Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Tanks and Equipment => Topic started by: dbaggie on April 12, 2014, 01:44:08 PM
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Does anyone have any recommendations for replacement T5 light tubes to fit a Juwel Vision 180 (742mm)?
I bought my tank second-hand and don't know how old the bulbs were when purchased and I've now had the tank around 7 months anyway so I'd be amazed if they're less than a year old.
I have quite a few live plants so I'm now looking to replace them and need tubes which would be best suited for promoting plant growth.
Cheers
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If I remember correctly, Juwel did something sneaky when they introduced T5s. Something along the lines of making them a slightly different
size length from everyone else's T5s so that the tank owner would be forced to use Juwel tubes and no other make. However, other companies have brought out Juwel compatible tubes, you just have to be very careful about what you buy. For example Arcadia make them, they call them J5 tubes. The danger would be in getting standard T5 tubes from a non-aquatic source as you couldn't be sure they would fit.
I do know from experience with T8 tubes that some companies include the pins when they quote the length and some don't. So tubes that are exactly the same length appear to be different sizes. I would take an old Juwel tube with you, or at least measure it very exactly before you go and take a tape measure along to the shop. If you buy on line, ask a lot of questions before committing to buy.
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Thanks for the pointers Sue - good job I asked as I may have just gone out and picked up a couple of standard T5 tubes otherwise! :cheers:
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iquaticsonline sell Juwel compatible T5s as well. The problem is with tubes not aimed at the aquarium market. The only other option is to change the ballast :-\
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The length quoted for a fluorescent tube is for the fitting, not the tube. It is actually the distance between centres of two fittings placed end-to-end. So a tube sold as a 24" will be for a fitting that is 24" long. That said some suppliers will sell by length including or excluding the pins. The best way is go by the wattage. A 24" T8 tube is always 18W, although the length may vary from supplier to supplier. The same applies to other T8, T5 and T5HO tubes.
That said, Sue is absolutely correct regarding Juwell T5 tubes. Sneaky little *********s.
When shopping for a tube, you have a whole range of colours and names to choose from. Go for a 6500K tube.
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When shopping for a tube, you have a whole range of colours and names to choose from. Go for a 6500K tube.
Thanks Steve - I thought that 6500k would be best with the live plants but was hoping to get some confirmation!
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When shopping for a tube, you have a whole range of colours and names to choose from. Go for a 6500K tube.
Thanks Steve - I thought that 6500k would be best with the live plants but was hoping to get some confirmation!
I've found a retailer doing a decent deal on genuine Juwel T5 'High-Lite' bulbs where you get two bulbs/tubes: 1 'Day' at 9000K and 1 'Nature' at 4100K. Would this be a good alternative to 2 bulbs/tubes at 6500K? Cheers
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I'm sorry; I have no idea as to how these things work when adding two dissimilar tubes.