# Cheap HO T5 fluorescent tubes - Update with photos



## JamesC

This is an update to a thread I posted earlier about HO T5 tubes I brought from the Lamp Specs website. This is the thread - http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=523. Since I posted the earlier thread I have also purchased some Grolux's.

Decided to have a bit of fun tonight and took some photo's of my tank with the various tubes to give everyone an idea to what the colours look like. I set the White Balance to sunshine which seemed to give me the most accurate representation of the tank colours to the photos. Please excuse my tank as it's in a state of change at the moment as I'm trying out various new plants and getting ready for a change.

These are the tubes I tested:
Osram Lumilux T5 840 Fluorescent Tube 54W 
Osram Lumilux T5 880 Skywhite Fluorescent Tube 54W
Philips de Luxe Pro T5 965 Fluorescent Tube 54W - Known as Colour 96 on Lamp Specs website
Sylvania Grolux T5 54W

Now for the photos.

*Philips de Luxe Pro 965*





*Osram Lumilux 840 *




*Osram Lumilux 880 Skywhite*




*Sylvania Grolux*





*Osram Lumilux 880 Skywhite + Osram Lumilux 840*





*Sylvania Grolux + Philips de Luxe Pro 965*




*Sylvania Grolux + Osram Lumilux 880 Skywhite*





Hopefully this will provide you enough info. Didn't want to do any more as the fish were getting a bit freaked out. The Grolux's by themselves look way too pink but mixed with either the 965's or 880's they look very good IMO. If you just look at the wood you can really see the difference between the various tubes. In natural sunshine I'd say the photo using the Grolux's and 880's is the closest match to the colour of the wood.

James


----------



## Garuf

Osram Lumilux 880 Skywhite + Osram Lumilux 840 is the winner for me, the greens look so vivid!


----------



## Themuleous

Thanx James


----------



## George Farmer

Brilliant, James.  Thanks for sharing this.

I love the look of the 965s.

Super looking tank BTW!


----------



## JamesC

Thanks everyone. The 880 and 840 mix does give some some very bold greens and is the combination I've been using for the last week. One interesting thing I've noticed after having another look at the photos is the tube at the back left of the tank is white but shows the colour of the fluorescent tubes in the various photos very well. With the Philips 965's it comes out looking quite white. With the Grolux's it comes out quite a pinky purple colour. Look at the last photo of the Grolux + 880 and it is a bright white. This combination to me gives what I'd say is the most natural look to the tank and is probably the one I'm going to use.

One thing you can't tell from the photo's is how red the shrimp and fish are when the Grolux's are added. If you look at the Grolux photo there is a patch of Willow Moss just right of centre that has cherry shrimp on it. One cherry shrimp stands out in particular being bright red.

James


----------



## ceg4048

Hi James,
                  Love the pictures, gorgeous tank! I got some 8400s from lampspecs but I use CFs and I couldn't find the 880 in this format or any lamp higher than 6500K in CF. Am I not navigating properly or is it just not available? Any alternative suppliers for 8000K CFs?

Cheers,


----------



## JamesC

I couldn't see any either in the Compact Fluorescent range. The linear T5's seem to have far greater choice. 

James


----------



## TDI-line

Nice work, that most of taken a while.


----------



## johnny70

This a fantasic bit of work, well done for doing it, not sure i would have the patience to do it myself, based on your pictures I have gone for the Osram Lumilux 880 Skywhite + Osram Lumilux 840 lamps  

JOHNNY


----------



## Ray

Moderators - can I suggest we make this a sticky?   It is super useful and gets harder to find as time passes - especially for new people who don't know to look for it   .  I'm also inclined to suggest a lighting section in the same way as we have a CO2 section?

Thank you,

Ray


----------



## StevenA

Used these guys a few weeks ago for the first time, because i saw this thread. Ordered 3x 39w tubes, delivered within 3 days, unfortunately one of them was faulty so i phoned them and they ordered and dispatched a new tube to me while i was on the phone  , which was delivered within two days   Cannot fault this company at all, great products, excellent customer service, would recommend them every time.


