# Guys, I'm looking for a 36" T5 fixture



## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

Can anyone shoot me a link to one? I want 2 for my rack which is also 36". Thanks.


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

I just bought a 36" today

AquaticLife LLC | Premium Marine Aquarium Products

I bought it in a store but Im sure you could use the store locator on that site to help out. 


I already had a 48" of the same type and I loved the plant growth I got with it so I stuck with it.


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

Thanks.
How much?

Do they ship?


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

I bought mine in a store so I have no clue on shipping or price for you locally. You should check out the site to find a retailer. 

The 36" I bought was 109$


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

I have this one. Really like it so far. I put it over my plant nursery tank and everything has shown quite a burst of growth.
AquaticLife T5 HO Light Link Fixture - FreshWater


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## Martydart (May 14, 2010)

Last week I bought one from Home Depot; $29. The bulbs are another issue; had to go to a special lighting store to get T5 6500k bulbs.


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

I'm gonna go check home depot right now! Thanks.


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

chinoanoah said:


> I'm gonna go check home depot right now! Thanks.


The Home Depot T5 fixtures are usually not High Output. The normal output bulbs are about half the wattage and brightness of the HOs.


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

Martydart said:


> Last week I bought one from Home Depot; $29. The bulbs are another issue; had to go to a special lighting store to get T5 6500k bulbs.


Was it a high output (HO) fixture or a high effciency (HE) fixture? The HO bulbs put out much more light than the standard HE T5 bulbs and you can run HO bulbs in an HE fixture. They have different ballasts.

Coralife and others make HO T5 fixtures. Here's a link to a 48-inch fixture that hold two bulbs.

Amazon.com: 48 Inch Coralife Aqualight Dual Lamp High Output Fixture: Kitchen & Dining


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

Sorry, I just realized you are looking for a 36-inch fixture. ZooMed makes a great HO T5 fixture. I have one on my reef tank. The replacement bulbs are reasonably priced too at about $20 each. Here's a link to a 36-inch ZooMed AquaSun fixture.

Amazon.com: Zoo Med AquaSun T5-HO Double Light Linear Fluorescent Hood, 36-Inch: Kitchen & Dining


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## Martydart (May 14, 2010)

JimO said:


> Was it a high output (HO) fixture or a high effciency (HE) fixture? The HO bulbs put out much more light than the standard HE T5 bulbs and you can run HO bulbs in an HE fixture. They have different ballasts.
> 
> Jim, I am sure you are correct that the HD fixtures are not High Output fixtures. I am running 2 T5 6500 daylight bulbs in the fixtures and it seems to work fine thus far but maybe I am not really getting enough light as I would from a HO fixture. Is that what you are saying? The bulbs that came with the fixture were regular 21 watt GE bulbs and the lighting was not very pretty.


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

Is HO necessary for our needs? I'm thinking of getting two of these

Coralife Freshwater Lights

They are made exceptionally well, I have one that is 24" already - and I think for the price they are a great deal.


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## Alpha Pro Breeders (Oct 13, 2008)

I carry the deep blue professional series lights. I love these on my tanks, and they run really cool. Only $39.00 each for 36" with the bulb, but I am out of stock on them until next week.

Lighting & Reptile Heating - Alpha Pro Breeders

Alpha Pro Breeders


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

Alpha Pro Breeders said:


> I carry the deep blue professional series lights. I love these on my tanks, and they run really cool. Only $39.00 each for 36" with the bulb, but I am out of stock on them until next week.
> 
> Lighting & Reptile Heating - Alpha Pro Breeders
> 
> Alpha Pro Breeders


I can't find photos of this product on your site, can you help me see what they look like?


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## Alpha Pro Breeders (Oct 13, 2008)

chinoanoah said:


> I can't find photos of this product on your site, can you help me see what they look like?


My lights are out now, I'll send you a pic in the morning. Their nothing fancy, but get the job done.


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## BlueRidge (Jun 12, 2010)

Check also reefgeeks.com and hellolights.com. They have retrofit kits that are cheaper and they carry freshwater/saltwater and plant pulbs in the T5 sizes.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Check out some of the stuff on ebay like in this seller's store...

items - Get great deals on Filter, UV Bulb items on eBay Stores!

The ebay deals I've found on odyssea brand lights and some other brands like JBL are about the best bang for the buck I've ever seen. The one catch is many of these lights are made overseas and not required to meet the UL safety standard (I think it is that one)....but especially in recent years it seems they have proven reliable and safe. Worth the risk in my opinion, and probably the way I'll go when I need new lighting, or can finally upgrade my old fixtures.


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## Alpha Pro Breeders (Oct 13, 2008)

Dendro Dave said:


> Check out some of the stuff on ebay like in this seller's store...
> 
> items - Get great deals on Filter, UV Bulb items on eBay Stores!
> 
> The ebay deals I've found on odyssea brand lights and some other brands like JBL are about the best bang for the buck I've ever seen. The one catch is many of these lights are made overseas and not required to meet the UL safety standard (I think it is that one)....but especially in recent years it seems they have proven reliable and safe. Worth the risk in my opinion, and probably the way I'll go when I need new lighting, or can finally upgrade my old fixtures.


