DIY T5 help!!!

[Boydx2]

I am watning to put in a T5 lighting setup over my 37g reef tank, but would rather buy all the parts for cheap and do it myself. Problem is I do not know exactly what I need. I just cut and paste my shopping cart at aqualuxlighting.com and was hoping you experienced people could help me out, is this all I need? If not please help me out. Also If you know of anything on this list that I can find cheaper somewhere else please let me know.



Your Shopping Cart
Item Unit

(4) Reflectors: 22.5" Computer Designed Reflectors for T5
43.96


(2) Instant-Start Ballast: WORKHORSE 5
53.90

(4) Waterproof Sockets for T5 (Pair)
39.48

(4) Accessories: Stand Off Kit for Water Proof Sockets (Pair)
22.92

(2) Accessories: Power Cord
6.86


(2) 24 watt 24 inch T5 HO Fluorescent Aquarium Bulb: 24 watt 24 inch T5 HO 6000k ATI Sun
47.90


(1)24 watt 24 inch T5 HO Fluorescent Aquarium Bulb: 24 watt 24 inch T5 HO 20,000k ATi Blue
23.95

(1) 24 watt 24 inch T5 HO Fluorescent Aquarium Bulb: 24 watt 24 inch T5 HO ATI True Actinic
29.95

Subtotal for AquaLux Lighting Company: 268.92
Keep Shopping

[Boydx2]

Is everyone still sleeping?

[sjm817]

Looks ok except 4 of the CD reflectors wont fit over a 12" wide tank.

You could go to a 3 lamp setup which I think needs only 1 ballast and cut the cost down quite a bit. I'm sure horkin will chime in. He has that setup.

[Boydx2]

White bulb combo should I use?

[Boydx2]

sorry, that is supposed to be: what bulb combo should I use?

[dhoch]

Why not do a 3 bulb setup and use a Icecap ballast and overdrive the bulbs as opposed to using the workhorse. Then you would only need 1 ballast.

As for bulb combo I would go 1 Actinic White, 1 Blue Plus and 1 6K... You might find that to yellow, in which case a 2nd blue plus or actinic white.

Depends on how much blue you want.

Dave

[Boydx2]

Thats why I asked the questions, because I get good advice like this, what benefit does the whole overdrive thing give me? I am not really familar with what it does. And I dont like yellowish tints, I like to be a little more blue, but not to blue. Also with one ballast I will have only one plug correct? the reason i ask is that i wanted to do a dusk to dawn effect and cant if they are all on one unit.

[MDboyz]

For the ballast, I would go with the 2 Triad. It's designed to run T5 better, and the bulb lasts longer. With 2 ballasts, you can time them to on and off at different time.

[dhoch]

If you want dusk dawn go to two units as MDboyz says.

The advantage of the IceCap ballasts is they over drive the bulbs (more watt output per bulb = more light into the tank)... You were originally thinking about 4 bulbs and seems like you only had room for 3 so the IceCap ballast would make up for that difference.

If you don't like yellowish tints stay away from the 6K, and 6.5K bulbs.

If you want dusk dawn go with one actinic, 1 blue plus and 1 aquablue.

The blue plus add the aditional blue.

In my tank I run 2 of each of (6.5K, blue plus, aquablue, actinic), I wish there was a little more blue and will probably switch out my 6.5 K bulbs at some point, but they give great growth).

Dave

[Boydx2]

I talked to reefgeek.com as well as aqualux.com and they both said I can fit 4 bulbs in there if I stagger them. I will modify things if I have too, is there any place that you guys would recommend to get the parts I need for this setup, besides reefgeek and aqualux, I just want to explore my options. Thanks

[dhoch]

I used reefgeek...Make sure you get best prices from both websites if you use reefgeek as they will match.

Dave

[Boydx2]

really? cool. thanks abunch.

