Venutus1
Member
Everything you ever wanted to know about "t5" and "Ho"....But were afraid to ask.
Hi All,
It is me... Todd from lightyourreptiles.com.
Yes, I still exist.
LOL...
But have been so busy I have not had time to post or contribute here of late, (or any forum I am on). :roll:
And it has come to my attention allot of folks my have more technical questions and need help working with these new HO t5 bulbs and fixtures.
So, I figured, why not start a thread and I will check it regularly to see what questions are out there?
Now... please note: this is not "my" thread, and I encourage ANYONE with t5 light experience and "2 cents" to CHIME RIGHT IN HERE!
I am going to start today by tossing out some general information:
The terms "t5" (and "t8" or "t10" for that matter) are lighting terms that refer to the Diameter of the particular type of Fluorescent bulb/tube. And the particular fixture(s) that take that tube.
THERE ARE 2 Types of T5 bulbs and fixtures that are common.
There are "NO" ones. (or I have seen them called "HE" sometimes.)
NO = Nominal Out-put and "HE" is sort of the same.... and it stands for "High Efficiency".
THE ZILLA t5 bulbs and the fixtures that ZILLA market are NO. Nominal Out-put.
EXAMPLE:
The 46" inch t5 NO tube that works with the ZIlLA fixtures is ONLY 28 watts. (keep that in mind as you keep reading. :lol: )
Also... MANY of the t5 fixtures sold at Wal-Mart, Home Depot or Lowes ARE also "NO" ...
OR IN OTHER WORDS...
use the lower wattage version of T5 tubes.
This includes those most of those "undercabinet" style t5 fixtures, too.
You know the ones... the slim ones that are perfect hidden up under your kitchen cabinets.
There are also some nice looking aquarium t5 lights (IE: the "HE" line from DeepBlue") that SEEM affordable and say the majic words "T5".
BUT...
Those are also of LOWER light out-put and their T5 flo. tubes that work in them are still... as our example... ONLY 28 watts for the 46" inch long tube.
Can you light animals with the above lighting fixtures /products?
SURE!
BUT THEY ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE THE ARCADIA T5 "HO" TUBES.
And that is our segway to the term: "HO"
"HO" = HIGH OUT-PUT
High Out-put t5 bulbs and their corresponding fixtures are just that: HIGH OUT-PUT
They have HIGHER POWER electronic ballasts in them that drive the MORE POWERFUL HO t5 bulbs/tubes.
That is why they are also a bit more expensive.
The Arcadia Brand of t5 tubes are HO and require that more potent ballast to drive them.
They are called the D3 and D3+ bulbs.
The D3 version has a 6% UV out-put and is great for smaller / shallow set-ups.
The D3+ version has a 12% UV out-put and is good for reptiles with higher UV requirements.... or set ups where the light fixture is farther away from the animals.
You see, as an example, the Arcadia 46" HO t5 tube is 54 Watts vs. the 28 watts of the NO ones we talked about above. (ie; Zillie)
And the Arcadia give CONSIDERABLY more visible light & invisible light.
And by "invisible light" I mean UV A and UV B. Since UV A and UV B are invisible to our human eyes. :shock:
This is what we know as "More BANG for your Buck!" :mrgreen:
That is why the HO T5 craze is real and is the way things are going.
(And why yours truly here has been so busy. LOL 8) )
High out-put t5 Flo. fixtures are more commonly used by folks into indoor gardening :wink: and for other horticultural purposes.
And also HO t5 fixtures are a staple in the Marine Aquarium hobby... since live corals and marine plants need that extra "kick" of light that "NO" tubes just cannot provide.
Arcadia has JUST LAUNCHED their new VERY EDUCATIONAL WEB-SITE:
http://www.arcadia-reptile.com/
It is a "must visit and book-mark" place for sure!
They also have a t5 section:
http://www.arcadia-reptile.com/example/
*** OK .... and before a thousand people ask... their new t5 ho reptile fixture IS NOT available in the US as of yet.That is: as of me writing this on 5.24.2012 ***
It is only currently available in the 220v model for the European market.
They do not have the model ready yet in the 110v version for the North American market.
It will be available some day.
However, we can still find MANY suitable t5 HO units here in the US for our herps at the moment.
There are some particularly nice units that take a single bulb and have a great reflector available.
They usually cost around only around 40.00 - 65.00 for a fixture depending on length and construction.
As well as some nice (but ususally more expensive) Marine Aquarium HO T5 fixtures.
NOTE: The Marine Aquarium ones usually take 2 bulbs.
IN THOSE DOUBLE BULB MODELS,
YOU WOULD USE ONE ARCADIA HO t5 on one side of those double bulb units >>>> and a Plain Daylight HO t5 bulb on the other side.
**IF YOU USED 2 ARCADIA BULBS IN THEM...that would give you ALLOT OF UV.** :shock:
And fixtures using 2 Arcadia bulbs would have to be VERY FAR AWAY from the animals ... at least 2 feet or more.
And checked with a Solarmeter.
(BTW, Solarmeters are very valuable tools for anyone serious about their pets.)
Anyway, I hope this gets the ball rolling.
And my hope is folks will be able to use and contribute to this thread as a reference.
We will all be able to use it to bone up on our T5 Savvy. :study:
Cheers!