This negative feedback would make me nervous on a dart tank.

Negative feedback rating	good lighting to bright need a canopy and light gets really hot after a hour tho	Buyer:
Member id da_man_09 ( Feedback Score Of 1 )
Aug-14-10 16:11	Feedback conversation


*
Reply by topdogsellers (Aug-30-10 16:06):
Item works. Fixture is high power light. Regular 100W kitchen bulb is cold?

48" T5 HO Aquarium Light Marine Reef Cichlid 108W New (#300450160768)


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## Alpha Pro Breeders (Oct 13, 2008)

Heres a pic of the Deep Blue lights on one of my tanks.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Alpha Pro Breeders said:


> This negative feedback would make me nervous on a dart tank.
> 
> Negative feedback rating	good lighting to bright need a canopy and light gets really hot after a hour tho	Buyer:
> Member id da_man_09 ( Feedback Score Of 1 )
> ...


Just from reading those 2 statement I'd question whether either person had any experience with CFL or HO lighting...since any fixture of that type gets pretty dang hot. Perhaps they were used to standard fluorescent lighting. 

I've read a good deal of reviews/feedback on that light brand and from what I saw a few years back there were a significant number/frequency of issues but by most accounts they seem to have become much more reliable and safer in recent years. Most of what I've read has been positive, probably in a similar proportion to what you'd find with most manufactures. Hell for that money I'd risk it, can almost afford to get 2 (a backup in case one fails)for the price of 1 similar more "name brand" model....but to each their own


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

chinoanoah said:


> Is HO necessary for our needs? I'm thinking of getting two of these
> 
> Coralife Freshwater Lights
> 
> They are made exceptionally well, I have one that is 24" already - and I think for the price they are a great deal.


Just so we are clear, you are aware those are not HO t-5 right? Just regular t-5...I wasn't sure if the "do we need HO" was in reference to those lights being HO and do you need that much, or if it was like do I really need HO if I have something like this...? 

Those lights are nice, but for me I doubt one strip would be enough for my tastes...It would probably be adequate light, but not enough for some plant types to do well and I don't like the look of the red "colormax" bulb...at least not in a 1:1 ratio...I'd rather have 2-3 6500k or some other (k) bulb and the 1 colormax to balance out the look of the spectrum. I have 24' 20H and I have around 80+ watts of screw in CFL lighting on it. Granted It has a screen top that is preventing a large % of the light getting in but even if it was glass top I'd prefer a CFL or HO fixture to light it rather then 1 of those corallifes. I'd probably still put 40+ watts of CFL on that viv..now one of those would probably be great for a 20L since it is shorter. For me I'd probably need 2 of those to adequately light a 20H to my taste but that would cost as much as 1 CFL or HO fixture probably. Though the colormax bulb with a 6500k daylight may actually meet most plant requirements because of them basically being red and blue lights...the look still wouldn't meet my tastes...might be just me though


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

Martydart said:


> JimO said:
> 
> 
> > Was it a high output (HO) fixture or a high effciency (HE) fixture? The HO bulbs put out much more light than the standard HE T5 bulbs and you can run HO bulbs in an HE fixture. They have different ballasts.
> ...


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## mellowvision (Feb 6, 2009)

I really like the Current USA fixtures. I have several, including a 36" HO one, and it's a really nice piece of hardware.


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

I have a 24-inch ZooMed HO T-5 fixture that I recently isntalled on my 27-gal bowfront reef tank, having switched from a Coralife fixture. I noticed improvements within a week and even my hard corals, which had died down to small colonies clinging to life on mostly dead skeletons, are growing and recolonizing dead skeleton material. I even have a bubble-tip anemone that was dark brown with symbiotic algae and 6 inches across wither down to a bleached out white color the size of a quarter. I thought it was a goner and my clown fish wasn't happy about it. In the two months I've had the new fixture, the anemone's color has returned and it has grown to at least half its peak size. That fixture is worth its weight in gold and probably saved me from selling the whole reef tank for a steal. My soft corals are growing so fast that I think the pet shop will be buying specimens from me. If I sell three decent pieces, the fixture is paid for.

Those 24-inch HO bulbs put out at least three times the lumens of a standard HE T-5 bulb. but I'll check that for sure and post the exact specs. I also bought two 24-inch single bulb T-5 HE fixtures before I knew the difference and each bulb only emits 14 Watts. I could tell a difference when the plants in those two vivs weren't flourishing. As soon as I put an HO fixture on the vivs, I noticed a big difference in plant growth.

If you aren't concerned about plant growth, the T-5 HE fixtures are nice looking and certainly light up the viv, plus they are about a third the price, but for plants requiring more light, the HO fixtures are worth the extra money.


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

What is a T5 HE? Just a regular t5?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

chinoanoah said:


> What is a T5 HE? Just a regular t5?


Pretty much, its just the typical wattage instead of the HO wattage...If you look at the He bulbs vs HO, the He are only around half usually...Its just a marketing ploy mostly IMO. The HO of the same size will always have a much higher lumen output since they are almost double the wattage.


