# T5's for a ten gallon "



## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Won't lead the witness by giving personal ideas about it but I just bought a 2 bulb T5 fixture for my ten and would like to know(hopefully from experience) what might I get from this amount of light in such a short tank.
I have Eco-Complete over "Pure Laterite" as a substrate. I do use Flourish Comprehensive/Tetra Pride/Flourish Excel.
I'm doing this because my mosses aren't growing well...but what issues should I expect as collateral damage ?


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## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

t5ho or reg t5


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Regular or High Output? It does matter.


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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

Most dual bulbs are regular , not all though , is it the aquion 18-24 . 
Also so.ce your fw watts per gallon can be calculated easy , if its the light I think should be 1.2w per g roughly but I can't tell ya if I remember the formula correctly (google it )any ways I have a 30" dual t5 on my bedroom tank 29g and I can grow anything fw there is , also using leafzone and co2 but sometimes I see 1/8-1/4" sometimes new plants first week may get 3/8" I'd love to claim almost 1/2" in 8 hours but maybe I just want to see it. I grow red Ludwig (fast) banana plants , mondo grass , anubus java moss, sword plants , pink rotella indeca , valsniera , dwarf Sagittarius, hydrocotyl sp Japan peacock moss , blue bell , aquatic ferns and 3-4 other things I can't recall the name of. (excusey misspelli.g of the plants .
Being your tanks shallower than mine I think it should grow anything you'd. Like to try in fw.ho is nice if you only run it a few hours daily or for coral (with a different bulb that is) but that light will give you more lighting time to observe your friends . 
Your in good shape. That pink bulb will male your fish's colors pop nicely.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

This is the fixture. And I also got a "set" of 2 bulbs/one 6500K/one Roreate hue plant bulb.
T5 Dual 20" 6500K Aquarium Light Plant Freshwater Tropical Fish Discus Tetra 36W | eBay
2X T5 Light Bulbs 18 Watts 18W Lamps Aquarium Lighting Fits Most 20" Odyssea | eBay
Considering the source, I don't have high expectations/w this but do hope to bump it up a notch or two over the T8's.


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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

You will extremely pleased with it if your stepping away from t8 good deal.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

It is a high output fixture. It should grow plants well. Be aware, light drives the needs of plants so you may need to look into dosing ferts and a carbon source.


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## glugglug (May 31, 2013)

what is the height of your tank?I also have a ten gallon but a long and shallow one(10 inches high) and I'm in search of adequate lights.I was told that 2 x 18 watts t5 would be a bit too much.....course, I cannot raise them too much above the tank neither cause I have a painting on the wall that I really like.Good luck with your lights ,hope they work well.


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## whitetiger61 (Aug 2, 2011)

that fixture you should grow anything you want in a 10 gallon but like it was said..light drives the needs of the plant, ie the more light you give them the more fertilizers they are going to need...i would also look into something else going on with the tank as mosses have low light needs..to much light they will start to brown if not in a deep tank.

Rick


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## glugglug (May 31, 2013)

Maybe he could use a thick glass or plexiglass between lights and top of tank?(I'm not trying to hijack ,I'm kinda in the same situation as Raymond),and I was thinking of doing a thing of the sort on my shallow 10g to cut the intensity.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Really the best thing to do, is if it is a two bulb fixture and you want less light, remove a bulb and cut the photo period down some.


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## glugglug (May 31, 2013)

majerah1 said:


> Really the best thing to do, is if it is a two bulb fixture and you want less light, remove a bulb and cut the photo period down some.


So less time the light is lit equals less light intensity?Is there a rule of thumb for that?(like for ex light is lit only four hours instead of eight ,would it be the same thing as removing a bulb of the two?)


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## glugglug (May 31, 2013)

whitetiger61 said:


> that fixture you should grow anything you want in a 10 gallon but like it was said..light drives the needs of the plant, ie the more light you give them the more fertilizers they are going to need...i would also look into something else going on with the tank as mosses have low light needs..to much light they will start to brown if not in a deep tank.
> 
> Rick


Is it possible to switch tubes with smaller wattage ones in the fixture shown by Ray?like instead of 2 x 36 w ,make it a 2 x 7 w for example?or must you absolutely have 2 x 36w tubes?