Sincerely,
Todd
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com
[email protected]
And remember to please also check out: http://www.arcadia-reptile.com/example/
Hi All,
It is me... Todd from lightyourreptiles.com.
Yes, I still exist.
LOL...
But have been so busy I have not had time to post or contribute here of late, (or any forum I am on). :roll:
And it has come to my attention allot of folks my have more technical questions and need help working with these new HO t5 bulbs and fixtures.
So, I figured, why not start a thread and I will check it regularly to see what questions are out there?
Now... please note: this is not "my" thread, and I encourage ANYONE with t5 light experience and "2 cents" to CHIME RIGHT IN HERE!
I am going to start today by tossing out some general information:
The terms "t5" (and "t8" or "t10" for that matter) are lighting terms that refer to the Diameter of the particular type of Fluorescent bulb/tube. And the particular fixture(s) that take that tube.
THERE ARE 2 Types of T5 bulbs and fixtures that are common.
There are "NO" ones. (or I have seen them called "HE" sometimes.)
NO = Nominal Out-put and "HE" is sort of the same.... and it stands for "High Efficiency".
THE ZILLA t5 bulbs and the fixtures that ZILLA market are NO. Nominal Out-put.
EXAMPLE:
The 46" inch t5 NO tube that works with the ZIlLA fixtures is ONLY 28 watts. (keep that in mind as you keep reading. :lol: )
Also... MANY of the t5 fixtures sold at Wal-Mart, Home Depot or Lowes ARE also "NO" ...
OR IN OTHER WORDS...
use the lower wattage version of T5 tubes.
This includes those most of those "undercabinet" style t5 fixtures, too.
You know the ones... the slim ones that are perfect hidden up under your kitchen cabinets.
There are also some nice looking aquarium t5 lights (IE: the "HE" line from DeepBlue") that SEEM affordable and say the majic words "T5".
BUT...
Those are also of LOWER light out-put and their T5 flo. tubes that work in them are still... as our example... ONLY 28 watts for the 46" inch long tube.
Can you light animals with the above lighting fixtures /products?
SURE!
BUT THEY ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE THE ARCADIA T5 "HO" TUBES.
And that is our segway to the term: "HO"
"HO" = HIGH OUT-PUT
High Out-put t5 bulbs and their corresponding fixtures are just that: HIGH OUT-PUT
They have HIGHER POWER electronic ballasts in them that drive the MORE POWERFUL HO t5 bulbs/tubes.
That is why they are also a bit more expensive.
The Arcadia Brand of t5 tubes are HO and require that more potent ballast to drive them.
They are called the D3 and D3+ bulbs.
The D3 version has a 6% UV out-put and is great for smaller / shallow set-ups.
The D3+ version has a 12% UV out-put and is good for reptiles with higher UV requirements.... or set ups where the light fixture is farther away from the animals.
You see, as an example, the Arcadia 46" HO t5 tube is 54 Watts vs. the 28 watts of the NO ones we talked about above. (ie; Zillie)
And the Arcadia give CONSIDERABLY more visible light & invisible light.
And by "invisible light" I mean UV A and UV B. Since UV A and UV B are invisible to our human eyes. :shock:
This is what we know as "More BANG for your Buck!" :mrgreen:
That is why the HO T5 craze is real and is the way things are going.
(And why yours truly here has been so busy. LOL 8) )
High out-put t5 Flo. fixtures are more commonly used by folks into indoor gardening :wink: and for other horticultural purposes.
And also HO t5 fixtures are a staple in the Marine Aquarium hobby... since live corals and marine plants need that extra "kick" of light that "NO" tubes just cannot provide.
Arcadia has JUST LAUNCHED their new VERY EDUCATIONAL WEB-SITE:
http://www.arcadia-reptile.com/
It is a "must visit and book-mark" place for sure!
They also have a t5 section:
http://www.arcadia-reptile.com/example/
*** OK .... and before a thousand people ask... their new t5 ho reptile fixture IS NOT available in the US as of yet.That is: as of me writing this on 5.24.2012 ***
It is only currently available in the 220v model for the European market.
They do not have the model ready yet in the 110v version for the North American market.
It will be available some day.
However, we can still find MANY suitable t5 HO units here in the US for our herps at the moment.
There are some particularly nice units that take a single bulb and have a great reflector available.
They usually cost around only around 40.00 - 65.00 for a fixture depending on length and construction.
As well as some nice (but ususally more expensive) Marine Aquarium HO T5 fixtures.
NOTE: The Marine Aquarium ones usually take 2 bulbs.
IN THOSE DOUBLE BULB MODELS,
YOU WOULD USE ONE ARCADIA HO t5 on one side of those double bulb units >>>> and a Plain Daylight HO t5 bulb on the other side.
**IF YOU USED 2 ARCADIA BULBS IN THEM...that would give you ALLOT OF UV.** :shock:
And fixtures using 2 Arcadia bulbs would have to be VERY FAR AWAY from the animals ... at least 2 feet or more.
And checked with a Solarmeter.
(BTW, Solarmeters are very valuable tools for anyone serious about their pets.)
Anyway, I hope this gets the ball rolling.
And my hope is folks will be able to use and contribute to this thread as a reference.
We will all be able to use it to bone up on our T5 Savvy. :study:
Cheers!
Sincerely,
Todd
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com
[email protected]
And remember to please also check out: http://www.arcadia-reptile.com/example/