Running retro t5's

[an411]

I have ran t5's before but they were in a pendant which the bulbs were covered by a piece of acrylic. So my questions are

How far off the surface do the bulbs have to be since there is no shield protection?

Also I am assuming that these bulbs can not get wet or salt creep on them?

will the 46" bulbs mount to the sides of a 48" canopy with the endcaps and standoffs?

I am planning on getting this http://www.reefgeek.com/manufacturer/IceCap/48_inch__2x54W_SLR_T5_High-Output_Retrofit_Kit_w!_Bulbs_by_IceCap

I will be running these on an ice cap 660 ballast. Also anyone that has these what are the dimension of the width 5"

 

[an411]

nobody has a retro kit

 

[The0wn4g3]

You don't want moister or salt creep to get on the T5's. I'd say about4" off the surface of the water would be fine, assuming no splashing is happening.
The 48" bulbs aren't really 48", so with endcaps it will fit inside a typical 48" canopy with a little wiggle room on each side of the endcaps.
What dimension are you talking about that is 5" ?

 

[an411]

what i meant about 5 inch was the ice cap reflector width but I see now that they are 2.5 inches wide. 5 inches was the length of 2 of them.

 

[The0wn4g3]

Yep, and the icecaps interlock too, which makes them better than other reflectors when it comes to width.

 

[kittyj]

I have a 48" hood with six T-5 icecap bulbs. It's TIGHT, but it all fits. Had to get rid of my lunar lights, though. My bulbs get salt creep on them . . . probably not ideal, but nothing has malfunctioned. I wipe them off weekly.

 

[an411]

kittyj tight to fit the t5's blbs long ways in the tank?

 

[snguyen77]

if you can get it to fit, i would say about 6" off the water would be good.