5- 10 days so let
me know as soon as possible.

Thanks Much,

Burk Campbell

[Les Johnstone]

Hi Burk,

I'm just starting my Marine/reef set up so I'm a beginner. I've got 4 x 55w
T5 tubes (folded over type) with reflectors. I like them because they are
very compact and in the reflectors (2 twin units) they are tidy under the
hood. If I want more light later I could fit another two of these units
under the hood (48 x 18 x 24 tank) giving 420 watts of white light. I'm
using 7.1K tubes Could also use them for Actinic but I have a T8 42W actinic
as well.

Les
"Burk Campbell" > wrote in message
...
> Is anyone using the new T5 lights if you are please email me and let me
know
> if you like them. I will be buying them within the next 5- 10 days so let
> me know as soon as possible.
>
> Thanks Much,
>
> Burk Campbell
>
>
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

I'd like to clarify something about T5's that may be misconstrued. T5 bulbs are
straight bulbs. If you have one that is "folded-over" it is a Power Compact, or
Compact Fluorescent.

T5's are all the rage now, as more and more people want to try them out. After
all, they last a long time and put out less heat than a MH bulb. However, you
can't get the glimmer lines, and one guy reported that his tank looked
striped(!!) when he saw white and blue bands of color across his reef.

If I'm incorrect about these bulb types, please give me the right information.

Marc

Les Johnstone wrote:

> Hi Burk,
>
> I'm just starting my Marine/reef set up so I'm a beginner. I've got 4 x 55w
> T5 tubes (folded over type) with reflectors. I like them because they are
> very compact and in the reflectors (2 twin units) they are tidy under the
> hood. If I want more light later I could fit another two of these units
> under the hood (48 x 18 x 24 tank) giving 420 watts of white light. I'm
> using 7.1K tubes Could also use them for Actinic but I have a T8 42W actinic
> as well.
>
> Les
> "Burk Campbell" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Is anyone using the new T5 lights if you are please email me and let me
> know
> > if you like them. I will be buying them within the next 5- 10 days so let
> > me know as soon as possible.
> >
> > Thanks Much,
> >
> > Burk Campbell
> >
> >
> >
> >

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Eric]

I'm using T5s as supplemental lighting to three 250W MH bulbs. They
work great for this, and take up less space than power-compacts.

I have two actinic T5s, one 48" 54W, one 36" 40W. (I'm running them off
a ballast meant to drive 2 54W bulbs and so far, it's working fine.)

All the lighting is mounted about a foot above the top of the tank so
striping shouldn't be a problem for me...

Eric

Marc Levenson wrote:
> I'd like to clarify something about T5's that may be misconstrued. T5 bulbs are
> straight bulbs. If you have one that is "folded-over" it is a Power Compact, or
> Compact Fluorescent.
>
> T5's are all the rage now, as more and more people want to try them out. After
> all, they last a long time and put out less heat than a MH bulb. However, you
> can't get the glimmer lines, and one guy reported that his tank looked
> striped(!!) when he saw white and blue bands of color across his reef.
>
> If I'm incorrect about these bulb types, please give me the right information.
>
> Marc
>
> Les Johnstone wrote:
>
>
>>Hi Burk,
>>
>>I'm just starting my Marine/reef set up so I'm a beginner. I've got 4 x 55w
>>T5 tubes (folded over type) with reflectors. I like them because they are
>>very compact and in the reflectors (2 twin units) they are tidy under the
>>hood. If I want more light later I could fit another two of these units
>>under the hood (48 x 18 x 24 tank) giving 420 watts of white light. I'm
>>using 7.1K tubes Could also use them for Actinic but I have a T8 42W actinic
>>as well.
>>
>>Les
>>"Burk Campbell" > wrote in message
...
>>
>>>Is anyone using the new T5 lights if you are please email me and let me
>>
>>know
>>
>>>if you like them. I will be buying them within the next 5- 10 days so let
>>>me know as soon as possible.
>>>
>>>Thanks Much,
>>>
>>>Burk Campbell
>>>

>>>
>>>
>
>
> --
> Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
> Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
> Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com
>
>

[Ct Midnite]

If you built these hoods from scratch could you share where you got
the parts and researched them before you built?

And why did you go T5 instead of PC or is that what a T5 is?

Ct Midnite

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 18:20:05 -0000, "Les Johnstone"
> wrote:

>Hi Burk,
>
>I'm just starting my Marine/reef set up so I'm a beginner. I've got 4 x 55w
>T5 tubes (folded over type) with reflectors. I like them because they are
>very compact and in the reflectors (2 twin units) they are tidy under the
>hood. If I want more light later I could fit another two of these units
>under the hood (48 x 18 x 24 tank) giving 420 watts of white light. I'm
>using 7.1K tubes Could also use them for Actinic but I have a T8 42W actinic
>as well.
>
>Les
>"Burk Campbell" > wrote in message
...
>> Is anyone using the new T5 lights if you are please email me and let me
>know
>> if you like them. I will be buying them within the next 5- 10 days so let
>> me know as soon as possible.
>>
>> Thanks Much,
>>
>> Burk Campbell
>>
>>
>>
>>
>


http://www.geocities.com/ctmidnite53/

[Les Johnstone]

Hi Ct,

See the earlier reply regarding the difference between T5 and PC. Just to
complicate things, the mail order company I bought from calls them T5 Power
Compact Units. This may be a USA UK difference. I'll paste a link below to
my supplier (scroll down the page a bit when you get to it). They are in the
UK, as I'm I.

http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/acatalog/ASL_Compact_T5_Lighting_Systems.html

As for the hood, its basically a standard hood that the LFS supplies with
the tank and cabinet. They have a "standard" design on display, then they
build your size of that design to order. In the display unit they have T8,
but I guess the idea is you can put what you like in the hood.