[cvrle1]

I just got my lights from customaquatics last night. It is a coralvue 2 X 39 W retro kit. Cheapest price and place to get it at. Reflectors are spider parabolic and there is one for each lamp. They go for $109 each and you get 5 or 10 percent off when you are an RC member. So for me total with shipping for 2 units was $222. I hooked evrything up last night when I got it and DAMN are they ever bright. And another good part is that unlike reefgeek or aqualux retros, this one came with the bulbs as well.

I don't have them in my aquarium yet cause I gotta do some modifications to the hood as well. My tank is 33G.

Hope that helps

here is the link for the fixtures:

http://www.customaquatic.com/customaquatic/subsubcategorypage.asp?subcatindexid=lt-t5-rt

it's the first one on that page

[Boydx2]

Hey cvrle1 is that the 36" because I need a 24" and it doesnt look like they have a coralvue in that size

[cvrle1]

yeah that is 36. They do have 24 as well (coralvue does make them)

Here is their link:

http://www.coralvue.com/t5retro.htm

email them and ask them where you could find one. They have really good customer service. i asked them bunch of questions about this unit and got really fast responces (within hours)

They will know who has them and will help you out any way possible.

With 24 they will be even cheaper so thats good.

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by Boydx2
I talked to reefgeek.com as well as aqualux.com and they both said I can fit 4 bulbs in there if I stagger them. I will modify things if I have too, is there any place that you guys would recommend to get the parts I need for this setup, besides reefgeek and aqualux, I just want to explore my options. Thanks

The Cd reflectors are a little over 3 1/8 wide. 4 over a 12" opening is a waste. Either use 3 lamps or the SLS or SLR reflector.

[Boydx2]

how wide is each reflector? I need to get 4 of them into about 8" or space is this doable in your opinion?

[Boydx2]

that last post was for cvrle1, and grim what's cd?

[cvrle1]

Originally posted by Boydx2
how wide is each reflector? I need to get 4 of them into about 8" or space is this doable in your opinion?

Well as far as I know, width of the reflectors does not change depending on the length of the bulb. Taking that into concideration, there is now way you can fit 4 bulbs in 8" of any reflector... well maby TEK since they say that theirs are 2" wide each. However from what I heard, TEK isn't as good as the other once.

I'm sure Grim can give you more info on this subject. He is the T5 guru

:D

[Boydx2]

come on grim, share the knowledge.

[The Grim Reefer]

CD = Computer Design. You have 8" of space you need to be looking at the SLS or SLR reflectors and only 3 of them. CD reflector, 3 1/8" wide, Ice Cap SLR 2 1/4" wide, SLS Tek reflector 2 1/2" wide.

In your case I'd spent the extra bucks for the Ice Cap reflectors, they'll give you a little better than 10% more light than the Teks at 18" of water.

[The Grim Reefer]

OOOP's The deminsions for the Ice Cap and Tek are reversed. 2 1/4" wide for Sunlight Supply Tek and 2 1/2 for the Ice Cap SLR.

[Boydx2]

will three bulbs give me enough light for corals??? reefgeek seems to think i can fit 4 into 8" and I want to get as much light as I can.

[Boydx2]

ok this might be a stupid question, but what does it mean when someone puts "bump" in a thread?

[The Grim Reefer]

I am sitting here with a SLS Tek reflector and a tape measure. 2 1/4 inches wide. Assuming you mount the lamps so the reflectors touch that is 9 inches. Now are you talking an 8 inch opening over a wider tank or you have 8" of room for the lamps to fit in?

[Boydx2]

you know what I just remeasured the room I have to work with and I got 9." I forgot I am taking out the emperor 400 soon and will have the extra room for lighting. So maybe four will work afterall.

[cvrle1]

Originally posted by Boydx2
ok this might be a stupid question, but what does it mean when someone puts "bump" in a thread?

since ther are a lot of threads on these forums, they tend to go down on the next page really quickly. When someone puts the "bump" or TTT (to the top) they just refrest the post so it is bumbed to the top of the list of the threads and there is more chance of people reading it.

:)

[Boydx2]

thanks, i really appreciate it.

