DIY T5

[t-rex]

I know there are a lot of threads for Diy t5 setups however I have yet to find one for my application. Please feel free to direct me to other threads or whay have you! I have a 29 gal bow I was using for fresh that I have mad aio and am now wanting to make my own light fixture for it. I was hoping of having 4 ( I'm not sure what wattage) running off two balasts. Has anyone done this or any ideas

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[sandman]

i see your a junior member dont hold your breath waiting for an answer if your not part of the little web site click nobody will reply . sorry i have no info on diy lighting as i an a newbie that nobody answers either !!!

[Aquattro]

i see your a junior member dont hold your breath waiting for an answer if your not part of the little web site click nobody will reply . sorry i have no info on diy lighting as i an a newbie that nobody answers either !!!

Nice attitude! I'm sure lots of people will help you out now.


t-rex, run through the ideas you have now, and see what people can build on. Your question is a bit open ended. Do you use a canopy? Do you want to mod an existing fixture? There are so many options, you need to explain your starting point.
Oh, and ignore this other guy, the new people here tend to get the most help.

[phi delt reefer]

sandman sounds a little bitter.


most newbie posts that receive little to no help are due to two main reasons;

1. the question they have is EXTREMELY COMMON and a quick google search/canreef search would have yielded countless pages of advice. If you are new to the hobby you should spend a couple weeks reading the beginner info sections of any reef forum. People enjoy full thread builds - start a thread build and post some questions as you progress and i am sure you will receive responses. I've had members from this forum call me long distance on their own dime to help me.

2. your question is too vague and not enough info is provided. If you are too lazy to give us basic details then expect the same when it comes time for help. The more info you provide the more answers you will get. More than likely if someone has to ask a question to help you out your thread will quickly get lost after the 1000 daily thread posts and that person will probably not see it again.


in your case T-REX - we need some more info as Aquattro has requested.

tank width/depth
livestock plans in terms of coral
are you using a canopy
what is your budget

a quick search on JL Aquatics site and GoReef shows that a DIY 4 bulb 36" kit - with no bulbs will cost you $300+

a brand new current USA 4x36" (bulb wattage is 39w for a 36" t5ho bulb) is only $270.

looking in the classified section of this forum or kijiji will probably help you score a gently used fixture for 1/2-2/3 of the retail price and give you a couple used bulbs to start off with. Know that bulbs will run you approx $100 yearly for such a fixture.

[t-rex]

I havn't found and used that would for my application but ill keep lookin as for coral and such ill get back
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[weyburnt]

I just built one for a similar tank I found 36 inch sun blaster fixtures. Which I got for 36 bucks a piece. So there is 4 ballasts but they are really small. I took apart a cheap flourecent fixture and pop riveted the sun bladders into them. But the sun bladders are total 36 inches long and the whole fixture and ballast is 1 inch wide. They come with daisy chain jumpers so you can hook up 8 together. And I just found them at my local hydroponics shop.

I'll try and post pics

[t-rex]

Sounds like its worked nice for you, however my tanks only 24 " wide

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[t-rex]

Here's a couple pics of the hood, the tak is 15 deep mind you 4 " of that is my aio and 20 " tall approx. http://img.tapatalk.com/1844284d-7d54-8c6f.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/1844284d-7d61-b483.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/1844284d-7d6b-e341.jpg

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[weyburnt]

The reef blaster t5 also come in 24 inch you will easily fit 2 in that hood but you will have to fab something else to get 4

[mike31154]

While I do have a DIY light fixture (T5HO/MetalHalide combo), I don't really have a build thread to help you out. I'll provide a few details here though & a photo or two. I'm currently building an LED fixture to replace this rig & would recommend you look into LEDs as well. They are well on the way to becoming the standard for aquarium lighting & prices are coming down rapidly.