----------



## Fred Dulley

Good work James. Thanks to your article I've bought the Osram Lumilux 880 Skywhite + Osram Lumilux 840 (T8s though). The colour rendition is great.


----------



## LondonDragon

I just replaced mine with Sylvania Grolux + Osram Lumilux 880 Skywhite and now the tank is looking great and plants are pearling more than before. 
Thanks for the article


----------



## Egmel

Does anyone know where I could get a bulb similar to the 880 in the 18" 15w T8 format?  The highest K I can seem to find is 865 = 6,500K which is quite a way off the 8000k of the 880.  Osram def don't do them, I've checked their webpage.

I currently have 2 arcadia freshwater and a (dying) hagen aqua glo.  I wanted to replace the aqua glo with something equally pinkish since it's the first to turn on and last to turn off, simulating a nice dawn and dusk period. And figured (in for a penny in for a pound) I might as well pick up replacements for the freshwater's while I'm at it so that when they start to flag I can have spares ready to swap them over too.

Has anyone tried the Osram 865s?  Any idea how they compare to the 880.

I don't know why but I always had Daylight as being about 7,500K not 6,500K, maybe not in the UK eh?!


----------



## JamesC

I like the GE 10,000 K T8 tubes. They are very similar to the Interpet Triplus tubes - http://www.lampspecs.co.uk/Light-Bulbs- ... ium-10000K.

I like the 840 tubes to come on first thing and off last as they are a bit orangy and give the effect of sunset and sunrise.

I find the Osram 865's are quite green compared to the 880's. Apart from that there isn't a great difference between them.

Get a cloudy day and the Kelvin value goes right up. It also changes during the day depending on how much of the atmosphere and pollution the light has to travel through.

James


----------



## Egmel

JamesC said:
			
		

> I like the GE 10,000 K T8 tubes. They are very similar to the Interpet Triplus tubes - http://www.lampspecs.co.uk/Light-Bulbs- ... ium-10000K.


Excellent, thanks for the fast reply (also good that lampspecs have them as they also do cheap energy saving and halogen bulbs which I also need  )


> I like the 840 tubes to come on first thing and off last as they are a bit orangy and give the effect of sunset and sunrise.


One of the things I like about my hagen at the moment is that it's dying so is a nice gentle prod into the world for the fish... I may end up with 3 lots of timers at this rate and have some LED lights to do the morning and evening when I want to watch the fish but don't want too much light for the plants.  Then have a single tube come on for half an hour either side of my full 10 hours so the change is graduated.


> I find the Osram 865's are quite green compared to the 880's. Apart from that there isn't a great difference between them.


Well I'll add a couple to the basket as well since they're half the price of the 10000K ones, I may end up with 3 different bulbs at this rate! (and half of lampspecs in my house!)


> Get a cloudy day and the Kelvin value goes right up. It also changes during the day depending on how much of the atmosphere and pollution the light has to travel through.


Good glad to know I'm not going mad then!  The white balance in the cameras I was working on was set to 7,500K for daylight and I kept seeing these bulbs at 6,500K and was beginning to wonder if my code was wrong!


----------



## Wolfenrook

I'm another fan of cheaper tubes.  I have an Osram lumilux 865 T5 HO in the front of my tank, and the colour of it is identical to that of my more expensive ZooMed UltraSun T8 tube, just considerably more intense obviously.  The plants love it as well, I have plant tubes in the back (T5 Aquamedic Planta + T8 Zoomed Flora Sun) and these combine very well with the daylight tubes, all of the colours are crisp and bright, greens, blues and reds really stand out.

When it comes time to replace my Aquamedic Planta I'll probably go with a grolux, I have a lot of reds in my tank which these type of tubes really help to bring out.

Ade


----------



## Minders

What a fantastic and very helpful thread.  This is my first visit here and I'm already very glad I dropped by!  Thanks all...


