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Custom Light (T5HO + LED)

1147 Views 6 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  Hoppy, 
C
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I have an idea for a tank im going to be setting up and want to know everyones opinion on my light idea. I want the AGA 17 Gallon Tank. Its 24" Long 12" Wide and 14" Tall.

This light fixture is going to hang from 2 poles (bent conduit) over the tank. The fixture is made out of wood and going to be covered by Formica just like the stand im going to build.

The lights are 2x24w T5 Retro Kit w/reflectors and 8 Cool White 6500K Led's and the 3 in the center will be RBG (Red, Blue, Green) LED's for supplemental plant color. 2 fans will be mounted in the top and all wires ran through the conduit down the back of the stand.

Give me your opinions on this setup.

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xmas_one
I'd suggest you pick either t5's or leds. Don't see much point in doing both...
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C
The point of both is the 8 white led's are going to come on slowly to simulate sunrise, when they are on 100% then the T5's will come on and finally the RBG leds after that and same for sunset they will go off in reverse order.
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C
http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?cPath=73&products_id=669

here is a setup for saltwater that uses both. I can make the fixture i posted 24" long 12" wide for $175-200
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H
That light will have to be at least 2 feet from the substrate, possibly higher, or you will have too much light to easily manage. I understand how you plan to use the lights, but the plants won't be impressed. If you are doing this to please yourself and your guests, etc. this should work very well. I think there will be a lot of light spill over, but possibly having the T5 bulbs close to the front and back of the fixture housing will eliminate enough of that so it isn't annoying. If you can use just one T5HO bulb that would make this work out much easier, I think.
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C
Thanks for your input.

I am stuck between my setup idea and 4x24w T5's.

The only nice thing about the LED's when i say run them 100% i dont actually mean full blast lets say i want to use 50% of their power, they would ramp up from 0% to 50% over the course of an hour.

They are only 3w cree's. I like how i can get them in colors too, red, blue, cyan, green, etc. I would have optics on the led's to prevent the spill over i just have to figure out which degree optics are best.

Should i just go with 4x24w T5's?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
-Chris
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H
If your goal is to pack as much light as is possible into that fixture, just use a couple of 250 watt MH bulbs. But, if you want to get a good amount of light for a planted tank, use just one T5HO, 24 inch long bulb. You won't be happy with a 4 x 24 T5HO light.
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