Anyhow, my tank is 4 ft long 77 gal Hagen & I started with a 3 ft Hagen GLO two lamp T5HO fixture. Quickly realized this was not going to cut it for where I planned to go with my system, so set about building my current DIY ghetto rig. I cannibalized a used MH/VHO fixture for the Workhorse 8 fluorescent ballasts, purchased water resistant endcaps online, aluminum stock from Princess Auto & some 12VDC fans since I'm overdriving the two T5HOs I'm running now. Before adding the 2x250 watt MH lamps, I was running 2 sets of 48" T5HOs using one Workhorse 8 per pair. After adding the MH, I retired one set of T5HOs.

Standard T5 lights are not going to cut it for any kind of saltwater reef application, so the only real option will be T5HO, which require a suitable ballast. An F24HO (24 inch) T5 lamp will use approx. 24 watts driven at the rated power.

The whole rig pretty much as it is now. I also built the MH reflectors from a pattern I got online & sola tube reflective aluminum from major hardware store:

https://public.blu.livefilestore.com/y1p3Osy5XxV_nmizsG12PCuZS3qDZl1cbEmOwH0Toex5T_02ny R0czWwHzuXXwmZCvMKFrML5RE_gHa0rC3hhsJvw/P1010866a.JPG?psid=1

Close up of the water resistant T5HO endcaps with cooling fan. Also note the high quality reflector to maximize light:

https://public.blu.livefilestore.com/y1ppRBELm-k3OFwq4fSVsrE9wXJOdCYFvU-VWKNAHravqW9LfiRJtLZwD9SVZrK-0Wne0C_2gLw0lr1PLXFOIJ0nA/P1030293a.JPG?psid=1

Hopefully this will give you some ideas of how to get started. With many folks switching to LED, there should be plenty of used T5HO parts & whole setups for sale at very good prices. But I'll reiterate that you're probably farther ahead going LED right away yourself, particularly for a tank your size.

Here's a link to my LED project. I haven't done much lately since I've been away skiing the backcountry. Hopefully get going again now that I'm back.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=82206

[Slick Fork]

I have a pair of reefbrite LED strips that are 24" that I'm selling

Short version is $300 for the pair, I would include shipping for you at that price.

Here's the thread:

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=83763

They would probably both fit into your hood and would allow you to keep just about everything you wanted in there, with proper placement.

If that's not something your interested in, check out ModularLED... they are a sponsor here and specialize in DIY kits

[t-rex]

For 300 probably wont work but thanks

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[Slick Fork]

No worries,

Narrowing down your budget and deciding what kind of life you want in the tank will really help people point you in the right direction.

Something really cheap like this
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/sl-t5sb24/Sunlight+Supply+Sun+Blaze+T5+HO+Strip+Light+%2824+ Inch%2C+24+Watt%29.html
would work if you just want fish and inverts, maybe a couple of mushrooms or something that doesn't need a lot of light.

If you want to keep corals, then unfortunately you'll be looking at a much bigger investment.

[t-rex]

For hose t5ho just buy more than one? I'm seriously considering the leds now however they are more pricey
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[Slick Fork]

You could buy as many of those as will fit, the JL site says they can be daisy chained together. To keep any kind of Coral though you would need 4+ of those plus individual reflectors for each so you'd be looking at $120ish for the lights, $120ish for reflectors and you'd probably want to change the colour of some of the bulbs so say another $40 if you replace half the bulbs right off the bat.

With an AIO heat will also become an issue which is another advantage LED's have over both T5's and MH's.

Ultimately I think you will find LED's more cost-effective but it also depends on your goals with this tank.

[t-rex]

Could you measure the exact length of the leds you offered me. And would those be enough for corals?

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[Slick Fork]

They are 24 1/8" long including the mounting brackets, 2 inches wide each. I have these with 2 T5's with really crummy reflectors and can keep high-light SPS down to 8" in my tank.

I have not tried them alone although I was running on only 1 LED strip plus the T5's for about 6 months while I dealt with a warranty issue on the other and most of my coral did OK. Since I have them both up and running everything is looking good!

