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Can someone please explain to me what T Lighting is? I have a T12 48" Bulb but I have never known what T Lighting is. I have seen it mentioned before but I couldn't find out what it is.

Help please?

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The number after the T has to do with the width of the tube. Wider tube=higher number. They have a slightly different light output and require a different ballast to run them. You can't just stick T5s in a fixture for a T12. You can sometimes run T8, T10, or T12 on the same fixture but you'll likely get at least some flickering and I blew a ballast once. Being different widths and sometimes even slightly different lengths different T ratings often don't even fit in the same fixture. The narrower bulbs tend to put out more light per watt. Watts is merely the amount of electricty the bulb uses to run and not actually the amount of light produced but it's much easier to figure watts than lumens or lux. You can get a lux meter to measure the exact output of your bulbs. Not worth it though unless your keeping very light sensitive or high light requiring animals and plants.

Thank you, So that is just the Size of the bulb. That is a big help.

Thanks again.

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My Tanks at Photobucket

Hi,
The "T" number on a fluorescent tube is the width of the
bulb in eighths of an inch.
A T-12 is 12 eighths of an inch in diameter or an inch
and half. A T-8 bulb is 8, eighths of an inch (one inch)
in diameter. A T-5 is 5/8 of an inch in diameter, and
so on...
Frank

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