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

chinoanoah said:


> What is a T5 HE? Just a regular t5?


It stands for High Efficiency, but, as Dave said, it's just a marketing ploy. It worked on me too. Before I knew what I was doing, I bought a fixture with "HE" prominantly placed on the carton and thought I was getting an HO fixture.


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

I haven't found a direct comparison yet between a standard T5 and a T5HO bulb, but the 36-inch T5HO bulb is a 39-watt bulb that puts out 3,220 lumens. Standard 27-watt compact fluourescent bulbs (that substitute for a 100 watt incandescent bulb) puts out 1,750 lumens, so the difference isn't 3x as I indicated before. I have to run, but now I'm curious and want to find a direct comparison of a standard T5 to an HO T5.


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## chinoanoah (Mar 9, 2009)

JimO said:


> I haven't found a direct comparison yet between a standard T5 and a T5HO bulb, but the 36-inch T5HO bulb is a 39-watt bulb that puts out 3,220 lumens. Standard 27-watt compact fluourescent bulbs (that substitute for a 100 watt incandescent bulb) puts out 1,750 lumens, so the difference isn't 3x as I indicated before. I have to run, but now I'm curious and want to find a direct comparison of a standard T5 to an HO T5.


As do I...!


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## BlueRidge (Jun 12, 2010)

Theres an awesome and huge write up on T5's on reefcentral posted by Grimmreefer. He's got loads of info on there about wattages, overdriving bulbs with Icecap ballasts, etc. I'll look it up and post the link.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1677547


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

JimO said:


> I haven't found a direct comparison yet between a standard T5 and a T5HO bulb, but the 36-inch T5HO bulb is a 39-watt bulb that puts out 3,220 lumens. Standard 27-watt compact fluourescent bulbs (that substitute for a 100 watt incandescent bulb) puts out 1,750 lumens, so the difference isn't 3x as I indicated before. I have to run, but now I'm curious and want to find a direct comparison of a standard T5 to an HO T5.


You can look at the bulbs listed on these two pages and compare them...

1000Bulbs.com | F21/T5/865 - 21 Watt - 6500 Kelvin - T5 High Efficiency Fluorescent

Vs.
1000Bulbs.com | F39/T5/HO/865 - 6500 Kelvin - T5 High Output Programmed Start

It basically looks like with HO you are looking at 1.5 to over 2x the lumen output. You should be able to get a fairly accurate average lumen per watt number by dividing total mean lumens by the number of watts in the bulb...I would divide by mean Lumen since that is the average output of the light and not its peak output when brand new. 

I don't know what Plusrite brand is doing, but their bulbs especially in the HO line look to put out way more lumen then the GE...the only thing that concerns me is they look almost a half inch shorter, so it makes me wonder if they aren't including the pins in their measurement or something. But my guess is the bulbs still fit most standard sized fixtures...seems pretty silly to make a "standard size" bulb that doesn't. 1500+ extra mean lumens for the same size/wattage as the HO GE bulb...thats nuts, they either make kick ass bulbs or are fudging the numbers some how.


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## ubstrong (Jan 2, 2010)

I buy all my fixtures through hydroponic dealers on the internet. any quality you want.


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## karag (May 12, 2005)

Petco online site have Aquasun 36" HO 2x T5 on sale $79.99 and bulbs are $11.99 plus free shipping...


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

Alpha Pro Breeders said:


> Heres a pic of the Deep Blue lights on one of my tanks.


Deep Blue is the brand of fixture that I bought thinking it was an HO fixture. The 24-inch single lamp is only 14 watts. With the plants I have, it was not adequate for a 29-gal tank.

It all depends on the plants selected. I've been told that most broms need high lighting to maintain their color, otherwise they'll turn green. The moss I grow needs higher intensity lighting and doesn't grow in shaded areas of my vivs. I'm sure that a standard T5 fixture is fine if you have plants that can tolerate moderate lighting. It certainly doesn't matter to the frogs.

BTW-Deep Blue has recently come out with HO fixtures as well. They seem reasonably priced and I like the fixtures. It was just my inexperience with the terminology that resulted in me buying an underpowered fixture for my needs.

I will say this though, ZooMed's T5 fixtures are fantastic. Like I pointed out earlier, swapping that for my Coralife fixture transformed my reef tank.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

karag said:


> Petco online site have Aquasun 36" HO 2x T5 on sale $79.99 and bulbs are $11.99 plus free shipping...


I'd rather get this, even if it isn't UL listed...
36" T5 Light HO Aquarium Marine Reef Cichlid 156W Lunar - eBay (item 300465831549 end time Oct-09-10 07:02:56 PDT)

4 bulbs and moonlights almost same price, and reviews are pretty good on these, they seem to have gotten more reliable in recent years.

Here is a 2 bulb model with no moon lights...but cheaper.
36" T5 Lighting Aquarium Light Hood Marine Cichlid 78W - eBay (item 300464361467 end time Oct-05-10 14:34:51 PDT)

Here is the ebay store for the seller incase links die...
topdogsellers items - Get great deals on Filter, T5 HO Fixture items on eBay Stores!


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