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]

Originally Posted by 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 !!!

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.

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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:



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



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