Looking to replace lights...

[ndepratt]

you might wanna re-think that statement.

not according to my girlfriend....

 

[project5k]

um, well, ok, i'm just gonna leave that one alone then....

so, speaking of lighting, i'm working on my new tank stand, and with that will come a new canopy, and i'm looking at the sketches i've done so far, and it looks to me like i'm gonna be able to add oodles and oodles of more lights to my tank...

right now i have 2-65Wcf's @10K and 2-65Wcf's @50/5010k-actinic on a 75 gallon tank thats approx 18 inches deep.

all i have is rock, sand and fish right now, but i'd really like to get all different kinds of zoanthids, and a couple anem's for my clownfish, what should i add to my lighting system? I'd really prefer to stay away from MH if i can, just due to the heat factor....

I can pick up ballasts and bulb connectors all day long, but i need to know how many watts and what kind of bulbs i should end up with so i know what to get. My tank is 48" long, so i would think ideally that if i could use either 3' bulbs, or 2-2' bulbs, with a slight overlap, then i'd be able to really light up that tank..

so, what do i add? I'd like to add bulbs that will last a good while, just cause i know that changing bulbs isn't something that i'm gonna do unless they go out...

do i get t5's? t8's? more cf's? whats the best bang for the buck?

 

[project5k]

bump

no one has any input on what i should add to my lighting system?
wow.

 

[daugherty]

if you make your own retrofit you can use an icecap 660 balast it will overdrive 3 54w t5's to 80w is this on your 75 gal and get the icecap reflectors that clip onto the bulb.i would also run at least 6 bulbs or even 8 t5's if you dont overdrive them but make shure you get good reflectors. i want to overdrive my fixture if i can get the money to do it.

 

[ndepratt]

if you make your own retrofit you can use an icecap 660 balast it will overdrive 3 54w t5's to 80w is this on your 75 gal and get the icecap reflectors that clip onto the bulb.i would also run at least 6 bulbs or even 8 t5's if you dont overdrive them but make shure you get good reflectors. i want to overdrive my fixture if i can get the money to do it.

right on, an IceCap 660 is IMO the best ballast on the market, nothing comes close in my book. Their long bulb life, even at a dramatically higher wattage (16 feet of bulbs not exceeded 440 watts -- so 4 x 80W T5's are sweet)

however, if you're going to do a 6 bulb setup over that 75g you might as well do 8 bulbs considering for a 6 bulb setup you're going to have to have 2 ballasts anyways.

If you're wanting to just do a cheap T5 setup that will work great but not overdrive.... you could look into the Fulham workhorse ballasts.... however in the long run with shorter lifespan on bulbs the price will even out.

 

[project5k]

can you explain to me how a ballast is going to overdrive a bulb beond its wattage rating? and how thats not gonna cause other issues down the road? ie shortened bulb life, etc?

i can see sharing the bulb load on the output transistors, but if your not increasing the output voltage, then how does it work?

and if you overdrive too much then you will push the bulb out of its optimal design range, which is beond the ionization range, and you begin loosing efficency.

i'm not saying it cant be done, i just dont understand how it works.

 

[daugherty]

t5'ho's are just like vho bulbs the 54watters can be pushed to 80 watts and not blow up but you have to have a fan that blows on the ends of the bulbs or they will get to hot and burn out faster.

 

[project5k]

then why would i do that?
why wouldnt i just mount more lights in the canopy?

i mean really, if that canopy ends up like the measurements are saying that they will, then i wll have about 15 inches front to back, and 48 inches wide to fill up with bulbs, i could put 10 maybe even 12 t5 bulbs in that space, at 50W each thats 500 or 600 watts of light.. on a 75 gal tank, thats a bunch,

and i dont have to push any components any harder than normal, and nothing gets any hotter than normal...

I'm just not seeing the benifit.

 

[daugherty]

it is more for people that dont have the room for more lights. i have 8 54watters on my 75 but if i up graded to a 120 i could overdrive my bulbs cheaper than getting a new fixture and get a great amount of light frim them. and still run fewer bulbs which is cheaper that replacing 10 or 12 bulbs

 

[project5k]

ahhh, ok, now see that makes sence, its a $$ thing! ok, now i get why you would want to.. i still dont understand the how it works part, but i'll bet if i google it i can figure it out..

the one saving grace that i have is that i can use what i have, and add a couple t5's. then as the older bulbs that i have in there now die off, i can convert to t5's as i go, in stages, so i dont have to lay out all this cash at once, and if i'm smart, i'll lable the bulbs so i can just keep a rotation going and at most have to buy like 2 bulbs ever couple months... that way they all stay relatively fresh..

oh, and as for reflectors, i have a plan for that as well, and each bulb will have its own...

 

[daugherty]

the bulbs are made to run that much. if you try to overdrive a regular bulb you will burn it out in a matter of minutes. all you do is make the ho bulb into a vho bulb which uses more energy this making more heat so if you want them to last longer you need to cool the ends of the bulbs.

 

[project5k]

ok..well, after thinking through some of the wattages, and what not.. i think all i really need is to just add like 2 54W t5's, simple, and small, i think..

check my math, please:

i have 4 - 65W cf's now, so thats 260W and then if i add 2 - 54W then thats 108 for a total of 368W,

i have a 75 gal tank, so 75*5W = 375, so i'm less than 10 off the mark...

sound about right?

 

[daugherty]

you will get better light if you go all t'5 ho but you should be alright with what you have.

and if you really want some xenia pm me. they are poor shippers but maybe something would live

 

[project5k]

the pm has been sent