----------



## Egmel

Minders said:
			
		

> What a fantastic and very helpful thread.  This is my first visit here and I'm already very glad I dropped by!  Thanks all...


Hi Minders, welcome on board.    

Glad you found this useful, I've learnt so much from these guys too, it's a great source of information. 8)


----------



## John Starkey

Hi James,personally i think this thread is one of the best written on this forum and i think you deserve a massive pat on the back,regards john 8)


----------



## JamesC

Thanks John for the kind words. Since I first wrote this article I have been changing the combinations and noting the affects on the plants. Currently I'm running 2x Osram 840 and 2x Osram 880. This I find gives me great pearling and plant colour without too much green. If you like more green the swapping the Osram 880's for Philip's 965's works well. To save money you could even use Osram 865's instead of the Philip's 965's.

James


----------



## ukteacherman

Great work JamesC - real helpful too to actually see the effects rather than read about them. Please moderators - stick this one, (in the best possible way!)


----------



## Ed Seeley

ukteacherman said:
			
		

> Great work JamesC - real helpful too to actually see the effects rather than read about them. Please moderators - stick this one, (in the best possible way!)



If you mean make it a sticky thread then it already is!!!


----------



## durtydurty

I was going to get some plant pro tubes but after seeing this and the prices its lampspecs all the way.

My arcadia has quite thin tubes, I presume these are T5's, its a four footer.


----------



## LondonDragon

durtydurty said:
			
		

> I was going to get some plant pro tubes but after seeing this and the prices its lampspecs all the way.
> My arcadia has quite thin tubes, I presume these are T5's, its a four footer.


Yep should be T5's, just make sure you get the right size/wattage.


----------



## durtydurty

Its 1150 mm Im after so have gone for the 1149mm but with regards to wattage I've got no idea?


----------



## LondonDragon

durtydurty said:
			
		

> Its 1150 mm Im after so have gone for the 1149mm but with regards to wattage I've got no idea?


That should be fine


----------



## durtydurty

Woohoo, they have arrived. 

Went T5 Osram 840 and the Skywhite 880

That'll be something else to break later on!

Snapped my Rhinox earlier whilst packing it to send to LD.

Update......

Have fitted said bulbs and am not sure they are as bright as what was in there from when I bought the lumianire

The tubes I have taken out are as follows

Aqua Medic Ocean White 10K 54 W x 2

Arcadia Marine Blue 420 Actinic x 2 

Bought it second hand so it was just a bit of mish mash in there TBH.


----------



## Wolfenrook

10,000k tubes can often appear 'brighter' to the eye because of the colour of them.  Lumens wise however I doubt that there is that much difference.  Just to make sure though, you did get T5 HO 880s and 840s though, and not normal T5 ones?

Ade


----------



## durtydurty

Wolfenrook said:
			
		

> 10,000k tubes can often appear 'brighter' to the eye because of the colour of them.  Lumens wise however I doubt that there is that much difference.  Just to make sure though, you did get T5 HO 880s and 840s though, and not normal T5 ones?
> 
> Ade



Yeah, invoice says 880 and 840.


----------



## jaycat

Hi, 

can I just confirm I am NOT looking at the pet section of the said site, but the ordinary bulbs? I have 2 x 18w in my 4' tank,, they are daylight bulbs, ones I've never heard of NARVA 010. They came with the tank, but I want to change to 1 daylight and 1 grolux, just been to my lfs and for the 2 they want Â£40.

I am aimimg for a low tech low light set up, with lots of plants and no co2 injection. At the mo, just have about 30% coverage, but I'm working on this atm. (Hair algae just starting up on sand.)

Anyway, I'm looking at normal flourescent bulbs? Thanks


----------



## Rols

Great post..

just found it at the right moment..!


