Need help with lighting..T-5's

budbreak96

budbreak96

P-Town
Hello everyone,
I have a 75 gallon tank and right now i have 2 48" vho and a corallife pc 48" 4 65 watt. bulbs. I want to go with t 5's and want to get the right set up. I want to be able to keep any coral without having to worry if the lighting is good enough or not. Im thinking about an 8 bulb set up, just not sure what to go with and what bulbs to get. I want my colors to be bright and colorful. So bulb choice is something i need help with also. Thanks for the help and all suggestions are greatly appericated.
Thanks, Joe
 
the nova extreme pros are the least you can get, they are bottom level t-5's. next level up would be the tek or constellation fixture, keep in mind though that the tek doesnt have any cooling feature so they get HOT and need to be cooled with a fan or two. next step up is the top of the line t-5's, these included the ATI powermodule and the sfligoi fixture but they also come with a hefty price
 
Melon, I could not get your link to work. Which im working on a little bit of a budget but im going to do this right the first time. So if i have to wait a little bit thats fine.

Daugherty, That fixture looks like it will work for what i want, but i have a canopy. Can i use that fixture in a canopy? Also what bulb choice would you go with? I really want alot of different colors in the tank, I want it to pop. Is there any other fixtures that have indivual reflectors that are any good?

Thanks,
 
i wouldnt run t-5's under a canopy, they will get too hot, also know that with the teks, they have no built in cooling, so they get HOT, youll need to either open it up and put fans in the fixture or youll have have to have clip on fans on your tank to cool the fixture down, if you dont you run the rish of it over heating and being ineffecent and possibly blowing out the ballests
 
to mount them inside a canopy you'd need to build a retrofit fixture.... none of the fixtures you buy are recommended to use inside a canopy that I know of..

also, assuming you have a standard 18" 75gallon...... you'd have a hard time fitting 8 bulbs inside the canopy. I am running 4 bulbs over a 120.. overdriven by an icecap 660 ballast...... I have a mixed reef with sps, lps, leathers, zoas, etc..... etc...

my bulbs are 2 aquablues and 2 blueplus..... I really like the color. started out a little too blue, but has settled in to a nice tint.

dustin is right about the heat.... especially when they are overdriven, so you do need fans in the canopy to help cool them.

good luck
 
acer. Thats the kinda information im looking for. I think thats what i want to do is get the icecap 660 ballast and overdrive them. The back of my canopy is cut out and i have a 6" fan back there blowing across the lights i have right now. Maybe i should run 4 bulbs overdriven and then run 2 regular. Any more suggestions?
Are you running 4 bulbs overdriven on one ballast?


Im looking for brand of bulbs and styles. I want my colors to pop but also want decent growth. If i do 4 bulbs on an icecap 660 overdriven that should be plenty right? Can you keep clams with that lighting? Also what brand reflectors do you have? What are the best reflectors out there? Where is the best places and prices to order the icecap ballast, bulbs, and reflectors?

Thanks again, im just having a hard time getting any information about this and lfs just arent that helpfull around here.
 
this is what your looking for, it comes with your choice of bulbs and it is pre-wired for ease. the bulbs id use are

ATI Blue Plus
UVL Actinic White or Fiji Purple
ATI Aquablue
ATU Blue Plus
 
also for better cooling with t-5's you want the hot air to be drawn out away from the fixture instead of cold air blowing across the water because there is minimal heat transfer from lights to water
 
actually when you overdrive the t5s..... the area succeptable to overheating is the last 2" of each bulb, at each end... they recommend blowing a fan right at these points... myself, I have the one 8" fan blowing in..... I know many people that don't have fans running and haven't had an issue, though that isnt' to say they or I won't...

bud, I am only running the 4 bulbs off one ballast.. it's more than enough light for anything I will be putting in the tank.

I got my icecap retro from www.diyreef.com she has really good pricing on lighting...... (and everything else) and shipping and customer service are great!
 
acerhigh said:
actually when you overdrive the t5s..... the area succeptable to overheating is the last 2" of each bulb, at each end... they recommend blowing a fan right at these points... myself, I have the one 8" fan blowing in..... I know many people that don't have fans running and haven't had an issue, though that isnt' to say they or I won't...

bud, I am only running the 4 bulbs off one ballast.. it's more than enough light for anything I will be putting in the tank.

I got my icecap retro from www.diyreef.com she has really good pricing on lighting...... (and everything else) and shipping and customer service are great!
Click to expand...

So do you think this would be a good choice.

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...y_High-Output_Retrofit_Kit_w!_Bulbs_by_IceCap

Also what are the parabolic reflectors? Are those indivual reflectors? With this set up being 4 bulbs and the icecap 660 ballast will i be able to turn on two bulbs first for the sunrise affect and then the other two turn on and before the go out have the same two go off eairlier for the sunset affect?
 
budbreak96 said:
So do you think this would be a good choice.

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...y_High-Output_Retrofit_Kit_w!_Bulbs_by_IceCap

Also what are the parabolic reflectors? Are those indivual reflectors? With this set up being 4 bulbs and the icecap 660 ballast will i be able to turn on two bulbs first for the sunrise affect and then the other two turn on and before the go out have the same two go off eairlier for the sunset affect?
Click to expand...

yes they are individual reflectors...... the quality of the reflector will make or break a good t5 setup....

no you will have no dawn/dusk effect....... all 4 lights will come on together at the same time.... you would need a separate ballast to run 2 of the bulbs...... or 2 different bulbs..

that reefgeek setup is basically what I have......

I have to take some good pictures yet...... I do have a couple.... but in the picture the tank looks a lot bluer than it actually is........ here is one of the better pics...... I really need to take one when it's darker outside to eliminate the glare and reflection.....

IMG_0284.jpg
 
Looks good. I found an icecap 660 ballast for $50 is that a good deal? It doesnt have a power cord though. Would i be able to get a power cord? It has some thing with it that keeps it cooler. Cant remember what its called.
 
that is a great deal if it works call icecap and ask them if you can get the power cord i know that icecap has a forum on rc somewere
 
Thanks. Now i just need reflectors, endcaps and bulbs.
What brand reflectors should i go with? where do i find them at? WIll any end caps work since i will be overdriven the bulbs?
 
there are basically 2 options for reflectors...... the sunlight supply tek reflector and the icecap slr reflectors. the icecap reflectors are a little better quality than the sunlight supply ones...

use only waterproof endcaps..
and for bulbs...... I would still recommend 2 ati blue plus and 2 ati aquablue
reefgeek.com sells all of this......
reflectors: http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/IceCap/SLR_Reflectors/
endcaps: http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/Parts_&_Accessories/DIY-Replacement_Parts/T5_Fluorescent/ don't forget the standoffs too....
bulbs: aquablue: http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...00K_Aquablue_Special_T5_HO_Fluorescent_by_ATI
blue plus: http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5_Fluorescent/Bulbs/54W_Blue_Plus_T5_HO_Fluorescent_by_ATI

good luck...... look forward to seeing it when you are done.
 
Acer thank you for all the help. You are the one of the only ones that has tried to help and i really appericate it. Thank you dustin and daug also. I asked where could i get the power cord for the icecap 660 ballast on the ice cap forum but havent got an answer yet, probally will try to call icecap on monday.

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE HELP..
 

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