Newbie Upgrading Lighting

cayenne

cayenne

Premium Member
Thought I would ask here in the local forum and see what information I can drag up...

I am currently running 2x55W CF Retro Kits from AHSupply, and a 48" T10 enclosed in my 55GAL Canopy. The T10/T12 fixture was just a stopgap measure to help get some more light in there a couple of months ago. It currently contains (1) 6700K / (1) Actinic, and the CF's both have 50/50's in them.

I am looking at purchasing an IceCap 2x54W T5 Retro kit with the IceCap 430 ballast to overdrive the bulbs.

First question is, does this sound like an appropriate plan with the existing CF's?

Second question, since I only have the option of adding 2 T5's what color should I plan on?

Thanks
 
Now I'm no expert on T5's but I have read it is very important to have a fan cooling the bulbs if you run them on an icecap, the normal T5HO ballasts still run the bulbs fairly warm, so a fan would help that as well.
 
I have a 55 gallon myself and can offer a few suggestions.

The first real lights that I bought was an Odyssea 4 x 65W PC light fixture (2 x daylights & 2 x actinics). This light was ok, but was upgraded after 6 months to 2 x 175W MH (bought used from a local for $175). The 2 x 175W MH are a great size for the 55, and I'd highly recommend it.

With regard to T5, I haven't personally used them but I have a few local friends that do you them. 2 x 54W T5 isn't really that much light. While it is better than the PC lights, eventually you'll likely want to have 4 x 54W T5.

Definitely get T5 bulbs with individual reflectors, those make a big difference. If you're only going to have two lights (and corals) then I'd suggest getting two daylight bulbs. Actinics make things look cool but they're not really contributing much to photosynthesis for the corals.
 
I agree that you are going to want 4 bulbs insteand of two over a 55. Then maybe an ice cap 660 to overdrive the bulbs.
(that may be too much power, I am not experienced with overdriving.) Individual reflectors is also a must.

Are you going to run t-5 with pc's? If it was me I would lose the pc's all together and solely use t-5's with individual reflectors.
 
Sorry I didn't exactly state what the end goal was... Yes I am thinking about running the T5's plus the PC's.

J. Montgomery, I have thought about adding the MH's and just using the PC's to supplement. My main concern is heat, and I don't think they will fit in my canopy.
 
I built my own canopy to work with my lights. It's not that difficult to do, and you can always recruit local input and help.

I have three metal halide bulbs (600W total) over my 55 in a canopy. I keep the temperature under control with four 4" fans that I wired together. The fans are turned on and off by the temperature sensor of my AquaController Jr.

Ditch the PC lights, they s*ck. When you factor in the cost of bulbs and how frequently they need to be changed, its a money sink that gives you low quality light.
 
I have 6 T5 bulbs on my 75 gallon normally driven with individual reflectors. For your 55 gal I'd go with 4 normally driven bulbs with individual reflectors. I feel like I'm getting more than enough light as it is. I wouldn't overdrive the bulbs unless I have a 24" deep tank. My lights are about 8 inches above the water.

Use 2 aquablue or 12000k bulbs. Daylight bulbs are way too yellow for my tastes. For supplements, use the blue+ bulbs. Since you only have 4 bulbs I wouldn't bother with the T5 actinics.
 
The only thing PCs are actually decent for is actinic. If you want to keep your PCs I would get two dual actinic (both blue spectrums) bulbs. Then make your t5s all daylight.
 
I do agree with you Charlie, on T5's putting out the same amount of heat watt for watt. However, the heat is more spread out so it's easier to dissipate. With all my bulbs on, my temp doesn't rise but 1 degree if that. Lights are about 8 inches off the water enclosed in a canopy with just one fan.
 
Thanks for all of the input guys.

I can always modify my canopy to get MH's 5-7" off of the water surface. My entire tank runs off of a Programmable Logic Controller, so adding more fans and controlling them is no problem, just a matter of wiring and some slight programming.

What is the general consensus if I add the MH's and supplement with actinic PC's, should I install (2) 150's?

Who is the recommended manufacturer of retro kits? I have been looking at the Hello 150W HL MH Retrofit Kit (HQI) kits.

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1532

Not sure what color is recommended though, I was thinking 14K??
 
On my 55 I run 2 250's with pc actinics. Since I was going to have PC actinics for color I went with 10k bulbs. 2 250's is a little much on a 55 though, so I'm sure that 2 150's would be good.
 
I've been so wrapped travelling with work and working on the tank lately I forgot to reply back to thread for an update....

I decided to order a set of 150W DE MH retro's from hellolights with Phoenix 14K bulbs. They came in this past week and after staring at them and certain mounting problems for a couple of days I got them installed. So far I am extremely pleased, I had to modify the top of my hood to allow the reflectors to mount through so I could get extra height, you can see a picture of this below with my "custom" mounting brackets.

DSCN0454.jpg


This put the bulbs somewhere around 6.5" above the water line. I would liked to have it higher, but that's all I could squeeze out for the time being. I'm still running the PC's up front with 50/50's, but planning on changing the bulbs out to Deep Blue 03's.

Of course the usual heat problems crept up with the MH's, but two new exhaust fans, and switching from glass tops to egg crate has settled everything in nicely. So far the water temp is nice and stable, and the ambient temp in the hood is staying around 81 degrees.

DSCN0450.jpg


DSCN0451.jpg
 
what part of VA are you in? i'd love to swing by and see the hellolights DE reflector.

i can bring frags in return...:)
 
Looks good to me, I also like the color. See that the corals look happy too.
Keep up the good work.
 
Nice Lighting. Nice hood mod.

If your MH retro don't have a glass shield, be very careful about splashing. This might even mean that you (and all kids/guests) need to be in the habit of approaching the tank slowly to avoid startling your fish.
 
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