----------



## jay

Just used this great thread to order some 880 skywhites.
Really fresh looking, very ADA


----------



## billy boy

Have to agree, this is a really good thread, Saves people a lot off cash  If it wasnt for james planted tank site I would still be paying Â£17 plus a tube, Nice one james


----------



## Mark Evans

jay said:
			
		

> 880 skywhites.



there ok, but couple one up to a hagen power glo 18000K and you get a lovely colour rendition. the hagen really brings out the different green tones, without taking away too much of the "white" light from the 880 which can give an even green tone through out the tank IME


----------



## nry

Don't suppose anywhere sells similarly cost effective twin T5 starter/ballast units then?


----------



## Ben_K

Just wanted to add my thanks to JamesC for this thread. Great shop and quick delivery.
My new twin T5's look ace!  8) (Osram and 840 Phillips DeLuxe 965, clean and warm   )


----------



## Nelson

hi,


			
				nry said:
			
		

> Don't suppose anywhere sells similarly cost effective twin T5 starter/ballast units then?


if you don't mind a bit of diy  http://www.nationallampsandcomponents.c ... allasts/17 .
neil


----------



## Polly

Thanks for this thread - you've saved me money  8) 

OK I haven't got T5s I've got T8s - but I still used the info and bought the Phillips Pro 96 and a Grolux  to replace my Juwel Tubes - WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!  I didn't realise my Bleeding heart Tetras (H. Erythrostigma and H. Socolofi) and Blue emperor Tetras were so stunning!    The lime green look is gone forever!


----------



## davidcmadrid

Just have to echo this has been an awesome thread , i really like the Osram 880 look overall it seems the most natural to me so im gonna order them now for the stack of Hagen Glo  T5Hos winging their way to me


----------



## lincsflier

Thanks James just got 4 x54W T5's all in for under Â£40 .  Can spend loads more on plants now yayyy.


----------



## jym

Hi   thanks for link, I did find this after I had bought the expensive Arcadia tubes, they cost me Â£42 with postage
and I am a bit p****d off to be honest when I could have got something better for Â£15 tops.  

Jan


----------



## bugs

25watt T8 range is very limited... Look.


----------



## plantbrain

James, get a PAR light meter and do a plot at different depths/distance from the bulbs.
That combined with aesthetics will give you the most useful information for T5 and aquarist.

We did that here in the USA for some bulbs. 
Mostly the Gieseman powerchrome and aquaflora. I use a mix of 1;3 PC's to 1 AF and have some nice data on them.

I get some of the best coloration with only CO2 and light coloration being dependent(plant growth and algae free however) The PAR, plant species, Sediment, dosing etc etc, are the same. CO2 might be a little different here or there, but overall, the main factor is only the color of the light. The PAR is the same since I adjusted the height to match by PAR between tanks.

Here's an example of what Hoppy did:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/light ... ights.html

The plot allows you to consider the light at different tank sizes and then match intensity with known good growth rates of various species. The rest is more aesthetics if the PAR matches up from there.

If you can get a PAR meter, or borrow one etc, it would be most useful for the club and using the local light sources in the UK.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


----------



## foxfish

I recently bought a new twin 39w control unit for Â£33.00 delivered + 2 x coolwhite (840) bulbs for Â£5.98 (Â£2.99 each)


----------



## mlgt

For your choice of bulbs. Why did you choose coolwhite? 

Is there a comparison with the ranges from 827, 830,835, 840 and 860's? 

Im deciding which ones to go for, even though it doesnt matter for plants.


----------



## Steve Smith

I'm going for an 840 Osram 24 Watt, and a Skywhite Osram 24 Watt.  Going by James' photos I think this would give a good colour rendition for my woody scape


----------



## JamesC

SteveUK said:
			
		

> I'm going for an 840 Osram 24 Watt, and a Skywhite Osram 24 Watt.  Going by James' photos I think this would give a good colour rendition for my woody scape


This is what I'm using except that I've go a Grolux as well to provide a bit of pink which I like. Even without the Grolux those two tubes I think work quite well together with the 840 bringing out the colours of the wood.



			
				mlgt said:
			
		

> Is there a comparison with the ranges from 827, 830,835, 840 and 860's?


