I built my fishwall with Arc T5HO Bulbs because they were cheap...
...And I got what I paid for. Damn things all burned out within 6 months. My fishwall now has NO LIGHTS!!!
I've called around. I only use the lights for illumination purposes; I don't grow any plants (other than Java Fern, but that's pretty low light). I keep all Africans. I just want to see my fish!
I don't want to buy Arc bulbs again; waste of money. I can't seem to find any T5HO bulbs anywhere that meet my needs.
I'm thinking of retrofitting everything to use T5 Normal Output bulbs instead; and probably doubling them up. Am I likely to see much of a diff between 1 x 22" T5HO 28W vs 2 x 22" T5NO 14W? Will I need to get another Ballast or can I wire the bulbs in series?
Litemore carries them APW.
As far as the retrofitting goes, really depends on what kind of ballast you have. Some you may be able to run dual bulbs with, others not likely
Litemore is on the other side of the city tho; it's hard for me to get out there during business hours. Buchanan doesn't, and neither does the EP Store.
The Coralife bulbs BA carries are $16.99 for a NO, which isn't that disgusting (Buchanan had similar but 4100k bulbs at $12.50). Any idea what Litemore charges for something like this?
Litemore sells a 14W NO for $9 and a 35WHO for $6
Suck it up and special order the 35W units. At 6 bucks, you can't go wrong. I'm sure someone could pick them up for you, given the right motivation ;)
SP have T5HO bulbs on sale right now, half price
Nice! Now THAT is close enough :)
Quote from: DarkDep on July 10, 2007, 03:07:51 PM
Nice! Now THAT is close enough :)
If you know exactly what ya need I will pick em' up for you. But I got no idea about that lighting or limited knowledge so need exact discription... ::) Just pay for my gas maybe call them first and pay by Visa over the phone. Let me know if you want. I am heading out tomorrow going to the doctor be a good day to do it. My apponitment is in the AM on Riverside.
Thanks Dan; Litemor can special order the stuff I'd like but doesn't have anything in stock.
I'm going to check out SP tonight as they might have what I need at 50% off.
Quote from: DarkDep on July 10, 2007, 03:44:28 PM
Thanks Dan; Litemor can special order the stuff I'd like but doesn't have anything in stock.
I'm going to check out SP tonight as they might have what I need at 50% off.
on Merivale they have some 50% off... not sure about the rest...
Quote from: mseguin on July 10, 2007, 02:29:50 PM
SP have T5HO bulbs on sale right now, half price
As the man says, that is all four Superpets in the city.
I ended up picking up 4 bulbs from SP Kanata in two colour temps (to see which I preferred). $14.99 each, which is fantastic as they are an "aquatic" brand, and I was quoted $12.50 from Buchanan.
Gonna go back and pick up some more to outfit all the rest of my tanks that are limping along on shoplights (and give the shoplights to the fry tanks).
Just thought I'd mention that the T5HO ballasts and reflectors are also on sale for 50% off.
You have Ballasts too? Damn, how'd I miss those?
Rough Price of those? (PM if you want)
I Honestly can't remember off the top of my head, but I beleive the ballasts were around 59.97 regular for the 2x54W, but don't quote me
Quote from: DarkDep on July 10, 2007, 09:02:37 PM
You have Ballasts too? Damn, how'd I miss those?
Rough Price of those? (PM if you want)
no blasts at Merivale... was there the other day... they have reflecters...
SP Orleans had some reflectors and actinic T5HO left when we were there last Sunday. (75% off not 50!) They might of had a few ballast/endcap kits left I don't remember if we bought the last one or not.
Last night I went back into Kanata SP and picked up some 48" LifeGlo bulbs and two Hagen Ballast Kits. I was super surprised to see that the ballast kits came with power cord, switch, waterproof endcaps, all properly wired. This isn't the way I'm used to doing lights :) These things are a STEAL.
Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to fire *1* bulb with the ballast; I think you HAVE to use 2. I had planned to use one of the ballasts to run a single bulb for now...sigh. Gotta go spend more tonight :)
See, if you'd have been patient and ordered through Litemore you'd be SAVING more money instead of SPENDING more ;)
Yeah, but then I'd be WAITING more too. :)
And, I'm not sure I'd be saving. Those Hagen Ballast kits, at $29 for the 2x39w and $34 for the 2x54w are fantastic. I would have paid $~50 for a Workhorse, had to run around buying endcaps, wire, switch, etc, and build the thing (and for me, time is very limited). I figure I saved enough on the ballasts to justify the rest.
SP Orleans is picked pretty clean they are changing over on the 22nd. Yesterday was there they got: 22", 34", 46" T5HO tubes at 75% off but no blasts... not alot else out there though... ???
Quote from: DarkDep on July 12, 2007, 07:52:00 AM
Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to fire *1* bulb with the ballast; I think you HAVE to use 2. I had planned to use one of the ballasts to run a single bulb for now...sigh. Gotta go spend more tonight :)
Here is a little note on the Glo Ballast System / Double Tubes.
If you get the wires / end caps crossed they will not lite up, follow each cord on the same side of the balast and it will work.
I got caught with this on my first attempt lol
Yep, the endcaps have coloured dots to make sure you use the right ones.
I went back and exchanged one of my 54w bulbs for two 39w, now I'm set. My fish wall should look great after this weekend, no more improvised light on any tank, all tanks will have brand new T5HO! I'll have better lighting and somehow, lower electricity use as well.
Just a plug: If you're interested in upgrading your tank lighting and want to go T5HO, you really need to go to SP now and pick up one of these Hagen Glo ballasts and bulbs. You can totally outfit a tank with T5 lighting for as little as 70 bucks, including bulbs, and best of all you don't need to wire anything!
Hello DarkDep, Alain here
Can you help me with lighthing for my 2-135g. Would it be worth upgrading my tank lighting to T5HO. If yes, what/where is "SP". Sorry been out of the accronyms for a while. I think that Hagen Glo ballasts seems to be the way to go.
Can I still now outfit the tank with T5 lighting for as little as 70 bucks, including bulbs without any need to wire anything!
Alain DarkDep is not online that often lately . Maybe post a question under Equipment/Diy... BigDaddy is one of the resisdent lighting experts.
Alain,
I believe SP = SuperPet (the store)
Quote from: Alain on August 06, 2008, 11:17:39 PM
Hello DarkDep, Alain here
Can you help me with lighthing for my 2-135g. Would it be worth upgrading my tank lighting to T5HO. If yes, what/where is "SP". Sorry been out of the accronyms for a while. I think that Hagen Glo ballasts seems to be the way to go.
Can I still now outfit the tank with T5 lighting for as little as 70 bucks, including bulbs without any need to wire anything!
Hi Alain, nice to see you here,the price was when it was on clearance, here is something that might work for you, it`s plug & play with bulb & around 35.00 each.
http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=22065.0
Regards
This is great Charlie
Do you think that I need more than 2 bulbs for my 135G. B&B Hydroponics is closed till 10am but I will go check them out. If you have a minute, could you please call me at *phone number removed*
Thanks
Alain
Alain, I've removed your phone number from the post as you may not want the whole world knowing it. You should send it via PM only. Those PMs (personal messages) do not get indexed by web crawlers like Google.
Cheers