[sjm817]

The lights should mount high enough in the canopy to clear HOB items. How far is the lid of the canopy off the top of the tank? If you have 9", you can get 4 SLS or SLR. 3 CDR would probably go too.

[Boydx2]

Yeah I think I am gonna go with 4 SLS or SLR. Can someone please explain this whole overdrive thing to me? I just want to know what it is and what benefits it brings.

[The Grim Reefer]

Look, If you want a tank full of SPS and clams overdrive your lamps. It would be like turning a 50 watt light bulb into a 75 watt, at least. For a mixed reef under 20" inches tall I think more lamps is better than overdriving. That allows you the opportunity to use more lamps to mix the different colors to get just the look you want. I would start with a GE daylight, an Aquablue, 1 Blueplus and 1 actinic lamps. That should give you a slightly blue light that will fluoresce the corals pretty good and all of those lamps except for the actinic put out good PAR for your corals. I can't imagine the coral or anemone that wouldn't get enough light in that mix in your tank. Ninja for Jesus?

[Boydx2]

lol, what you have never heard of a Christian Ninja before? Where have you been?

[The Grim Reefer]

Kicking Azz for Jesus, I can live with that. Me and my first wife helped get a Jesus rock n roll band a gig at Gizzari's on the Sunset strip.

[Boydx2]

So, to close this out Grim, you would say that 4x24w T5's would be good for my tank? And that you wouldn't overdrive them?

[horkn]

sorry i didnt respond earlier, i had to work

yeah, 3 will easily provide enough light for corals., but seeing that they are 24w bulbs, you may want a 4th in there....

i have 3x39 on mine and its darn bright. and thats only 3.34wpg of t5.

i have enough room to run a 4th bulb if needed, but after a while i realized that it was not necessary.

unless you want an SPS dominated tank, you dont need the overdriving effect of the icecap ballast.

and so far with near 4 months on my setup, the workhorse is showing no signs of abuse from the instant start...

sorry i didnt respond to your pm....

[Boydx2]

No its cool, I figured it out, I think. I will probably get a combonation of aqualux and reefgeek stuff. Whatever is cheapest. Thanks alot.

[horkn]

i sent a pm, yeahi figured a combo of reefgeek and aqualux to fit enough wpg over that tank....


grim, the size of my zoo "colonies" now are extrmely small, maybe 20 total at the moment, and the greens i am plannig on getting are only another 20 polyps.. but you probably know alot better than i do.. i am sick of the bare tank issue at the moment.. hopefully the zoos give me quick fix:)

[sjm817]

I used to have a 37G. Its kind of an odd tank. Its basically a tall 29G. Its 22" tall, so definitely 4 lamps and that only gives you 96W. That seems kind of weak for a 22" tall tank.

[horkn]

it does seem a tad weak. 2.59wpg....


this may be a time for overdriving....

[Boydx2]

come on guys, just when i think I know what I want. LOL, so how does one overdirve?

[sjm817]

Hard to say...

He has kind of a tough setup. 30" wide tank, 24" wide lights, plus being a tall tank for its size. Overdriven setup adds quite a bit to the price.

[sjm817]

Originally posted by Boydx2
come on guys, just when i think I know what I want. LOL, so how does one overdirve?
Here ya go (http://reefgeek.com/products/categories/lighting/104427.html) Get ready for a little sticker shock :eek1:

[horkn]

and thats the problem...


boyd.. what is your plan for corals to keep? that will let us know how you should handle this...


honestly, once you get a small reef going, you will want a larger one soon.. i am at that point already.. but i am a year off of my 210 setup...

[horkn]

its possible to maybe angle the 2 end reflectors in the corner, isnt it? if so. maybe you can squeeze a 5th in there....that will make it 3.2 wpg at least...

[Boydx2]

See though I heard that watts per gallon doesnt apply as much to T5 as it does to MH PC and VHO's. There was a really long thread I read about it the other day. I am thinking that 4x24w overdriven will do the trick. Anybody else hear this before?

