Philips TLD86 or 96

[rexliz]

Hi

I'm new around here - but have done a search and see that the Philips TLD 96 seems to be the recommended tube for lighting a planted freshwater tank.

My problem is that my tank (Aquaone AR850) needs 25w bulbs and I cannot seem to find any of that length (approx 29").

Does anyone know whether they are made in this wattage (and therefore, length) and if so, where to pick them up in Auckland? I have enquired at most places I can think of and they only have 2ft (18w) and 3 ft (30w).

Thanks

[Plantman]

My problem is that my tank (Aquaone AR850) needs 25w bulbs and I cannot seem to find any of that length (approx 29").

i am not familiar with TLD86. Is it a florescent tube? white, pink or blue?

why do you need a 25 watts tube? a general guide line is that there ought to have 1 to 2 ratio of wattage to litre of water in your tank.

if you have a 100 litre tank, you will need to have around 50 watt for a planted tank.

Kelvin message the colour temparature; 5,500 to 6,500 is more toward day light (highly recommended) and 8000k gives you the blue light and 10,000 gives you the pink.

florescent tube with 2,500 lumens should be chosen for planted tank.

i normally go to this wholsale lighting shop who is cheaper than any LFS.

look up this person named Roy.

Lamps Exclusively Ltd. Roy is the director located at 4/36 Eaglehurst Road, Elersile, number 5791512 5791412

[rexliz]

Thanks

The Philips TLD86 an TLD96 are florescent tubes rated at 6500k daylight and recommended on this site (I did a search).

My tank has built in lights that require 3 x 25w florescents (my understanding is that wattage generally determines length, and these are 29").

My tank holds ~150l and has 3 x 25w tubes, I assume that is sufficient for good growth (0.5 wpl) - 2 of the tubes the tank came with are 18000k (which now need to be replaced) which I believe are not that suitable for planted freshwater tanks.

I wll make contact with your suggested supplier.

Cheers

[Plantman]

Your search is correct. 6,500 is the optimum (very close to similate the rigt spectrum of the sun light).

i am not too familiar with 18,000 k. is it pink in colour? what does it do other than light up pink in the tank?

let me know the deal you have with the supplier. i may need to get some myself. i will need a 4 feet one. wattage can be high.

thanks

[suphew]

Thats is a funny lenth! Theres a guy in Wellies called the light bulb man that has every thing, there must be someone similar up your way. A friend got a reptile tube from him the other day, LPS $56, LBM $35 for the exact same brand tube. But all electrical stores stock daylight (6200k) tubes, just not sure if they would have that size.

Anyway the higher K tubes are fine, but you only need 6200k which are common and therefore cheaper. Light spectrum starts at red/yellow then green, then blue. Water obsorbs more at the lower end (reds) than the higher (blues) therefore you dont want to go below 6200k but anything above that is fine, the higher K (blues) tend to make the tank look cleaner and crisper so some people like them more.

There ae a number of posts there that have all the details if you are interested in looking

[rexliz]

Unfortunately, all the wholesale places including Lamp Specialties don't stock 30" (nominal) 25w bulbs - in fact they were doubting one existed until I showed them mine.

In any case two of them are 25w and one is a 24" 20w. The smaller one I can at least get in 6500k for the LFS (at LFS prices). It looks as though no one has heard of a 25w one of around 6500k, so I may be stuck with two 18000ks and one 6500k. I currently have one 18000k and I am certain it has lead to significantly more algae - especially green hair (or "thread"?) algae.

It seems that not only to I have to pay LFS prices - but I can't even get the kelvin range I want for this tank. I should have suspected when the 3800k ones it came with were chinese in origin.

Cheers

[HummingBird]

I have two 15000k's and one 10000k and for a while I had a problem with green hair algae too. Once I started using Flourish Excel it all just died off - really great stuff.

[DiverJohn]

HI Rexliz

When i first read your post my first thought was "Custom lenght" perhaps for the model of fish tank you have?