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

I don't know why, but once again I'm not getting notification of replies to my post. Just today, the 06/03 I got this one and it's the first one since 05/31 but there are
9 replies between it and the one on the 06/03.
First to glugglug...if you don't want high light level, one regular single bulb strip light in T8 can be used/w any number of bulbs which work well and I'll list them in the highest
to lowest order or best plant growth to less(not to mean poor but just not as good as the ones above it).
Hagen Power Glo Petsmountain $12x18"
Aqueon Full Spectrum 8000K $12x18"
Zoo Med Ultra Sun $17
Zoo Med Flora Grow $17...this one has a fairly low level of visible light..generally speaking this list also goes by good visible light as well as good for plants. So bulbs below
this one have higher levels of visible light than the Zoo Med Flora Grow.
GE Daylight 6500K
Zoo Med Reef Sun 50/50 6500K/actinic $18x18"
Don't think I left any out...I have tried these and the list goes by personal experience with each bulb. Aqueon color maxx has poor visible light...have not tried the
aqueon flora maxx as store employees said higher number of returns on it.
I have been using these bulbs in sets of two on each of my ten gallons but I use(very convenient as it fits well for the ten gallon) the Walmart "Lights of America"
under the counter light strip...$8 and I do use one of each type on the tank meaning example 1 x Aqueon full spectrum plus 1 x Zoo Med Flora Grow.
Almost always I use one specific plant bulb/w one high level daylight type usually one of the Zoo Med Flora Grow's with any of the other bulbs on that list.
Most any of these combinations grow plants well but also grow algae well in my ten gallon tanks. Also have not tried (would have to go and look at which I have)
many of the Coralife types(too expensive).
No trying to rain on anyone's parade as it's a personal choice thing plus the "other side" deserves their say is in play here but I just bought a MarineLand Double
Bright LED and tried it. I heard so many good things about it I couldn't resist. Did NOT like it. Took it off after 8 days. Perhaps those who went to that light
came from a single bulb T8 type system. In that case it would noticeably improve things. But I got less visible light coverage and some of my "high light" type
plants were withering from the LED's...seems as when the bulbs were directly over the plants, they were thriving. But those which did not have a bulb directly
over them were worse off than/w the T8's. The light from the LED's is focused too directly down and not spread out enough for a ten gallon and might work
very well in higher tanks, but not in the ten gallon.
This is why I just bought this T5 fixture...specifically to increase my WPG...had 3 with the two 15W bulbs in T8. These are 18W so now I'll have slightly more
than 3WPG.
Here's a funny one for you...I had one T8 bulb on the ten gallon along/w the LED and still some plants were showing signs of lack of light.
BTW...All the research I've done says that some mosses need intense light.
Obviously Java Moss/Christmas/Flame and those type live in low light conditions so perhaps what I'm referring to is a plant rather than a moss.
They have been referred to in other places as "ground cover". I should also mention that ,on here, Star moss has been said to be a semi-dry land plant
and people(on here) have said they couldn't get it to grow under water.
So Tricho and Elatine Hydropiper are the main ones which I'm talking about that are said to need intense light. I was/am hoping that the tricho will grow
better now because of more light though I may give up on it soon. Christmas moss/Pellia and mini-Fissidens are giving me a hard time too.
To keep from people needing to guess what I have for ferts I'll list it. What I find odd is that one ten gal has gravel for substrate but the other one has
Eco-Complete on top of Pure Laterite..both these tanks get Flourish Comprehensive/Tetra Flora Pride and occasional doses of Flourish Excel.
What is the odd thing ? Plants grow well in both regardless of substrate.
My post seem to be long to begin/w but sorry about this one as I really wanted as much of the facts to be there as possible.


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## glugglug (May 31, 2013)

Raymond S. said:


> I don't know why, but once again I'm not getting notification of replies to my post. Just today, the 06/03 I got this one and it's the first one since 05/31 but there are
> 9 replies between it and the one on the 06/03.
> First to glugglug...if you don't want high light level, one regular single bulb strip light in T8 can be used/w any number of bulbs which work well and I'll list them in the highest
> to lowest order or best plant growth to less(not to mean poor but just not as good as the ones above it).
> ...


Thanx for the reply.Actually I was thinking of buying one of those T5 already built fixtures that you screw on the wall,for home or garage usage and diy a reflector.Each fixture said max "x" number of watts(13 ,18,39 ,2x 39 etc) but I;m not sure if you can use a smaller wattage bulb ,in a fixture that is 39 watts for ex,can I switch the bulb for a 13 watts or 18 watts?Or must I always use 39 watts ,no more ,no less?


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

First, I'll say that this is my first T5 so no info in these yet. I am fairly sure the T8's go W per length. I've never seen an 18" T8 that wasn't 15W
for example. I've heard that placing an aluminum screen wire between the bulb and what it illuminates causes a reduction in the amount of light
by up-to 40%. Less intense light(in the T8) could easily be achieved by using a 5500K bulb such as a Zoo Med Tropical sun.
I'm curious...what are the dimensions/where did it come from...this 10" high ten gallon you have, first, and why is it that you don't just do the
T8's which are lower in intensity for it ? What I do for the T8's on my ten gal is to use the Walmart "Lights of America" under the counter light
fixtures. They are short by 2" on my conventional ten gal. I get a piece of glass cut 4" short in the length but the right size from front to back
to fit in that lip. I allow 1" open on one end for air line and heater line and 3" on the other end for tweezer access. I just put those light5s on top
the glass with the diffusers removed. Krylon "Fussion" paint is aquarium safe and needs no sanding to stick to plastic so you can change the
color if you like. They are T8's. I use 2 on each tank. They only cost $8 at the Walmart near me. Someone else on here said just remove one
of the bulbs but on T12 or T8 you can't do that as it will not light with only one bulb but you can use one burnt out bulb and the other will light
on a T12. Don't know of any aquarium fixtures/w 2 bulbs but only shop light types but then I believe you were talking about using only one
bulb anyway.


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## glugglug (May 31, 2013)

Raymond S. said:


> First, I'll say that this is my first T5 so no info in these yet. I am fairly sure the T8's go W per length. I've never seen an 18" T8 that wasn't 15W
> for example. I've heard that placing an aluminum screen wire between the bulb and what it illuminates causes a reduction in the amount of light
> by up-to 40%. Less intense light(in the T8) could easily be achieved by using a 5500K bulb such as a Zoo Med Tropical sun.
> I'm curious...what are the dimensions/where did it come from...this 10" high ten gallon you have, first, and why is it that you don't just do the
> ...


Yes ,I actually wanted to know if I could replace a 39 watt bulb with a 13 watt bulb(as an example) ,in a fixture that says "max 39 watts".For me ,max means "no more than" ,but doesn't say no less than"....I was worried that a lower wattage bulb may burn if used in a default higher wattage fixture.
As for my tank ,it is 31 inches long ,8 inches wide and 10 inches high=10 gallons or 40 liters capacity.Maybe I should look in the low wattage T8 then?


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