Height of T-5s

[georgiaredhead2]

I have 4 T-5's on an Icecap 660 with Icecap reflectors. There is no glass top on tank. How high should I place my lights. I have four 3 inch fans cooling off the lights but I recently built my canopy and placed the lights about 10 inches off the surface and it doesn't seem to light up the tank much. Any help?

 

[hlama]

10" yeah thats too high. mine are about 3" off an open top with canopy. thinking of adjusting that to 4" though.

 

[georgiaredhead2]

Hmm, 4" Crap I built the canopy and I don't think that will work.

 

[hlama]

lol, yeah your canopy is good to go for MH. is there a way you can take the lid to the canopy off and trim the frame then reattach the lid?

 

[georgiaredhead2]

Uh No! I screwed everything down as well as Liquid Nailed all joints. It's not coming loose. It's 13" high and I cannot think of a way to fix this. Bollocks this sucks. All that money on building a canopy Icecap ballast waterproof endcaps and high dollar bulbs. What the hell??? I should have asked earlier in the design stage.

 

[s3aL]

Yeah, the canopy you designed wouldnt do well with T5's. You should either go MH with that canopy or build another so you can have the bulbs 3-4" from the water

 

[smoknreefrs]

i have a canopy that is the same height and i use 6 T5's. 4 of which are 4 inches off the water and have SLR, the other 2 are 6 inches off the water w/o SLR reflector. (so that they are not blocking my MH) also have 2x250W MH @ 10" high in a parallel PFO reflector...

 

[hlama]

one thing you could do is put something like egg create in there. just use a 1x1 to line the frame and set in the egg create/or something and attch the lights to it. then you can put a fan or two above the light for exaust. just a thought

 

[smatter]

Attach your reflectors to a piece of wood, cut some PVC into six inch lengths to use as spacers, get some long screws, and attach it to your canopy.

 

[jasert39]

i was thinking something similar to smatter...build a smaller box or something that will fit in you canopy and attach it inside so that the lights hang lower. I think that smatter's idea will be much easier and somewhat adjustable if you decide to change heights.

 

[reef211]

Hey there guys, I just got my TEK Light T5 of from ebay, the unit come with 8x54, 4 10,000K and 4 actinic. My tank is a 75gal. 48"x18"18" how high should the light be off the water? And is that to much light for mushroom, zoo, LPS, SPS? I was thinking about getting 4 aquablue and 4 pure actinic what do you guys think? and with those 8 new lights will my tank look like i have 20k HM? HELP HELP HELP

 

[georgiaredhead2]

Ok Sounds like good ideas. I will have to try and figure out something. What's the maximum height?

 

[horkn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7603294#post7603294 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by georgiaredhead2
Ok Sounds like good ideas. I will have to try and figure out something. What's the maximum height?

there really isnt one.

but remember, the closer to the water, the more PAR the t5hos will have.

fwiw, mine are around 5-6" off the water surface, and it works just fine.

you might want to have the entire retrofit on a single piece of wood, then have it height adjustable with chain or some other way to allow you to raise or lower the lights, depending if you are working on the tank or not.

 

[georgiaredhead2]

Hmm adjustable??? That's it! That way I can get my hands in freely and still slide em up and down. Just how to do it now that it is painted and in place. Not much there unless I unwire and rewire all connections and rip out stuff. This sucks.

 

[rsxs1212]

use like something like plywood, would be easy to cut to fit and not real heavy. just make sure you seal it so the salt doesnt rot it!!!

 

[smatter]

You could use a thin piece of cutting board material. I like the adjustable idea, but that would be a pain to do. Just leave enough clearance for daily chores and feeding, you'll just have to remove the canopy for more intensive work.

 

[rsxs1212]

well it wouldnt be that bad to make it adjustable....just 2 small chains that go through the top and have a pin to put through ech chain to it stays in a position. you could always put something decorative or fake plants around the top to hide the chains

 

[hlama]

na, hate to say it but the best thing to do is eat the cost, chalk it up as one of those brain cramps we so often have. try to use what materials you can from that one and start to build another. less head ache and will more than likely ending costing the as trying to rig this one up.

 

[rsxs1212]

well i understand what you are saying hlama but i dont think the cost would be that much nor be hard to make, i think the insert would be alot eaier than a whole other canopy but i dont know i guess it ends up being up to the owner. ..........

 

[hlama]

sure it would, the cost would be close. all you need to do is cut the current frame and add a top. use current hindges and such. it would cost about the same as adding a piece of wood in side as a insert and buying new brackets/hindges ect...to stablize it.