Sunlight Tek T-5's

[Jiddy]

Anyone know a good site for T-5's? And what type of bulbs can i use besides the 10k and Tru At.? will the 6400k or 3000k work for anything?

 

[Scooterman]

http://www.aquariumliquidators.com/FluorescentSyst.htm

http://www.captivereefs.com/captivereefs/listcat1.asp?CatID=ltvho

I'm just going down our sponsor here, when I order I make sure to mention that I'm a member of RF. I haven't had problems with our sponsors yet. Also you can check out..

Call these people, I had good service with them.

http://www.championlighting.com/e/env/0001iqhP1lX3rEEiyo977W4/Products/Lighting/lighting.html?link=nova.html

Post when you find something you like, we can give you our opinions.
hope this helps, I know you want the most bang for your bucks, sometimes your better off spending a little extra but you don't need to get everything all at once, so take your time get something affordable but good quality & later on if you need add more, you can always add more of everything lol.

 

[Jiddy]

Okay after all day of surfing for cheaper T-5 fixtures i ran into a plant hydroponic site that had them, now if you goto PremiumAquatics you get the SunlightTek 48" 8x54 fixture for $420 with no bulbs, $27 dollars a piece, great i was thinking. So with some searching http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/product_info.php?products_id=520 has them for $399 and comes with (4-6500k&4-3000k) bulbs too. Thought id pass this info on.

 

[Scooterman]

Sweet deal, one thing I'm not sure about, the temp. on those lamps may be a little yellowish, if you can call and ask to see if you can replace the 4 3k for 4 10k or 15k to give a little better color.

 

[Jiddy]

Yea i didnt get that far, i figured even if i never used the bulbs it was still a $20 deal, but that would be nice if they did do that!

 

[Scooterman]

The lamps would actually be good just won't look as nice, yea call and see before buying.

 

[dnjan]

I think you would want at least 2 of the bulbs to be true actinics. Possibly 4 (of the 8) actinic if the other four are 6500's instead of 10k's.

 

[dpaynter]

Also take a look at www.reefgeek.com . They have an 8 x 54 watt system for $420 that comes with 4 6500K bulbs (you have to buy the other 4 Actinics or whatever). If you go for the hydroponic fixture, ask about the reflectors. One of the advantages of the T5s is that they can have individual reflectors to optimize the amount of light getting to the tank. The cheaper fixtures may not have the individual reflectors (I couldn't tell from the description).

 

[plack]

Have you already looked at http://www.hellolights.com/2x96wcfbalki.html
Then make a cheap pine box to hold it in ,just an idea .Or this http://www.hellolights.com/25methalbalk.html You'd make a hood there are plans around for making hoods in the DIY area of the website