What is Reddit's opinion of Hydrofarm Agrobrite Designer T5, FLP44, 216W 4 Foot, 4-Tube Fixture with Lamps Fluorescent Grow Light, 1 Count (Pack of 1), Brown?

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Get one! They’re great..and then graduate up to this...can’t recommend it enough!

https://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-FLP44-Agrobrite-Designer-Fixture/dp/B007FGE6C0/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538566880&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=hydrofarm+designer&dpPl=1&dpID=41x5gViSbFL&ref=plSrch

That does look nice. I did consider Bright Agro's Farm Wall, but those things are insanely expensive and hard to find in Canada -- although they do kind of take care of all the filtration and structure as well. One downside though is that my room only gets sunlight in the AM, so I would have to put my lights up vertically, which ends up ruining the aesthetics anyway.

That's a good point about elevating the tank. I'm a tiny Japanese guy, so both physically and culturally, I'm used to things being closer to the ground. I actually wouldn't have very good access to the plants if I were to stack a grow bed above the height of the tank as it is now.

I have one fixture that holds four 4 foot T5s. Could eventually expand to a second one.

What would you suggest for solids filtration? It seems like a swirl/radial flow filter would be overkill for somethign like this.

Lol I use two of these for veg.

https://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-Agrobrite-Designer-FLP44-Fixture/dp/B007FGE6C0

I have Hydrofarm designer light fixture 4 feet-4 tubes with T5 HO fluorescent lights. This one here: https://www.amazon.ca/Hydrofarm-FLP44-4-Feet-4-Tube-Designer/dp/B007FGE6C0/ . I bought it over 9 years ago and it never gave me any problems and still works fine after almost a decade. I can successfully grow and bloom all kinds of orchids and hoyas under this fixture.
I am not sure if it is the most efficient setup, but it works and I decided to use it until it dies. Then I might look into LEDs.

This one has been indoors from the start, under one of these lights, running it for 16 hours a day.

Thanks for that. I try and educate myself before bothering you good folks.

As for the 40,000 lux of this unit. How does this unit compare to a 4ft 4 tube T5HO

I know lux isn’t a good measurement for light that plants use, I’m just wondering how this compares to this light

If energy cost savings is the only real factor that differs, I’ll go with the t5.