96W Biax T5 "The Beast", anyone used one strictly for growing?

Hello fellow growers, Ive been looking into T5 lighting and came across this site which sells these 96W biax T5 (aquarium) lights (there called "The Beast" and have also been referred to as "Retina Burner" and "Migraine Maker", sounds pretty dam bright to me, lol) and I was wondering if anyone has used them strictly for growing? (---->CLICK HERE<----) I was thinking that two of them (ideally 4) in the corners of the grow box I'm about to build would be great supplemental lighting, what do you master gardeners think? My grow bow will be approx 4' x 5' x 3' and constructed of 2x2's, plywood and visqueen plastic. My main light will be a 6" air cooled 400W CMH and I'll have a 6" inline fan so ventilation won't be a problem. Let me know what you think and thanks for your time.

SativaMe@420

They work great but the bulbs are pricey.

OH, there not T5'S? Then why do they refer to them on there site as T5's?? Here is a snip I took from there site where they talk about the position of the "T5" tubes on the reflector, actually I believe that's the only time they refer to them as T5's so maybe it was a Type-O: (---->Here is the actual page<----)


Was this a TYPE-O or something?
Anyway, so you say they work great but are kinda pricy, so would I be better off with a standard T5? There suppose to be much brighter than standard T5's but at $30 just for the bulb your right on them being pricy, dam, do they last longer than standard T5's or what, why are they so expensive?

The lower wattages are in T4 tubes and the larger in T5 tubes. CFLs are often in T5 tubes but we generally do not refer to them as T5s. That bulb we generally refer to as a PC bulb (at least in the aquarium industry and when looking for bulbs online) - power compact florescent. Notice in the same sentence you highlighted they referred to the bulb as a twin tube compact florescent and only refer to the tube part of the bulb as the T5 - "T5 tube"?

It really doesn't matter though as they function very similar to T5s, like CFLs. Many of the PCs are similar to T5 VHO - very high output which is similar to jump amping up the wattage going through a HO bulb. They put off a ton of light for their size/length but not always at peak efficiency. I would say these PCs are better than T5s for flower as you can stick more wattage in a smaller area, but worse for veg as they use more wattage to cover a smaller area.

So this is what I'm considering doing, I would like to get two of the 96W bright kits (the one I linked to in my OP called "The Beast"), one will have a blue spectrum and the other a red spectrum. I was thinking of mounting them on either side of my 6" air cooled hood (both pointed slightly inward), this is roughly what it would look like:
With this configuration it seems I would theoretically have all the light the plants would need through the entire grow, no need to change bulbs. Now I understand that in the seedling/clone stage I wouldn't need all that light, probably just one blue PC, however once they are in full veg I think this setup would produce excellent results but I'm just a newbie, what do you Master Gardeners think? Suggestions and opinions are always appreciated, thanks for your time.

i like it, except i would put one blue/red in each side floro. but much like the same type of system I would like to put together.

unohu69 said:

i like it, except i would put one blue/red in each side floro. but much like the same type of system I would like to put together.

Click to expand...

Yea I would do that but I can't seem to find any of the biax bulbs in bi-spectrum, I posted a link in my OP but in case you missed it here's the light I'm talking about: (---->CLICK HERE<----) So AH supply has these spectrum's available (which 2 should I choose for my setup?):[SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1]

(Here's The Web Page)[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1]
96watt 5500K Compact Fluorescent Bulb
This is a warm daylight bulb with an appearance similar to early morning light. [/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1]96watt 6700K Compact Fluorescent
Very bright, full spectrum, clear white light. Like daylight in the middle of the afternoon under a clear blue sky. (Want more color in your aquarium? Consider our new 3-6-10 bulb, below.)

[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1]96 Watt 3-6-10 Compact Bulb
A daylight bulb with more blue and red output and less green. Makes the red colors in your tank a richer, more saturated red.

[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1]96watt 10,000K Compact Fluorescent Bulb
Sometimes called purified super-daylight, this is a daylight bulb with a slightly bluish cast and is very attractive in a marine setup.

[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1]96watt Bright Blue Compact Bulb
Use in a ratio of 1/1 or 1/2 with 10000K bulbs to achieve the marine look you want. Peak output in the 420-430nm range with almost all output between 400nm and 500nm.

[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1] 96w Deep Blue 03 Compact Bulb
A Deep Blue 03 actinic bulb. Use in a ration of 1/1 or 1/2 with 10000K bulbs to achieve the marine look you want. Peak output in the 420-430nm range with almost all output between 380nm and 450nm.

[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1]96w Combo Compact Bulb - OUT OF SYOCK
(Out of stock. New stock expected February, 2012.) This twin-tube bulb has one tube that is 10000K daylight and the other tube is deep blue 03 actinic. [/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE]

So out of these which ones should I get or is there a site with a better selection and prices????? I was thinking out of these I should get 6700K & 3000K, is that the best choice for my setup???????? Advice, suggestions and opinions are always appreciated, thanks for your time.

Yea this is an old thread but it is amazing that HTG never got the BIAX thing going. It is a class of CFL but unlike the spiral they are great in fixtures...it just so happens that commercial tract lighting is a good source for cheap used housing. For the bulbs go to 1000 bulbs and go to CFL under the "4 pin" sub-category. A standard fixture that holds 4 22" T5s can also hold 4 55W (at 3.75 apiece) producing 18,000 lumens. Not to mention they last much longer than a spiral CFL.