The last two numbers are the colour figures for the tubes. The 860's are daylight and the 840's have a tint of orange to them. The 835, 830 and 827 have increasing amounts of orange which will work but most people would find rather unappealing, hence why I didn't bother to test them.

James


----------



## sanj

Hi James,

just a question on Lamp Specs, how do they package thier lights? I have had some bad experiences in the past with couriers and light bulbs aswell as the companys that dont package the light tubes robustly enough. I am assuming they package well since you seem to have rated them well.

Thank you.


----------



## Ajm200

Ordered 6 54w T5s from them.  Arrived well packaged.   The 6 bulb boxes were wrapped tightly together with cling film.  They were packed into a larger box that was stuffed with loads of polystyrene chips.

Had to pay extra for delivery because of the length of the bulb but was very pleased overall.


----------



## sanj

Thanks for that Ajm200.

i had a look on their site and they mention a particular cost for shipping flourescents over 3ft @ Â£7.50.


----------



## REDSTEVEO

Hi,

I am not sure this link will interest anyone but just case here it is.

Steve.

http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/nlpip/l ... stract.asp


----------



## gabriel.basso

Hi James, great post, really useful!

I liked 880 + 840 the most, but I'm concerned about the color temperature (K) of the 840: 4000K. Shouldn't it have more than 6500K to benefit plants??? Maybe the color temperature gets balanced with the 880 and 840 together (4000 + 8000 / 2 = 6000)... I don't know how it works.. give me a light about that please..

I'm planning to use them on a 110l display heavily planted (2x880 + 2x840). Actually I've already bought it, but haven't installed them yet.

Ps. sorry for my grammar... 

regards,

Gabriel


----------



## gollum456

just a thought.....one of the best looking of James' trial is the osram skywhite 880 and osram 840. ok.....so assuming i've got two of each....won't four of the 865's achieve roughly the same result? they are approximately halfway between the two.

ie 880+880+840+840=3440      3440/4 = 860 average. i hope you understand what i'm trying to say!

 you could replace four (39w  in my case) bulbs mega cheap, especially if you go for the GE ones which are about Â£2.50 (ex VAT) each!!

i also like that these bulbs have a 30000hr life which is alot more than the others.

just a thought, quite happy for someone to blow my theory out of the water if my thinking is flawed in some way!

cheers


----------



## ceg4048

Yes...err...sorry, please consider yourself blown out of the water via Soviet ICBM armed with Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology. The best way to think about these bulb designations is that of simple model numbers which mean next to nothing in terms of their actual output. Secondly, even if the Kelvin ratings were accurate, it would still be meaningless since plants don't really care about Kelvin values. They uses whatever light is made available to them.

The point of the thread is James giving you an idea of what sort of color cast these bulbs will have and for you to determine what you like to look at. The color casts themselves will have zero detectable effect on plant growth. Osram 840 is a standard bulb that's been used in office buildings for the past 50 years. These bulbs were not invented for plants, but for people working 9 to 5. In Northern cool regions the 840 is popular in offices because of it's warm tone. In Southern regions a "cooler" looking bulbs are in vogue. The colors used in various offices and factories are also chosen for the psychological impact based on the type of office/work environment - Hotels, Restaurants and residential type environments use the yellow/orange/red tinged bulb colors because the feelings of warmth they engender. Butcher shops tend to use reddish bulbs as well because they make the meats look redder and healthier. Cooler, supposedly neutral  bulbs are used in supermarkets and showrooms. The bluish cast bulbs tend to be used more in places like hospitals and manufacturing.

So if the psychological impact of the bulb color cast is valid for industry then it may have some effect when viewing your tank. None of this has anything to do with how plants use the light so we shouldn't concern ourselves with this aspect because it's not relevant. Only consider what colors you think you like looking at. Perhaps in the dreary winter months it might be better to use more of the yellow/orange bulbs and in the summer the cooler looking bulbs. The plants will just carry on without a care.

