Help with lighting - Emergency!

[overthetop2009]

Well the same day I was thinking of buying a new light fixture to beef up my lighting is the day I come home and find one of my fixtures no longer working.

This is the 48 inch coralife t5 fixture. It came with 28 W bulbs. before thinking plants I bought the wrong bulbs and installed 54W hagen lifeglo bulbs. The one that burnt out is three years old but has only had the high wattage bulbs running for 4 months an:mad:d only have been kept on for the last 2-3 weeks 12-14 hours a day.

I have put another fixture with the manuafactures bulbs from my oscar tank onto my planted tank but now I'm only at 56 W or power with Marine enhancement lighting.

Need to buy a new fixture right away.

Questions:

1. I thought i could use my T5 fixture coralife with 54w bulbs? Perhaps not? Could that have shorted out my fixture?

2. How do you get these fixtures repaired?

3. I want 4 bulbs on my planted tank at 54W. What product would you folks recommend.

4. How long will my plants last with the current lighting. How big of an emergency is this?

5. The fixture was lying right on the glass and does not have a built in fan. Is this OK? I brough the fixture into superpet and they fit the bulbs to it so I'd be suprised this was the case.

Any help would really be appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Greg

[underwaterforest]

Well the same day I was thinking of buying a new light fixture to beef up my lighting is the day I come home and find one of my fixtures no longer working.

This is the 48 inch coralife t5 fixture. It came with 28 W bulbs. before thinking plants I bought the wrong bulbs and installed 54W hagen lifeglo bulbs. The one that burnt out is three years old but has only had the high wattage bulbs running for 4 months an:mad:d only have been kept on for the last 2-3 weeks 12-14 hours a day.

I have put another fixture with the manuafactures bulbs from my oscar tank onto my planted tank but now I'm only at 56 W or power with Marine enhancement lighting.

Need to buy a new fixture right away.

Questions:

1. I thought i could use my T5 fixture coralife with 54w bulbs? Perhaps not? Could that have shorted out my fixture?

2. How do you get these fixtures repaired?

3. I want 4 bulbs on my planted tank at 54W. What product would you folks recommend.

4. How long will my plants last with the current lighting. How big of an emergency is this?

5. The fixture was lying right on the glass and does not have a built in fan. Is this OK? I brough the fixture into superpet and they fit the bulbs to it so I'd be suprised this was the case.

Any help would really be appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Greg

1. It depends on the ballast driving the T5 fixture. But usally low output fixtures can't drive HO bulbs.

2.If you are DIY like myself just take the fixture apart and find out what ballast is running the show. Then do an internet search to find the same ballast or better. Order. Install. And your done. I just did this to my 4 bulb 24watt t5 fixture, the ballast cost me about 20 bucks, a lot cheaper than the whole fixture.

3.Whatever is cheap is my philosophy. Though spending a little more on water sealed ballast (it usally says that it can be used in a damp environment) would be my preference.

4. They will start to grow slower and some high light plants will start to die back but you should be able to save all of them just fine.

5. You should be fine without a fan it just is there to cool the light and most good ballasts can take the heat. Plus fans always break in time and make noise. All my t5s don't have fans. On the aquarium side the extra heat will just keep you heater from working too hard during the daylight hours.

Alex

[yikesjason]

What size is your tank?

For just about any 48" tank I would highly recommend the Catalina Aquarium 3x54w T5HO fixture. The quality is very good and the price is unbeatable.

[overthetop2009]

Thanks this is the kind of feedback I need. The tank is a 75 gal.

Any other recommendations out there?

[yikesjason]

3x54w would be plenty of light for a 75gal. I didn't realize the first time I posted that you are in Canada. My Catalina Aquarium fixture might not be very easy to get to Canada, but would be worth checking.

[chachi]

i use this on my 75 and it works great.

Current USA Nova Extreme T5 HO Freshwater Fixtures (2x54w)

it comes with a 10k and a pink plant bulb that are actually real good. I did a lot of research to see what other hobbyists were using and changed the bulbs to giesemann aquaflora and midday bulbs. While i don't regret changing them, i don't know if they are worth the premium price paid and i definitely would not have replaced them earlier then the others needed to be.

i do have an old t8 fixture that i can supplement more lights if needed, but i am currently just using it for a moonlight actinic.

the more light you have with 4x will mean the more co2 you will need otherwise you will see algae growth. i find 2x is plenty for good growth.

chachi

[discussmith]

If you are replacing the ballast, you are not limited to putting the same one back in. You can do a google search for "workhorse" ballasts that drive a variety of lamp and wattage types. You could then up the lamp wattages to 54 watt if you desire. You could also get them for multiple lamp configurations for 2, 3, or 4 lamps if desired. Wiring is usually drawn on the ballast and for electronic ballasts is very simple to follow.