lighting surprise...it's a T6!

[trashion]

so when i packed up my tank to take it home, i learned something!

i THOUGHT my lighting fixture was a 55-watt, 10000K, T-5. turns out it's a 55-watt, 8000K, T-6.

i'm confused now! i've tried looking it up, but i can't find any info on this kind of fixture. can anyone offer me advice? experiences?

tank is 15 gallon, planted with yeast CO2 via the NutraFin co2 system.

[JustOneMore20]

How many bulbs are in the fixture? T6 bulbs don't come in 55w that I know of (or add up to 55w...). Are you sure its not a T5 fixture? Or a 55w Compact Fluorescent?

Assuming your tank is 20" long, you'd have 18" long T6 bulbs and those are 15 watts each. 24" T6 bulbs are 20w. Even a 24" T5 fixture would have 24w bulbs in it, I think.....so that doesn't add up either.

I'm not sure the wattage of T5 high output fixtures.

[Bear]

I've heard of T6 fixtures and bulbs, but they are very few and just not as good as T5s. From what I know there is really only one manufacturer that makes the fixture and bulbs and when the bulb goes bad you have to replace the fixture. Could u post a pic of the set up?

As far as planted tanks go and what they call for I'll leave that to JustOneMore20, but I know that for my reef I would change out to T5s due to a wider array of bulb choices and the wealth of knowledge about the products.

[trashion]

now i'm confused. i can't find the light strip on the petco website, and i don't remember the brand or anything (i'm staying at my friend's house for a few days)

i found a picture of the exact bulb on shopzilla, and it says it's a compact flourescent.
http://www.petsolutions.com/default....5520&SID=SHZIL

i REALLY hope this is a good fixture, it cost around $100.

btw, JOM20, my tank is actually 24" long. does that make it a 15 long?

[emc7]

The standard size 15 gallon tank is 12" x 24", the same as a 20 High. I guess you could call it a long to distinguish it from the 15 High which has the same footprint as a standard 10 (10" x 20").

[trashion]

emc7:
yeah i thought it was the standard size, but then JustOneMore20 assumed it was 20"...and she knows more than me about tanks and whatnot, so yeah. haha!

[JustOneMore20]

Actually, I thought 15g tanks were the same footprint as a 10g, but taller, but I was mistaken...lol. I've never had one or seen one, but for some reason I thought that. Those must be 15g high tanks and the 24" is the standard like EMC said.

Yep, thats a Compact Fluorescent bulb/fixture and not T6. T6 fixtures are regular fluorescent lights (tube looking bulbs) and T6 is just a smaller diameter bulb than your regular T12 shop light bulbs.

The Kelvin rating is good too (8000K)...perfect for plants.

[trashion]

okay, the only other question i have is how do i get rid of the dark spots in the corners of my tank? the front gets very little light, even though there's a built-in reflector. if i got some of those legs to prop it up on top of the tank, would that help?

[JustOneMore20]

The legs would help. Sometimes though, the darker spots are hard to get around and you may just have to put some lower light plants in those areas (Anubias are good for this). The legs will definitely help though.