Cheers,


----------



## gollum456

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> The point of the thread is James giving you an idea of what sort of color cast these bulbs will have and for you to determine what you like to look at. The color casts themselves will have zero detectable effect on plant growth. Osram 840 is a standard bulb that's been used in office buildings for the past 50 years.



i might not actually be blown out of the water yet...........!!

i myself was referring to the colour tones. as james pointed out the number ratings refer to the 'colouring' of the bulbs, ie he did not test anything lower than 840 as these would be too 'orangey' for most people. 

what i was trying to say is that these bulbs when combined give off a certain effect and seeing as the 865's were sitting at about halfway between the two would four off these not give off roughly the same effect?

i was not referring to plants or kelvins etc, just what it would look like to our eyes. i'm sorry i did not explain properly and i apologise again if you still do not get my drift!! lol


----------



## Lisa_Perry75

The number of the lamp (like 865) is broken down into two components. The second and third number, 65, is the colour temperature so - 6500 kelvin. Basically the lower the number the more orangey- red the colour. The higher the number say around 15000 - 20000 the more blue the lamp looks. The first number, 8, is the percentage confidence that it will produce the right colour temperature - 80%. I hope this explaination is useful to you gollum, and if I've got it wrong someone please correct me.

So you can hopefully see know how kelvins IS telling you what a lamp would look like to your eyes. The osram lamps are pretty cheap, if you have the money, you could just buy a few of each lamp to see what you prefer? To be perfectly honest I have no idea if 2 x 865 would look the same as 1 x 840 + 1 x 880. My assumption would be that they would look rather similar - though that's just a guess!


----------



## gollum456

thank you, thats exactly what i was trying to say!! just you explained it better.

and why am i bothered you ask? well....... 2 x skywhite 880 + 2 x coolwhite 840 = Â£33.11 inc. del.
                                                              4 x daylight 865                                = Â£23.45 inc. del.

but if you go for the GE 865 which have 50% longer life as well....                     = Â£15.22 inc. del.

now, an Â£18 saving though not earth shattering is not to be sniffed at, providing my theory is correct and the visual effect about the same of course! and as an added bonus the bulbs should last longer!!


----------



## Westyggx

Hi,

Quick question, i am looking to get the Philips de Luxe Pro T5 965 Fluorescent Tube 54W & Sylvania Grolux T5 54W from James Website. However when i look on the website that provides the bulbs i cannot find the size i need. Is there a reason why they only have them in the 1149mm size?

Cheers


----------



## PM

Here is good:

http://www.lampspecs.co.uk/

Dunno about the size though..


----------



## Westyggx

This is the site i was on mate, didint have the tubes James has in a smaller size though. So i am just wondering if the wattage or anything changes with the size of the tube.


----------



## PM

Well yes, the longer the tube the more watts on linear T5s.

I haven't bought any in years now though and mine are all 24Watts. :/


----------



## dw1305

Hi all,
They mainly come in standard sizes, 54W are the standard size for 4' fittings and are dirt cheap (size 1149mm).
5' fittings run 35W, 49W or 80W lamps (1463mm) and they are cheapish as well.

14W or 24W fit in 2' fittings - they are 549 mm long and again pretty cheap as well, the reason they ae the same length is most "14W" ballasts are actually rated up to 24W. 

A word of warning for the small lamps (like a lot of under-cabinet lamps) is that 13W & 14W are different lengths (525mm & 549mm)and the 13W actually runs of the same ballast as the 354mm long 8W T5's. This is easy to see if you look at a 13W and 14W fitting (with the same colour temperature tube), the 14W looks almost twice as bright. 

As soon as you want non-standard sizes the price goes up (ask the owners of Juwel aquariums).

cheers Darrel


----------



## Westyggx

Thanks for that darrel, so if I had a jewel Tank I wouldn't be able to get these lamps? I actually have a fluval tank and currently have 24" tubes.


