T5 lighting/wiring question

[futureeyedoc]

Figured out after talking to some folks at the Narc meeting today that my current t5 setup is proly a lil too much light over my 33 long. Currently I have 4x54w in a catalina retrofit with individual reflectors. I can tell from the zoas, gsp, others that it's really just too much light.. Maybe with cheapo bulbs it would be ok, but running 4 ATI's it's putting out a lot of par....

My question is this... the fixture has 2 ballasts, each running two bulbs and run by separate switches on the retrofit fixture. I want to cut back the lighting but I don't like the color with just 2 on (no matter what the combo (I'm working with 2 aquablue specials, 1 true actinic, and 1 pro color). I tried unplugging just 1 bulb, and the 3 bulbs still light up ok. I thought uplugging one would talk the second in it's pair out.

The question is though, is that going to be overunning that bulb/ballast then since its designed for 2x54w and only running 1x54w or will it do just fine? Again its a catalina retrofit with catalina t5 ballasts. I like the config here and the less watts, but I don't want to burn out my bulb or ballast doing this...
Any thoughts?

 

[scubalauren]

I discovered I'm running too much light. Jason had a very good suggestion. Place screen between the tank and the light. I thought that was a great idea!

 

[futureeyedoc]

yeah we'd talked about that as well, but with the A/C running the power bill through the roof ATM I'd prefer to just literally cut back on the lighting itself.... Accomplish the same thing as the screens but save yourself a good deal more on electricity....
I mean heck, they're running about 1/2 as much wattage over their smaller front display tank as I am on my 33 long that's 1/3 shorter.... That's gotta tell you something right there Obviously they have mostly softies in there but that tank is thriving on I think he said something like 100watts PC!

Now if you're using the screens for acclimating of course, that's a totally different story!

 

[futureeyedoc]

btw, anyone have any thoughts about running the 3 bulbs on the 4 bulb fixture?

The color is actually fantastic now, I'm just afraid it's pushing 108watts at the 54w bulb and either the ballast or the bulb will go at some point???

 

[The0wn4g3]

Too much light? Really? What is the reasoning behind that conclusion?

I'm running 4x 36" ATI's overdriven on an Icecap ballast at ~56W each over my 40 long. Tanks is 16" tall and the lights are 6" over the water. At the moment my blue xenia isn't getting enough light and my SPS are just spiffy.

Anyway, running 1x bulb on a ballast designed to run 2x bulbs shouldn't be an issue. I know the Icecaps and Workhorses can run any combination from 1 to 4 bulbs without problems, as long as the wiring is done correctly.

 

[futureeyedoc]

Reasoning basically is that it's bleaching a good deal of the corals. Even my gsp is completely white... Just since cutting back a few days ago I've seen a noticeable difference.....

it's running at least 4X54w, possibly more as I'm not sure how much the catalina ballasts overdrive them... individual reflectors too.... And when you add up the fact that I have a short canopy, running about 2-3" Sand bed, and the tanks only 12-13" tall to begin with, it just doesn't really need all that much...Not really doing any sps right now- I'd proly go back to 4 bulbs if I go that route in the future...

 

[The0wn4g3]

Well, that'd be reason enough for me, too.
How many hours are you running the lights? The icecap ballast are the only ones I know of capable of overdriving any lamps. According to the catalina website it's using an Advance ballast, so assuming it's a 2x 54W model running only one bulb should be fine. You could e-mail them and find out for sure though.

It will need to be wired something similar to the diagram here:
http://www.ballastwise.com/images/upload/products/x/DXE2HO5U.jpg