To a degree, the only way you will get things at "electrical wholesaler prices" (eg $8 for a cool white) is to have common tubes. The common sizes are 30, 60, 90, 120, 150cm (or 1->5 foot in the old language)

You also need to be aware that currently the "common tube" is a T8 size (approx 1inch in diameter). So you need to check that measurement too. There is a newer high power tube called a T5 which is in general about 5% shorter and about 1/2 the diameter of a T8.

I would suggest IMHO that anything outside the lenghts/ diameters above is not "common" and is going to cost you a bit more.

IMO lights are a bit of a tricky thing, especially when you first start looking into replacing them without paying LFS prices. its a science on its own!

Try this site if you want to try and do some of your own looking

http://www.osram.com -> products. FYI in the trade "luminaires" are what you and i would probably call "fittings"

HTH, good luck

John

[rexliz]

Thanks John

It actually gets worse.

My tank does require specific length tubes - two being 25w (~30") and the other I assumed was 24" (or 600mm) - but is actually ~590mm ( the 600mm don't fit - I have tried and broken one of the fittings). I don't expect anyone in this country is going to have those in any type let alone ~6500k.

Strange thing is all the LFS's are selling the AR850 tank, and from what I can tell, none of them can supply the same tubes as come with the tank - 2x25w (600m) 6700k, and 1x20w (590mm) 10000k. As far as I'm concerned this is not good enough and I will be going back to the LFS that the tank came from and asking them to find them, or take the thing back - if they insist on selling the product, they must be able to supply tubes for them - which can only be considered consumables (they are only good for 6 months to a year at the outside).

Unfortunately, the tubes appear to be of Chinese origin, so one cannot hold much hope of finding them in the local wholesale market.

Others have this tank in NZ - probably on this forum - how do they get on? Maybe someone can enlighten me.

Sorry for the rant.

Thanks

Rex

[DiverJohn]

HI Rexliz,

there is a crowd in Aucks' called "lamp Specialists" over the back of Ericson Stadium. Give them a call, they might be able to help. If you call I would suggest you have the numbers off the tube written down (or have the tube in your hand! )

You could also try googling the numbers on teh tube, never know what you might find.

[Bruce]

Yep, the tubes are wierd sizes, Kongs NZ are the only wholesaler we can get these from

They are common on Aqua One and Jebo Tanks

Usually replacements come only in Cool White, cant remember the K rating at the moment

Electrical Wholesalers, good luck, if you can find them its packs of 10 (Retail pack)

Bruce

[lorenzo]

many people in the netherlands use philips tld83 and tld84 for plantend tanks.

[MicB]

Yip pain in the butt.

I have just rewired my tank lights(qualified Elect.)AR850. I put 2 ballasts in and moved one end of each fitting along. I use 20w now.When a bulb goes I can now just buy another

Cheers

[Pinsara]

Hi Plantman

I'm a bit confused...

If the ratio is 1 to 2 watts per litre, then shouldn't you have 100 watts in total for a 100l tank? Could you please clear this up.

Thanks in advance.

[Snowman]

I have the same tank and same dilemma, Hollywood fishfarm sell the bulbs to suit as i bought some 6500k for my AR850 off them, Jansens may have them as they sell Aqua One tanks as well.

Retail for the longer ones (750mm) was about $41 so they definetly arent the cheapest.

I'm very tempted to scrap the light hood and filter because there are better ways of doing both (If i knew then what i know now) LOL

[spooky]

Down in Dunedin there are two stores which deal in fish stuff. One sells the AR-850 tanks - but never stocks the bulbs. The other doesn't stock the AR-850s, but always has the 25W bulbs.

Go figure.

[Plantman]

Sorry, i got my ratio all wire wrongly. in this ratio, it should be 0.5 to 0.75 to 1 litre of tank water.

so if you have a hundred litre of water, you will need between 50 to 75 watt of light (preferbly 6,500 that has the right spectran that is close to the sun.)

Cheers

[Grizzly]

the 24" tubes are 59cm (590mm) thats for the 18watt

and 36" are 89.5cm for the 30watt

if the fittings are the same and the length, then u should be able to use normal tubes.

heres i picture of the kelvin scale found on the back ofthe hagen brand tubes.