[sjm817]

The T5's are priced basically the same for 24" - 48" tanks. Once you go to 60", you must use an Ice Cap Ballast and the price jumps significantly. The 48" setups are really the sweet spot for T5.

Compare 4 lamp setups:
Sunlight Supply 24" Retrofit: 4-24W T5 HO Fluorescents $309.00
Sunlight Supply 36" Retrofit: 4-39W T5 HO Fluorescents $329.00
Sunlight Supply 48" Retrofit: 4-54W T5 HO Fluorescents $329.00
Sunlight Supply 60" Retrofit: 4-80W T5 HO Fluorescents $549.00

IceCap 24" Retrofit: 4-24W T5 HO Fluorescents $409.00
IceCap 36" Retrofit: 4-39W T5 HO Fluorescents $419.00
IceCap 48" Retrofit: 4-54W T5 HO Fluorescents $429.00
IceCap 60" Retrofit: 4-80W T5 HO Fluorescents $549.00

The overdriven setup would have the most light. One good thing is that 660 ballast is very widely used. That same ballast wll run (4) 48" or (3) 60" T5s overdriven. May be handy down the road.

[The Grim Reefer]

WPG is a joke, too many variables. Order a 4 lamp Ice Cap retro from reefgeek. If you can't use 4 reflectors use 3 for a daylight and 2 Blueplus lamps and run an actinic without the reflector. once you upgrade the ballast will fire 4 54 watt or 3 80 watt T5's or up to 96" VHO's. It is more money up front but a much more upgradable system. You can even re use the reflectors on longer lamps and Ice Cap's are the best so not a bad thing to have laying around.

[horkn]

the wpg is a good measure to start off with..


yes the dimensions of the tank will alter it, but if you expect to keep corals under1 24w bulb, its not happening, (for the most part)

now under 4, sure...

as long as you compare each type of lighting with same type, the wpg is a rule, although not a hard rule..

[The Grim Reefer]

As I said before WPG is a joke, too many variables.

[JustOneMoreTank]

Sorry this is coming in late.... Someone mentioned that one vendor was a better deal because a listed price included bulbs and that ReefGeek did not include bulbs. That is incorrect. I am certain that ReefGeek does come with bulbs in the T5 retro kits.
Good luck on deciding how many bulbs and to overdrive or not to overdrive. :)

[jimsta]

Not to steal the thread or anything but i have a little ten gallon tank that I want to try the t-5's on. Do you think that 2 t-5's will be enough? I want to have no limit on what I can keep.

[The Grim Reefer]

The shortest T5's are 2 feet long. If your tank is long enough go for it.

[jimsta]

I was going to retrofit them into a hood and they would hang over a little bit. But would this be enough light to keep pretty much anything I want?

[Boydx2]

That might look kinda funny, but it will be enough, from what I here. Even Reefgeek.com told me that two would be good enough for me to keep a lot of corals in my 37g which is 24" deep.

[Peccavi18]

Do you have the 37g oceanic cube or an aga 37g? -pecc

[Boydx2]

whats pecc?

[Peccavi18]

Pecc is short for peccavi18, my screen name, not really sure what it means I just needed one for aol a few years ago-pecc

[Boydx2]

oh sorry i was thinking that was the type of tank. Im an idiot. if aga is allglass then thats waht I have. why do you ask?

[Peccavi18]

I have the oceanic 37 gal, cycling right now. I am just kinda browsing to see what everyone else is running for lighting, for their oc 37's so when I get some money saved up I already will have what I want picked out. sorry to derail ya -pecc

[Boydx2]

no its cool, I think I am going with the 4 T5's, but not overdrive them. I dont know I hear a millon different opinions everyday and almost went with a MH, but I have heard so many people say you can make it without MH especially with a 37gal tank. Eventually I will go with a bigger tank then probably splurg on a MH setup.