----------



## dw1305

Hi all,
I've never owned a Juwel tank/light unit, but I believe they are non-standard lengths, meaning you have to buy their branded tubes.

cheers Darrel


----------



## sanj

dw1305 said:
			
		

> Hi all,
> I've never owned a Juwel tank/light unit, but I believe they are non-standard lengths, meaning you have to buy their branded tubes.
> 
> cheers Darrel



Or the Arcadia tubes made especially to fit awkward Juwel aquariums. Either way more expensive than non aquarium branded standard size tubes.


----------



## marthin

Hi people, thought I'll just mention that Lampspecs told me this morning that Osram is discontinuing the skywhite 880.  It is no more, highest they have is the 865
Mart


----------



## SteveyG

Looks like the Philips de Luxe Pro's are gone too.


----------



## mdhardy01

Just took delivery of osram 880/840 and Phillips 965
So they've still got them at mo
Ordered them last Friday 
Matt


----------



## chrisjj

Hi, 

Great thread!

I like the look of the t5 Osram 840 & 880 skywhite, but need 3ft (39W).

Lampspecs have the 840, but don't seem to do a 3ft 880, or a 3ft philips de luxe 865.  They do have a 3ft Osram 865 though.

So, would the Osram 840 & Osram 865 give a close resemblance?

Cheers


----------



## Tom

Is there somewhere that sells decent T5PC bulbs but doesn't take the Michael like LampSpecs? The bulb was about £3.30 +VAT or something. Then postage is £10+VAT. Comes to about £15 for a £4 bulb...


----------



## dw1305

Hi all,
The postage is always going to be quite high on long fluorescent tubes as they are both fragile and awkward.
I usually try and have an occasional relatively large order to reduce the cost of p&p per item.

cheers Darrel


----------



## Kazuya

Would the following bulb go with an ATI  60" fixture.
Osram Lumilux 549mm T5 Fluorescent Tube 24W


----------



## chrisjj

Just received 39w philips & Grolux tubes for my new tank which is due any time now - can't wait?!


----------



## durtydurty

Could any of you kind people point me in the right direction for the best bulbs to get for a Juwel tank - tube size 30mm ( T5 size ? ) 

I was runing this set up in my old tank - T5 Fluorescent Tube 54W 840 Osram 54 Watt and T5 Fluorescent Tube 54W 880 Skywhite Osram 54 Watt - and would like to know what would give me similar effect etc? 

All help would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks


----------



## Grumpy

I think you'll find a 30mm lamp is a T8.


----------



## gillo45

Fantastic Find James and very helpful thread. There is so much info on this site very glad I dropped by!


----------



## gillo45

Fantastic Find James and very helpful thread. There is so much info on this site very glad I dropped by!


----------



## danielgphelps

Thank you, this is immensely helpful.  I just got a fixture from Amazon and will be getting a grolux and philips 865 combo based on the data here.


----------



## Wally

Great thread,Thanks for the info.Should save me a packet when I change my 4 36w T8's as I have been duped into buying Dennerle tubes.


----------



## Nutbeam

I went for the osram 840 and 880 combination 2 of each 

evening viewing is the 840.
full day is all 4 and produce a great visual result


----------



## Polyester

Anyone know where to find Osram 880, in 39 W?

Been busy on google, but no luck so far  :?


----------



## Polyester

Just found it myself, on http://www.neweysonline.co.uk


----------



## Aquadream

durtydurty said:
			
		

> I was runing this set up in my old tank - T5 Fluorescent Tube 54W 840 Osram 54 Watt and T5 Fluorescent Tube 54W 880 Skywhite Osram 54 Watt - and would like to know what would give me similar effect etc?
> 
> Thanks



There is nothing in the price range that will compare to Osram Skywhite 880 54W. I use on my tank two 880 and one Silvania Grolux and never seen better light for planted tank so far.


----------



## Polyester

Was obviously very tired last night...like tonight..

So didnt realise that Neweys was a wholesaler..

Question remains, anyone know where to find Osram 880, in 39 W?  :?


----------



## gex23

I used 4 x Osram 6500k, 1 x Grolux (unsure on K) and 1 x Narvia Biovital 5800k UV bulb in my ATI Sunpower - the overall look was really quite natural, if verging on a touch 'warm'.

