suphew Posted October 21, 2004 Report Share Posted October 21, 2004 Hello all, just quick question and an interesting comment from an electrical wholesaler. Firstly does any know where I can get the correct marine tubes for PC fluro's (the 36 watt ones with 4 pins at one end) in Wellington and or what the best tube is. I have been to all the wholesalers close to work and they only have up to 4600(?)Lum listed. Secondly I asked about T5 tubes and was told by the wholesaler to keep away from them, he claims that because the technoledgy is still quite new they have alot of problems, specifically tubes and ballists etc over heating and blowing, he's just done a job where 60% of the tubes failed with-in 3 months. Just a comment/warning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClaw Posted October 22, 2004 Report Share Posted October 22, 2004 I have just gone through the same troubles - I have built a twin 55w PC set up, and went to buy the tubes from a wholesaler - they only have up to 4200K in stock. They quoted me $45+GST to get in 5500K tubes, still a ways of the 10,000K that would be ideal for marine tanks. I am going to buy the correct tubes from Hollywood, in Auckland - they have Catalina 55w 10,000K tubes for about $40, and 10,000K / actinic tubes for about $44. I am building a 4 x 54w T-5 setup at the moment. Tubes easy to get in 6500K. I am getting Osram electronic ballasts, and have heard no adverse comment on t5 technology... except that certain wholesalers import junk ballasts from China that have non-standard tube sizes and are unreliable. Stands to reason though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted October 22, 2004 Report Share Posted October 22, 2004 There is no inherent issues with t5 technology, just low quality poorly designed ballasts. Buy a reputable brand and you should have no issues. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted October 22, 2004 Report Share Posted October 22, 2004 I have t5s and have been running them for about 18months. Would I buy them again? Possibly, possibly not. No issues with the ballasts, just shit bulbs I was sold. So far had 5 failures. Am uses NARVA blues and daylight whites. 5ft 84watt Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petplanet Posted October 22, 2004 Report Share Posted October 22, 2004 I brought an Arcadia quad T5 - 1 year, 6 tubes and only two fittings now work. Must say my corals never looked better even under two tubes. It replaces the 5 fluros that I had. Will be returning the unit to the supplier when a replacement arrives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kermit Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 Hmmm interesting comments. Just brought some 3ft T5's for my small tank 6500k, they had them on the shelf. Just one thing to remember is VHO's are almost draw twice the wattage so don't try running them on a standard ballast. In saying that there are ballasts out there how ever that cover a small different wattage rating (i.e 20w - 32w) which will allow different size lamps to be run from it. I've found Rexel to hold a good stock of all different things, and they have a lighting department that'll get the right lamp over night if not in stock. Don't know what retail prices are like though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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