T8, T5 Lamp Replacement
- Thread starter punman
- Start date
For a non-planted tank, I'd replace them once you don't like their color rendering anymore or if they start to produce more algae in the tank than normal due to their color/temp shift as they age.
Planted tanks with T8 or T5 are a whole different animal, where they should be changed every 6-12months because of how drastically their PAR/PUR ratings drop and the color/temp shift.
Planted tanks with T8 or T5 are a whole different animal, where they should be changed every 6-12months because of how drastically their PAR/PUR ratings drop and the color/temp shift.
Since you're not planted it's entirely up to you like everyone said. All of mine are planted so when I ran fluorescents they got replaced every 6-12 months depending on what kind of bulb.
That being said Cree offers an inexpensive drop in led replacement that boasts a pretty high cri. It goes in place of your t8 tubes and would most likely never need replacement for 5-10 years. Drop in retrofit bulbs don't save you much in energy though because you are still running the inefficient ballasts.
That being said Cree offers an inexpensive drop in led replacement that boasts a pretty high cri. It goes in place of your t8 tubes and would most likely never need replacement for 5-10 years. Drop in retrofit bulbs don't save you much in energy though because you are still running the inefficient ballasts.
That's an interesting thought! Have you tried the T8 to LED retrofit lamps? I'm curious to if they put out enough PAR/PUR to support plants. I know I tried some for a T8 shop light I have and the ballast wouldn't fire them up. The ones that eliminate the ballasts seem to be more reliable, but I've yet to try any. In regards to power consumption, ballast or not, watts are watts. If the LED retrofit lamps say 20watts, that's what they consume. Still a savings over a typical 32w T8 fluorescent.
I used 4 of the 4 ft phillips retrofit led in basic shoplights for my 60 gallon, which is a tall tank. I had 0 trouble getting medium light plants to grow. 8 hour photo period on one 12 hour on the other. Co2 and ei dosing. Actually the two finnex 24/7 4 ft are doing better but just slightly. Only reason I upgraded was I enjoy the automatic moon light and sunrise, so I can see my fish. I work weird hours, so there isn't a good time to set on off photo periods.
The key is to find the daylight bulbs, which go super quick in my area. Iirc the philips had a better color spectrum at 6500k with a cri of 83 and the Cree was 6000k with a higher cri of 93, however the crew was also 12 dollars more per bulb.
As for power consumption that would be true if ballasts were 100 percent efficient, which they are not. You are still using energy to power the ballast, which is lost as heat. Not a huge concern. If you go all the way and use the retrofit bulbs without the ballast there is considerable energy savings.
The key is to find the daylight bulbs, which go super quick in my area. Iirc the philips had a better color spectrum at 6500k with a cri of 83 and the Cree was 6000k with a higher cri of 93, however the crew was also 12 dollars more per bulb.
As for power consumption that would be true if ballasts were 100 percent efficient, which they are not. You are still using energy to power the ballast, which is lost as heat. Not a huge concern. If you go all the way and use the retrofit bulbs without the ballast there is considerable energy savings.
