Replacing MH with T-5s

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charlestonemt

Member
So after my ongoing fiasco with my MH lighting and my newly installed GFCI, I was thinking about possibly replacing everything I have with T5 and wanted to get everybody's input.

I would like to keep a mixed tank including some SPS near the top and a clam or 2. The tank is 48" wide X 22" deep X 18" long. I currently have 2 175W MHs and 2 T-12 VHOs that come on 1 hour before and stay on 1 hour after the MHs.

I was considering pulling out all of my existing lighting (especially the old T-12s since they are becoming increasingly harder to find) and retrofitting the hood with T-5s. Is this possible considering what I want to keep, and if so, how many fixtures/bulbs should I think about putting in?
 
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Cavinca

Active Member
Its possible. Your hood may be to small for the number of bulbs youd need though. it would take around 6 t5 bulbs to ruffly match your 2 halides in wattage. BUT wattage isnt as important as the par your lights put off. Your par could be better with 4 t5's with individual reflectors as opposed to 6 with one large reflector. Your ballast may need to be modified as well. Im not sure though.

Id say u got 2 options:
Its probably cheaper to go with a new hood with exactly what you want
OR
A retrofit kit and some wood to make a nice hood to mount the kit in.
 
jjohnson3

jjohnson3

Active Member
I reccommend a nova extreme pro or a TEK fixture. The nova pro is what I have and only have 2 complaints. One is that it only las one large reflector. The other problem is the fans in it are sort-of loud. The TEK fixture I know has individual reflectors but the bulbs and splashshield must be bought seperately. You might could retrofit either fixture into a canopy over your tank. Just a suggestion...
 
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charlestonemt

Member
jjohnson3 said:
I reccommend a nova extreme pro or a TEK fixture. The nova pro is what I have and only have 2 complaints. One is that it only las one large reflector. The other problem is the fans in it are sort-of loud. The TEK fixture I know has individual reflectors but the bulbs and splashshield must be bought seperately. You might could retrofit either fixture into a canopy over your tank. Just a suggestion...
Click to expand...

Good deal. If I even choose to go through with this, I imagine I will probably want something with individual reflectors, so the TEK fixture sounds like a better option.

Do you have your nova pro built into a hood, suspended, or on legs on the tank?
 
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funkpolice

Active Member
I just set up an ATI 6X54 watt fixture on my tank. It was a substantial upgrade for me, so I'm still dong a light acclimation. The unit is very well built and comes with a really nice splash shield and individual high polish silver reflectors. The three cooling fans are all but silient. The only draw back I can see is the price, I paid about 850 with six bulbs and shipping. I've been led to belive that if you're going t5, and you have the money, ATI is the best you can do. The unit is suspended from the ceiling with approx 1/16" steel cables, and is easily adjusted up and down. My computer is in for repairs now, but when I get it back I'll have a post with a bunch of pics if you're interested. Another good t5 fixture is the Aquaticnics brand, I think it's called a solar flare. Best of luck,
bill
 
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charlestonemt

Member
Bill,

Thanks for the info. I'll do some research on it. Pictures would be great. I'd have to figure a way to mount whatever fixture I get into a hood or set it directly on the tank with an acryllic cover because the room my tank is in has 18' ceilings.
 
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funkpolice

Active Member
depending on the hieght of your canopy, you can suspend the fixture from the inside of the canopy. you could also put a shelf over the tank, and hang it from that, it might look nicer than bare brackets. Another option would be to build a fixture that mounts to the top of the tank, then hang the lights from that. The ATI fixture I have is pretty heavy, 40 lbs, so whatever you do would have to be stable. I'll get pics up as soon as I can, maybe te middle of next week. The geek squad is taking their sweet time with my computer.
bill
 
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charlestonemt

Member
Frankie said:
Save yourself some money and go visit Scott in Columbia. He has deals all the time. Here is his website. Aquarium Specialty I'll be taking a trip up there soon also.
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Very nice! Thanks for the info. Nice site too. I'm still trying to decide exactly what to do with this mess. Optimal would be getting this stupid MH working again for now...at least until the tax return is in.
 
Tru2nr

Tru2nr

Well-Known Member
FYI charles i have 4 bulbs in my 55g which is the same height as the 75 if i were to remove the standoffs i can fit 5 or 6bulbs(i have to have a gap of almost one full bulb for the hinge on the hood) you should be just fine either make an acrylic mount so you don't have to use the standoffs if not you should be able to fit a minimum of 6 or 7 bulbs on there
 
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mordibv

New Member
+ 1 on the ice cap from reef geek or PA . Or u can be lazy like me and get the Icecap preiwired kit . I had my choice of bulbs to pick too . All I had to do was take my old ones out . Mount the fixture in my hood . Screw in the bulbs . Put clips in the reflectors .Pop on the reflectors . It was plug and play from there . It lets u mount the icecap ballast a good distance from the hood .
I have a 48x24x 20 high . I also use Hagen glo t5 endcaps and ballast with ice cap reflectors . I even have a small 150 de 20 k blv but I am going to add one more
All this fits in my canopy with ease .

I don't even need the halides but I can't give up my glitter lines

An ice cap over drives the bulbs from 54 watts to about 84 per bulb .
Good choices for bulbs would be

ATI
KZ
Aqua Science
UVl or whatever URI call themselves now
Giesemann
 
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charlestonemt

Member
mordibv said:
+ 1 on the ice cap from reef geek or PA . Or u can be lazy like me and get the Icecap preiwired kit . I had my choice of bulbs to pick too . All I had to do was take my old ones out . Mount the fixture in my hood . Screw in the bulbs . Put clips in the reflectors .Pop on the reflectors . It was plug and play from there . It lets u mount the icecap ballast a good distance from the hood .
I have a 48x24x 20 high . I also use Hagen glo t5 endcaps and ballast with ice cap reflectors . I even have a small 150 de 20 k blv but I am going to add one more
All this fits in my canopy with ease .

I don't even need the halides but I can't give up my glitter lines

An ice cap over drives the bulbs from 54 watts to about 84 per bulb .
Good choices for bulbs would be

ATI
KZ
Aqua Science
UVl or whatever URI call themselves now
Giesemann
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. One question though: How much does overdriving the bulbs shorten their life? I've heard of people doing this and that it shortens the bulb life. Also, is there any hazard in doing that?
 
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amay121

Member
Overdriving the bulbs shortens the life a few months, but if you fan cool them (not too much cooling though), you can extend the life to the usual 12-18 months. So don't be put off too much about the whole overdriving deal.
 
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charlestonemt

Member
To all that have or know about ATI fixtures: From what I see, they only come with kits to suspend them, and that's not an option for me. Does anyone have any idea about rigging up some feet to have the fixture sit on top of the tank?
 
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funkpolice

Active Member
they hang from two approx. 1/16" steel cables. Depending on your diy abilities you could fabricate a fixture that they could hang from without too much trouble. I'm a metal worker, so if you want we could talk about a custom light hanging apparatus. Maybe something out of polished alum.
bill
 
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