As a beginner, the expense and fitting of MH seemed a big step so I liked
the idea of getting 400W easily under the hood. The only problem I see is
that with MH you get a "hot spot" in the middle of the tank, with the light
tapering off to either side. This lets you choose where to put coral
depending on how bright thy like the light, but with tubes the light is very
even over the tank. As I say, I'm a beginner to Marine so I may be talking
nonsense, that's just the way it looks to me!

Les
"Ct Midnite" <mreef2.10.muffin@spamgourmet.(nospam)com> wrote in message
...
> If you built these hoods from scratch could you share where you got
> the parts and researched them before you built?
>
> And why did you go T5 instead of PC or is that what a T5 is?
>
> Ct Midnite
>
> On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 18:20:05 -0000, "Les Johnstone"
> > wrote:
>
> >Hi Burk,
> >
> >I'm just starting my Marine/reef set up so I'm a beginner. I've got 4 x
55w
> >T5 tubes (folded over type) with reflectors. I like them because they are
> >very compact and in the reflectors (2 twin units) they are tidy under the
> >hood. If I want more light later I could fit another two of these units
> >under the hood (48 x 18 x 24 tank) giving 420 watts of white light. I'm
> >using 7.1K tubes Could also use them for Actinic but I have a T8 42W
actinic
> >as well.
> >
> >Les
> >"Burk Campbell" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> Is anyone using the new T5 lights if you are please email me and let me
> >know
> >> if you like them. I will be buying them within the next 5- 10 days so
let
> >> me know as soon as possible.
> >>
> >> Thanks Much,
> >>
> >> Burk Campbell
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
>
>
> http://www.geocities.com/ctmidnite53/

[CapFusion]

"Ct Midnite" <mreef2.10.muffin@spamgourmet.(nospam)com> wrote in message
...
> If you built these hoods from scratch could you share where you got
> the parts and researched them before you built?
>
> And why did you go T5 instead of PC or is that what a T5 is?
>
> Ct Midnite

You can come to this link for light regarding DIY light -
http://hellolights.com/diykitsparts.html

CapFusion,...

[Kelly]

So do the t5 lights go into a regular fluorescent fixture or a special one?
"CapFusion" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Ct Midnite" <mreef2.10.muffin@spamgourmet.(nospam)com> wrote in message
> ...
> > If you built these hoods from scratch could you share where you got
> > the parts and researched them before you built?
> >
> > And why did you go T5 instead of PC or is that what a T5 is?
> >
> > Ct Midnite
>
> You can come to this link for light regarding DIY light -
> http://hellolights.com/diykitsparts.html
>
> CapFusion,...
>
>

[CapFusion]

"Kelly" > wrote in message
news:AQLFb.784552$pl3.239438@pd7tw3no...
> So do the t5 lights go into a regular fluorescent fixture or a special
one?

Depend, PC or T5 will have either 4 "Square" or "Straight" pin. Normal
flourescent fixture or lamp have 2 pin (I think).

CapFusion,...

[Kevin M]

"CapFusion" > wrote in message
...
|
| "Kelly" > wrote in message
| news:AQLFb.784552$pl3.239438@pd7tw3no...
| > So do the t5 lights go into a regular fluorescent fixture or a special
| one?
|
| Depend, PC or T5 will have either 4 "Square" or "Straight" pin. Normal
| flourescent fixture or lamp have 2 pin (I think).
|
| CapFusion,...

Flourescent tubes are measured in eighths of an inch, so a T5 is 5/8". A T8
is 1", and so on.
T5s have 2 pins on each end, just like T8s and T12s, but they are closer
together than the 8s and 12s. So...yes, they do need a special endcap, or
fixture.

Kev

[Les Johnstone]

Yep, and they need a special starter (choke) for T5 tubes, you can't use the
same one you use for T8, Here in the UK the T5 starters are about 5 times
the cost of a T8 starter, very expensive.

Les

"Kevin M" > wrote in message
y.com...
> "CapFusion" > wrote in message
> ...
> |
> | "Kelly" > wrote in message
> | news:AQLFb.784552$pl3.239438@pd7tw3no...
> | > So do the t5 lights go into a regular fluorescent fixture or a special
> | one?
> |
> | Depend, PC or T5 will have either 4 "Square" or "Straight" pin. Normal
> | flourescent fixture or lamp have 2 pin (I think).
> |
> | CapFusion,...
>
> Flourescent tubes are measured in eighths of an inch, so a T5 is 5/8". A
T8
> is 1", and so on.
> T5s have 2 pins on each end, just like T8s and T12s, but they are closer
> together than the 8s and 12s. So...yes, they do need a special endcap, or
> fixture.
>
> Kev
>
>

[Fishnut]

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 18:34:50 -0000, "Les Johnstone"
> wrote:

>Yep, and they need a special starter (choke) for T5 tubes, you can't use the
>same one you use for T8, Here in the UK the T5 starters are about 5 times
>the cost of a T8 starter, very expensive.
>
>Les
>
Les,

I suggest you shop around MO or online. I am also in the UK, and LFS
prices are ridiculous. T5 controllers are (usually, to my knowledge)
for 2 tubes, not single, and they are electronic, whereas T8 and T12
are not. I would expect to pay 3 times the price for a T5 2-tube, as
compared with a T8 (single). Buy a copy of "Practical Fishkeeping"
mag. for contacts. HTH.

Regards, Fishnut.