Wanted: 4ft Lighting for planted tank

Hi,
I am looking for a 4ft light fitting for a planted tank. Or if someone can give me a number of a lighting store that stocks T5 6500k Daylight florescent tubes as I now have tried 7 stores and they only have cool wight tubes in stock...

 

Bought T5 from my lfs the Tube has the following on it 'T5 - 28W - SL -f 65000k' is this what you are looking for?

 

Hi,
Not really - the LFS are ridiculously over priced when it comes to lights. Saw a T5 tube for R199 at one on the Westrand... They normally go for about R50 at hardware stores, but it seems the new standard is cool or warm white... I will phone Radiant Lighting directly as I am sure they will have daylight tubes...

 

Found these online, half the price of the LFS
Glo Lighting | OSRAM FD T26 L 30W-77 G13 FLUORA Flora - For Plants and aquariums - Fluorescent

 

I paid R145 for the whole fitting and tube. Will buy replacement tubes elsewhere .

 

Lol, Most LFS around where I stay is not well stocked and if they have something decent they want a body part as payment...

 

Try Builders. They have/had the Opple tubes (6500K), branded by Ellies.
Quite cheap when comparing to LFS.

 

I tried builders today and they only had warm white in stock.

 

I bought mine from ellies for R87 complete unit

 

Hi Guys,

The Lamphouse in Marlboro is where most of the guys including myself get our bulbs. They are the cheapest and stock a large range of temperature ratings.

K

 

@koganm I phoned the Lamphouse and they have 6500k in stock for R60 each... Will be picking them up tomorrow...
I am planning 3 x 90cm tubes for a 4ft (is this enough for a planted tank?) - must I have different rtanges or is 6500k for all the tubes OK?

 

Glad i could help.

How many watts are the globes?

2 x 54w T5's (1x 6500k and 1x 8000k) should be enough. This is what I am running on my tank with excellent growth.

 

Not sure about the Watts - but I will ask for a 54w when I go there. Thanks for the info...

 

The wattage is very important. Always look at wattage when buying bulbs. The "general" rule of thumb for wattage is +- 1w per 2L of water.

 

Just make sure you have enough space inside your canopy for the tubes, 54W may be too long and you'll need to look at 39's. Just measure before you go and buy...take in consideration the size of the tubes and end caps.

Tube lengths as follow:
54W = 1150mm
39W = 850mm

 

The 54w fits snug inside the canopy of my std 4ft, but yes, measure first.

 

Ok, will do - an option then is to use 3 x 39w?

 

Yep