t5 lights

Hugh Wahl

New Member
Was wondering everyones opinion on t5 lights, i had one on my salt water tank. it put of littlew heat but im not sure about uv's. i'm assuming it should be good it would grow corals. it puts of the same hue as a normal reptisun 5.0.
 
Is a t5 a UVB light? I am not familiar with a t5. Who is it made by and what does it say as to output?
 
Is a t5 a UVB light? I am not familiar with a t5. Who is it made by and what does it say as to output?

T-5 just describes the diameter of the bulb (t-5's are 5/8", t-8's are 8/8 or 1" diameter). From what i understand, t-5's are more energy efficient, but have about the same light output as t-8's.

Was wondering everyones opinion on t5 lights, i had one on my salt water tank. it put of littlew heat but im not sure about uv's. i'm assuming it should be good it would grow corals. it puts of the same hue as a normal reptisun 5.0.

I have used t-5's (6500K) as supplemental lighting for plants in my cages. For the UVB i rely on the zoomed reptisun 5.0.
 
.I have used t-5's (6500K) as supplemental lighting for plants in my cages. For the UVB i rely on the zoomed reptisun 5.0.


Thats is what i do as well.


OP- how big was your saltwater tank any pics. im about to start cycling a 120 Reef Only.
 
For fluorescents to produce any significant UVB they require a specialty mix of phosphors. I'm not aware of anyone that makes a UVB producing T5 bulb, though it would be nice! T5 bulbs in good reflectors would be great for providing good lighting to your plants (and good lighting has psychological benefits for many animals, perhaps including chameleons) but for UVB, T5's won't work--you'll need either a fluorescent or mercury vapor bulb for that.

cj

p.s. UV light is non-visible to our eyes. Two bulbs could be throwing off wildly different amounts of UV and look exactly the same to our eyes.
 
thanks for all the info guys i'll just stick to the reptisun 5.0's, maybe i'll add the t5's for the plants
 
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