I have seen other hobbiests make comparisons that a reefbrite strip is about the same usable light as 1.5-2 T5 bulbs but that is very anecdotal. I would guess that you should be fine keeping most beginner SPS near the top of the tank and corals with lower requirements further down.

Here's another thread about the reefbrite strips
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=66116

Also check out the link in my "for sale thread" that I linked to you for pictures of the exact lights so you can see what kind of colour you would be getting.

[sphelps]

If you're now considering LEDs don't rush into anything without doing your homework. There are many options for new products in the $300-$400 range, never mind used. The reef brights wouldn't be my first pick for a few reasons but I've also have heard a few issues regarding reliability.

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=67874&page=2

[Slick Fork]

Yep, that one is linked to in my for sale thread that I provided above. The new one replaced by Reefwholesale is doing fine and the other one is still problem free.

[t-rex]

Ok well those wont really work. The tank is exactly 24 " from outside trim. Don't want it to look messy :p

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[t-rex]

P.s DIY is exhilerating for me, i would really like to design a canopy and wire it myself! Also lights are interesting arn't there. It seems to be a very open topic to whats good and not, kinda like undergravel filters :p

[Slick Fork]

Try ModularLED, they've got a website in the sponsorlist. It's DIY but without soldering... really customisable as well.

I'm not sure what other commercial fixtures could be recommended in the 300 and lower price range. The AI sol would fit your requirements but that's at $400ish plus the controller. It's what I'm saving for incidently.

[t-rex]

Will do, i guess the question now is what should i look for in lighting? by this i mean because my tank is tall, how many lumens or total wattage should i be looking for..

[Slick Fork]

I'll leave that one to the DIY experts,

Since the tank is tall I would think the better question you should be asking is about lenses for better penetration

[t-rex]

by that essentially your saying the color?

[Slick Fork]

Oh, sorry no.

Colour will be handled according to how many LED's of blue vs. white vs. other colours such as red and green you put on. lenses focus or spread out the light. For example with your tank you might want a narrower lense on some LED's to give you penetration but a wider lense on other individual LED's to facilitate colour blending

[t-rex]

ok, so after a little research i think im going to use:

the 29 gal biocube kit, even though i don't have a cube!
added to the kit im going with 2 red and 1 green cree LED...

Does anyone know if the kit comes with the XP-E's or the XP-G's?

[sphelps]

ok, so after a little research i think im going to use:

the 29 gal biocube kit, even though i don't have a cube!
added to the kit im going with 2 red and 1 green cree LED...

Does anyone know if the kit comes with the XP-E's or the XP-G's?

Careful with the reds and greens ideally these should be independently dimmable or choose very wisely. I have reds and greens in my fixture, to get the color I like I'm running about 4Ws of red and 3W of green with 100W of blue and 45W of white.

I'd stick with the Rblue, blue and cool whites for now in the 3W range. Then for reds and greens look into some lower power strips that can be easily added and dimmed. There are a lot of RGB style LED strips on the market right now, someone recently posted one from Ikea.

[sphelps]

In terms of other lower priced options worth looking at:
Panorama Pro LED Modules
PAR38 LED bulbs
Vertex Illumilux II LED Fixture
AI Sol Nano

In terms of DIY you could get away with as little as 18W of LEDs and keep plenty corals under that amount of light in that tank. Personally I'd go with double that or more and stick with cheaper alternative LEDs. Take a look here (http://shop.stevesleds.com/) for around $150 you can get everything you need minus wire and heat sink to have 3 channels of color (Royal blue, blue, cool white) at 7 LEDs per channel (63W total) and you'll have individual dimming control for each channel. Plus the drivers are PWM ready so if you add a controller later on or build one they will work with that as well. If you don't see something you want like the straight blue LEDs just ask, not everything is on the site.

[t-rex]

They don't ship to can. But ill keep lookin round

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[sphelps]

They don't ship to can. But ill keep lookin round

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The link I provided certainly does ship to Canada, I've ordered from them numerous times. Like I said just contact the guy if you're interested, he's easy to deal with.