[Peccavi18]

If your possibly considering MH, This is the cheapest place I have heard of, http://www.aquatraders.com/ I think their MH is what I am going to get but I'm still keeping my options open and browsing to see what else is available. Their t5 set ups are also really cheap, for a complete plugin. If your looking for small space you could probably ditch the housing and upgrade the reflectors, but the unit it's self is really cheap, and once the bulbs go you can always upgrade them. Right now I'm just looking though to see what results ppl are getting. HTH-pecc

[The Grim Reefer]

Beware of aquatraders.

[Boydx2]

Yeah I was told about, why exactly do you no tliek them grim?

[The Grim Reefer]

Sleazy business practices. "Free" lamps arrive broken and purchaser must pay for new lamps when the free ones arrive broken. A reputable businesss like Reefgeek,com Includes the lamps. If they are broken in shipment they re guranteed,

[horkn]

plus aquatraders has poor designed reflectors. the biggest part to a good t5 setup is the right reflectors..

[Peccavi18]

Maybe I'll continue looking then....The price was what caught my attention on AT, I'm still trying to learn all the ins and outs of lighting. I want a versitile system, for this tank because it will prob be my only tank for a few years till I graduate. I like the look of t5 (that's why this thread caught my attention). And with my tank being 21" tall they sound like they can work with and grow about everything? -Pecc

[horkn]

pecc, what are the tanks total dimensions?

[Boydx2]

can someone refresh my memory, what is the rule of thumb for GPH for PH's?

[horkn]

i think 6-10x the gallonage is correct..

[dhoch]

Boydx2 - Depends on what you want to keep.

Dave

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by Boydx2
can someone refresh my memory, what is the rule of thumb for GPH for PH's?


Shoot for at least 10 times your gallons for a basic reef. That is out the window if you start adding wavemakers or want to raise SPS corals.

[Boydx2]

Can someone explain to me in as simple of terms as possible what a refugium does and how it works. Also I think I want a HOB unit for my tank, is there a certain brand that I should get? Any Help would be great.

[Peccavi18]

My tank is 24"w x 21"t x 18"d.

If I understand this right, A refugium is an area with slow to moderate flow with lots of macro algae (cheato) and live rock, and live sand. It filters the water, gives amphipods and copepods a place to procreate, supplying food to the main tank, and the macro algae uses up nitrates, which in turn helps control bad algae in your main display tank.

As for brands not sure, I've seen alot of diy, posts on them??
-pecc

[The Grim Reefer]

CPR Aquafuge is the only hang on back fuge I know of.

Peccsvi

6 T5's would let you raise about anything you want. 4 would be enough for a mixed reef but you would want to keep high lite critters up on the rocks.

[Peccavi18]

How hot do t5's run, do they produce any heat since they are a flourecent? That was another concern, I'm trying to minimize the heat issue right off the gun, Chillers look to expensive for my current budget. I know MH's are really hot but being they need to be high off the water and with an open top and a fan. They seem as though their heat could be semi controlled. thanks-pecc

[horkn]

t5s dont make much heat at all... mine dont raise the temp of my tank at all. and i have no vent fans on mine, just a few inchesbetween the bulbs and the water surface, and a gap in the back of the tank for heat to escape...

[Breaker4show]

I just read the whole forum and after my research, I think the Icecap 4 X retro kit is the best kit! if you plan to upgrade, you can use the Icecap 660 to power actinics to supplement your MetalHalide! Well worth the extra $100 IMO!

Nick

[horkn]

its a little more than 100 bucks breaker4show

more like 170 bucks more than what i paid, and i have a really nice setup...at least as far as lights....

hell, i only paid 170 for my whole retro:lol

not trying to flame, but there is no one best light setup. read all the t5 threads and you will find this out..

t5 may be for you
and
the great t5 reflector glarathon

are great threads on t5s....

[The Grim Reefer]

As long as you don't overdrive the T5's they dont put out a lot of radiated heat. As long as you vent the air away from the water heat shouldn't be a big issue.

[Boydx2]

lol

[REMF]

That's a whole lotta reading LOL

[Boydx2]

yeah thats why i put that response up there , just to see if I could get this thing going again after a year, ahahaha