All purchased from LampSpecs.

Anthony.


----------



## basil

Afternoon,

Appologies for sounding like a complete lighting numpty, but will these tubes work on standard aquarium starter units? I've been looking at combining these tubes with the Hagen Twin starter units for my shrimp rack project but not sure if the tubes will fit the Hagen T5 connectors?

Thanks,

Mike.


----------



## LondonDragon

Mike they are just standard T5 tubes and will be fine with the Hagen unit.


----------



## basil

Thanks Paulo - bit paranoid since i found out that Juwel hoods only take Juwel tubes [length specific].

Will get a thread started to show shrimp rack in development  

Cheers

Mike


----------



## LondonDragon

Juwel T5 are indeed different from everything else which is really annoying.


----------



## madlan

What do you think a pair of Osram 865's and a pair of 840's would look like? (Deep, lots of wood and moss) Can't get much else in the size I need (39W 849mm)


----------



## kirk

exellent thread good pics too.thankyou for taking the time to share this with all.


----------



## gramski

Iquatics do Jewel tubes. (sorry if this has already been posted)


----------



## Joao Marujo

Great topic James!

If possible, i would like to ask one thing about this issue. I have an Hailea 2x39W T5HO for about a year now and i want to replace the 2 Sunshine bulbs (i believe its 10k each) for, probably, Sylvania Grolux and Osram lumilux 880 Skywhite.
Knowing that my light system is T5HO, i should try to find the mention bulbs in HO, right? Is there a problem to use "normal" T5 bulbs?

Thanks in advanced!


----------



## RichardJW

Brilliant well researched topic . Even though it's a few years old the products are still widely available and very current for these sorts of setup . Can't see LED moving into this market for a long time as the specific wavelengths are not yet as far as I know not yet catered for . 



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## glennokelly

hi this is my first time setting up a planted thank and i was looking at your article.i really like the colour of the *Osram Lumilux 880 Skywhite + Osram Lumilux 840 .*i have a T8 set up if i got these 4 tubes would it be the same *http://www.lampspecs.co.uk/s.nl?sc=3&whence= .*my thank is 32inches long 17inches high and 11inces width.  Any help would be great 

thank you


----------



## Lauris

thanks. this was very helpful. ordered with no doubts Skywhite and Sylvania Grolux.

thanks a mill


----------



## BexM

Great thread. This forum is awesome. Decided to join in. Decided to go for an osram 830 and an 865 as i couldn't find an 880. thanks!


----------



## tomh

This is a great post, serious money to be saved by understanding this


----------



## eduard

Hi, "captain chaos" will give you 10% discount. worked on 03.03.15
thanks


----------



## Marius_20

I'm using 2x 18w Osram 865 T8 and 2 x 24w Osram 865.


----------



## jagillham

I'm not sure that Lamp Specs website is such good value any more, definitely worth shopping around.

Just looking into T5 54w bulbs for my tank...

iQuatics official eBay shop have 'Buy 2 Get 1 Free' on the 54w T5 at £11.99 each (inc postage)
Lamp Specs T5 54W 880 Skywhite Osram at £10.59 each (+ £2.95 postage)


----------



## Bradley

These still a thing?


----------



## Zeus.

Great thread 

was after some T5 to reduce shadows for plant growth to use with but not alongside my kessil 160 tunasuns and still get a decent blend of light.

Found this





useful for matching spectrum output too

965 match the kessils pretty good IMO

Kessil 160 spectrum


----------



## Sianita

Great thread! Really learning a lot before deciding on my lighting


----------



## hazeljane

Hi all
The  T5 54W 880 Skywhite Osram  seems to be discontinued does anybody know its predecessor 

Regards.


----------



## Costa

Do you guys know if non-fluval HO tubes exist for their T5 quadruple fixture (39W 85cm actual tube size)? All I find on the net are Fluval's tubes, with Fluval's price tag...


----------

