alvchong

guys,

i am living in sabah, malaysia.
my LFS and local lighting & fitting shop are not selling any T5 High Output (HO) at all . I am force to use T5 Normal Output...i know the lumin is not enough per tube but what if i increase the number of T5 NO? does the lumin add up?

current intended setup... :
65 Gallon tank, 2 ft deep tank.
1) 6 x T5 NO 21w Daylight 6500K with i think 1900lm per tube. 6 x 21w = 126w
2) 3 x T8 20 w~ consist of Aqua-Glo 18000k, Power-Glo 18000K and daylight 6500k. 3 x 20w = 60w

total watt: 186w = 2.86w per gallon. i guess is a fairly good coverage for my planted tank...but....
how about lumin? can i addup also? i know HO lumin is double per tube, so... i thot of having two T5 NO to become one T5 HO...am i correct to think like that?

actually currently, i am using 4 x T5 NO 21w and 3 T8 20W. my plants are pearling at the 1.5 ft above...not the bottom .5 ft... so...i wanted to add 2 more T5 NO... does the lumin addup?

pls advise.

i hv no choice but to settle with a lot of T5NO since i am living in small city...la... pple do raise saltwater fish, but mostly using MH... some hv to travel to KL or singapore to get their T5 HO.

thx...

no intension to use MH as the tank location and setup not suitable. besides, i dun hv chiller also...

John N.

You can try adding more T5 NOs over your tank, but since its 2ft deep I think it would still be hard to get the light to the bottom floor.

Instead of T5HOs, if you can find a compact fluorescent fixture around 110 watts then that would be even better and help the lower portions of your stems grow better. Add this fixture with your NO lights.

-John N.