T5 Aquarium lights 10000k good or bad for bud?

ok Ive got 6 tubes 4ft long 46W, 6 parabolic reflectors and 4 ballasts all I have to do is wire them up and then mount them on some plywood,
4 of the tubes are 10000 k and 2 are [SIZE=-1]Actinic which has a somewhat higher Kelvin rating than 10000 k would these lights be ok for veg and flowering, i know they need some red spectrum light when flowering but will they be ok without?

im growing a stealth setup in my closet i cant fit the light horizontally across the top of my closet as the lights are 4ft long and the closet is 3.9ft wide.
do you think i could have the lights vertically along the sides of the plant sand maby tilt them in a bit? would this give sufficient light to the plants?

like this


|| P || <----Light tubes
|| L ||
|| A ||
|| N ||
|| T ||
|| S ||
_________
[/SIZE]

plants like the light a little warmer than that.you can do some reading

plants 10000 kelvin - Google Search

not much info there, but i know what you mean by warmer lights, i know these lights are meant to replicate the sun through water.
but, will it be better than using a number 23W cfls?

Lamp color is the first grade in the decision making process. Light bulbs are rated and evaluated in a number of different ways having various measures of importance in different applications. &#8220;Color&#8221; or &#8220;temperature&#8221;, measured in degrees Kelvin (K), is perhaps the most popular unit in marketing and advertising. The spectrum of light is described on the warm end (red, orange, yellow) of the Kelvin scale with lower numbers, while cool colors (blue, violet) are assigned higher numbers. Most desirable aquatic plants, corals and algae fare best in light within the range of 6500 to 10,000 Kelvin. Undesirable algae and very shallow species are supported by warmer colors (below 6500K). Many lamps are known to stray toward this lower end of the Kelvin scale as they age, and may be evidenced by an increase in nuisance algae growth in the aquarium. Deepwater species and various cnidarians fare better in cooler light schemes (heavy blue color) in the range of 10,000 to 20, 000 K, while most plants and algae do not. You are advised to finesse the needs of your livestock within these guidelines when known, or make the conservative choice and stay between 6500 and 10,000 K for general-purpose applications.
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I think you might be better off with a 100 or 85 CLF I got a 100 that I have mounted to a telescope mount that is fully articulated .
Im sorry you are stuck with the tubes, I think you ight have to part with some money to get where you want to be.

In any case I bought some 6500 k tubes for 6 bucks each at HD they were phillips daylight.

but these tubes are not regular flouro tubes they are T5 high output with ballasts, these tubes are much skinnier than normal flouro tubes and cost alot more too.
is it worth going and spending $20 a globe on 23W CFLs or will the T5's give me growth? Id just like to use what i got before i go and buy something i dont need to.

BTW im not in the US, i live in Australia, different light sockets.

I Dont Know , Give It A Go.

i have the high output t5,s 54 watts 4 feet long they work great

what Kelvin rating are they trapper?

Me too on the t-5's for clones/early veg....the lamps I have are 3500K and 6500K, buda.

Be careful though folks.....In the US Wally world sells t-5 lamps...and for cheap...but they AREN'T the High Output (says HO in the lamp code or list 54 watts on the tube) lamps. They are 24 watts, I believe/if I remember correctly. I was stoked until I saw they were inferior. Such is buying lighting at WallyWeedWorld....

anyone else got some info on the 10000k?

You are going to be the source on this one.

I use 6 T-5's for veg in the early stages of clone growth. I don't really know about using 10000K bulbs. Why not just replace the bulbs if they aren't producing as you would like? I wouldn't waste the money on CFL's if you already have the ballasts and fixtures. You should be able to just buy the bulbs and be good to go.

I say, try it out and let us know how it works...I see a grow journal in the very near future.

Dude those bulbs should be fine they grow coral and plants very well in aquariums where the light needs to penetrate through a foot of water. I believe they should be fine for most of your grow.

I used to use the same lights on my 150 gallon reef tank and my coral thrives like crazy. I have since started using MH's because my tank is very deep and the light penetrates further into the water.

But like I said I believe they should be fine for most of your grow.

buda said:

what Kelvin rating are they trapper?

Click to expand...

3000k to 7500k they are full spectrum,they say they have mostly light that could be used by plants,but i know that isnt the whole truth but they are good.

buda said:

ok Ive got 6 tubes 4ft long 46W, 6 parabolic reflectors and 4 ballasts all I have to do is wire them up and then mount them on some plywood,
4 of the tubes are 10000 k and 2 are Actinic which has a somewhat higher Kelvin rating than 10000 k would these lights be ok for veg and flowering, i know they need some red spectrum light when flowering but will they be ok without?

Click to expand...

hiya Buda

Those T5's are fine for vegetative growth, but you'll need to add in some red 2,700k tubes for flowering at a rate of about 2 red to 1 blue, I'd also add a red one in for vegging too.

Are you sure they're 46w? The 4 foot T5's should be 54w tubes.

The 10,000k and Actinic output very high quantities of blue spectum light, which is fine for vegging but you really need more red in the flowering phase.

If you look at the attached spectograph of the 11k light, you can see it outputs very little in the red spectrum, and plants use both spectrums.

yeh buda, i agree with bg. check the pics in my gallery and how i used them to help with more of the blue spectrum in veg...along the walls of the room with the hps in the middle.

i used t8s 5000k / actinic blue, so your t5s should be even better mixed with the 5000-6500k.

good luck

you ll want the high output 54 watt 4 foot tubes.The T5s work great and I wouldnt bother getting the cfl globe as these will work better and not need for it.If you have 6 bulbs and 2 ballasts I assume your ballast are made for 3 tubes which is weird as they usually only come in 1,2,4,6,8,. but as longas they are setup as 162 watt ho T5 3 site ballasts your ok but make sure as thier are alot of variables and not being correct can be fire heavy.Id say put 2 on each side of the closet walls with mylar lining the entire closet and the door.This way you get light from 3 out of 4 sides then rotate the plants everyday.

Ive got 4 ballasts which can fit 2 lights on each ive also got 8 tubes but only 12 end caps enough for 6 tubes i think ill buy 4 more caps, btw the caps ive got atm are waterproof, bonus!

now to wire them up, should i get an electrician to do it or should i attempt it myself? it does have a diagram on the ballast but i dont entirely understand it

thanks