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T5 starters

You would be better off getting a all in one unit rather than separate controller with lamp holders if that is what you mean unless your upgrading a hood with T8's fitted.
I would look on ebay/internet or here depends how quickly you want it, pet shops in my experience are always more expensive, understandable really.
 
Hi Natty.
I'm just in the process of setting up. I intend to buy a stand alone tank, then build my own cabinet as I am ok at that kind of stuff. I was thinking of buying tubes and locating them in the hood . i believe I can save myself a few quid this way?
 
Hi oldbloke,
if your intentions are just to put a light within an aquarium hood, ie T5 starter unit with some selected fluorescent tubes, then depending on how many you want to have installed within the aquarium hood, will determine which units you may require. If you are looking at meeting the required aquarium lighting safety standard too, then you may be limited to which lighting starter unit you can use. To my knowledge there is only one aquarium lighting manufacturer that allows T5 controller to be installed within an aquarium hood and that is Arcadia one, (until corrected) as the electronic starter unit and leads meet IP67 requirements. They are also a forum sponsors. win win solution ;)
 
If your happy to have the ballasts outside the hood then ebay is a good place to start, you haven't said what wattage you would like to use so I cant provide any links but as a rough idea for a 2 x 24w magnetic ballest £15 -20 then your ip67 rated lamp holders are approx £5 a set, its all very easy to wire up and can be much cheaper than the branded aquarium starters
 
For clarification, if a ballast/starter unit is to sit on the outside or inside of the aquarium hood it needs to be IP67 rated in case it falls into the tank water. A ballast that sits away from the hood outside of the tank but in close proximity needs to be IP65 rated. :) ;) The reason things are cheaper are because they do not meet all the same specifications.:bookworm: The price difference from branded aquarium starters are normally on balance, similar, if you use the forum product retail/wholesale suppliers of these products. You will also have the knowledge that you are supporting the people who are financially supporting this forum for our enjoyment.:thumbup: :clap:
 
I cannot answer this with the information at hand. There would be a lot more information required before I could answer this with any amount of accuracy. What do you wish to grow, is it low or high tech, (ie fertilisers being used) filtration system etc etc. My initial thoughts are that it may be overdoing it, if you are just beginning, as you could be compounding your learning curve. As the lighting levels may be on the high level, to start with if using both tubes. However this is not my area of expertise. Read through some of the diaries look for similar set up requirements that you wish to establish and look for the problems and remedies provided by users with more experience than I have in aquascaping. Sorry I could not be of further assistance. Hopefully someone with a similar set up will help further.
 
The plan is this (thanks to all the excellent stuff on here);

30x18x12 tank.
A thin layer of peat covered with about 50mm Acadama.
Co2 injection.
Plants which are easy for the novice (no decisions here yet).
Lighting as mentioned above.

I would be really grateful for any views on this
 
I have 3 x 8w t5 in the hood of my 14x14x12 tank and 1 is enough with no co2. 2 is enough with co2. And if i switch all three on i grow lots of algae, very quickly. I think bertie has a tank similar size to yours and he had to use one tube for a while while he got his co2 right. Have a look through his posts. Beginner plants generally mean low light, low co2 and 1 tube in hood will grow these quite well. I have a friend who grows beginner plants under 1x t8, in a tank the same as your planning, when he remembers nutrients they do quite well. 2x t5 will be ok as long as you are able to only use one just in case you need to
 
I have 3 x 8w t5 in the hood of my 14x14x12 tank and 1 is enough with no co2. 2 is enough with co2. And if i switch all three on i grow lots of algae, very quickly. I think bertie has a tank similar size to yours and he had to use one tube for a while while he got his co2 right. Have a look through his posts. Beginner plants generally mean low light, low co2 and 1 tube in hood will grow these quite well. I have a friend who grows beginner plants under 1x t8, in a tank the same as your planning, when he remembers nutrients they do quite well. 2x t5 will be ok as long as you are able to only use one just in case you need to
Thanks very much for that.
Do you mean 2x 8w t5s?
 
Im not sure, im fairly new to hobby have fluval stratum in mine. I can only really share may experience with light. Quite a few people use acadama and things grow well. start a thread in substrate and hopefully people with more experience will chip in. Some people manage to grow with plain sand as a substrate, so i cant see why it wouldnt work with the right ferts and co2
 
Im not sure, im fairly new to hobby have fluval stratum in mine. I can only really share may experience with light. Quite a few people use acadama and things grow well. start a thread in substrate and hopefully people with more experience will chip in. Some people manage to grow with plain sand as a substrate, so i cant see why it wouldnt work with the right ferts and co2
Many thanks.
 
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