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Originally Posted by cjloong
Yes, this is something else that we need to try out in the planted tank world.
Would you mind posting more details on where to get this stuff? Maybe your setup and DIY pictures?
Is there any size for shorter tanks, like 2 ft or even 1 ft?
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In fact HO T5 tubes are not new in the planted tank world, it's been there for 2 years or more.
Aquaz: I believe Roger(deep_end) used to sell them. I got mine from him.
JBL: CTY carries them. Just contact your friendly neighbourhood LFS to order from CTY because I ordered through a friend from their JBL catalogue.
Arcadia: Qianhu brings them in, try petsafari or petfamily. I contacted them before I got my JBL but they didn't have stock then. They said they were going to bring them in.
Personaly, I would recommend arcadia tubes, or you can mix the cheaper ones with the expensive ones like arcadia which yields very good results. They are probably the king in the flourescent tubes for planted tank.
I believe HO T5 tubes come in various sizes, you can check up arcadia or Jbl website (
www.jbl.de) for the sizes. The only problem is whether the local supplier stocks them. Another thing, remember to check if your tube is HO or normal tube because there's a lot of shops selling 'ciplak' made in china T5 tubes which runs on lower wattages, those are normal output(NO) T5s which is like 29w for 4 feet as compared to 54w HO T5 for 4 feet.
DIY steps? It's just like any other e-ballast setup for your PLs. where to get 54w e-ballast? Top-lite in Puchong.
I'm sorry that I don't post much pictures because i'm not good at taking pics(it's also an excuse for being lazY!). I know picture is worth a thousand words and bla bla bla....
Anyway, not to dissapoint you here's an example of a tank running on T5, winner of the AGA 2004 large tank category.
http://www.pbase.com/plantella/130cm_tank