Adding retro t5 to led fixture
- Thread starter bcheriyan
- Start date
Plenty of people have, and several manufacurers offer hybrids in comercial reef lights now.
Blue Plus, Purple Plus, and Coral Plus seem to be the favorites of T5 lighting right now depending on what spectrum you want to supplement.
Purple Plus if your using cool whites would probably give you the most improvement.
Blue Plus, Purple Plus, and Coral Plus seem to be the favorites of T5 lighting right now depending on what spectrum you want to supplement.
Purple Plus if your using cool whites would probably give you the most improvement.
I would use 2 blue+ or 1 coral + and 1 blue+ and then modify your LED intensity to get the color you like. Either of those should fill in the rest of your spectrum fine. FWIW, I am running 2 20 inch 120 watt Maxspect Razors with 4 T5s supplements. I am running 3 blue+ and 1 purple+ and am satisfied. I will replace the purple+ with a coral+ once those T5's get old. My colors and growth have greatly increased since adding the T5's (90% SPS tank).
jedimasterben
LED world domination!
I would use two Coral Plus (otherwise the tank will be unevenly lit by the fluorescents, the front will have one color and the back will have another, etc) and adjust intensities of the LEDs accordingly.
bcheriyan
Aqua99
Thank you for all your inputs , looks like two Coral Plus would be my best bet ..
I have another question .. What brand of retro would you recommend, also I can either add a 2 x 60 inch or 6 x 24 inch kits on my 72 inch tank. 60 inch would be nice in terms of wiring , do you all see any reasons to go with 24 inch ?
I have another question .. What brand of retro would you recommend, also I can either add a 2 x 60 inch or 6 x 24 inch kits on my 72 inch tank. 60 inch would be nice in terms of wiring , do you all see any reasons to go with 24 inch ?
jedimasterben
LED world domination!
Whichever you get, do not get one with a crappy ballast like the Workhorse series. HEP ballasts, the ones that ATI specs their bulbs to, are cheap ($54 to drive two 60" bulbs) and are the same ones used in all ATI Powermodule and Sunpower models, so they are reliable.
jedimasterben
LED world domination!
Well, do you want T5 with LED supplements or LED with T5 supplements? I think using four T5 bulbs is too much, at that point you're covering so much of the same spectra that you may as well only use blue and violet LEDs as 'actinic' supplement.
I just don't see why you'd want to use so much power for T5s when all they're needed for is to get light in the places that the LEDs can't. But, I digress. lol
Do you already have any of the LEDs or are you starting from scratch?
bcheriyan
Aqua99
Nice ,, I need supplement my led .. I have my led fixture DIYed last year.. I have 108 leds on my 72 inch tank and also added 12 violets .. The Coral growth is great .. but not the color .. As you all suggested said I will do is add 2 T5 That Should help . I didn't want to keep modifiying this again. That is the reason I was thinking 4 ..
Fishtitious Per
New member
Fwiw, the one drawback of supplementing t5's is that you do end up washing out the glitter lines the led's provide. I added bulbs to my Radion and now lose the snorkeling underwater effect when the bulbs turn on. No biggie, but heads up.
jedimasterben
LED world domination!
Can you give me the details of your setup? What LEDs are you using, what currents, lenses, etc?
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