T5 retrofit fans

[coraladdict]

Would it be worth the extra money to add a fan in the canopy ?There's a thread on RC about ATI lighting fixtures that have a fan built in them for better effeciency.

 

[keeperofthesea]

I've read (don't have the link) that T5's produce the highest PAR value at cooler temp.. That said, my T5's don't produce enough heat to worry about. The top of my canopy is fabric and the back is open and I get plenty of air flow and have to heat the water. In a fixture, the bulb is in a tight enclosure and often houses the ballast also, therefore a small fan helps the move the air through the fixture.

 

[bnlimit10]

depends on the temperature that you reach inside the canopy. They claim that if you run the bulbs at 95 degrees they are more efficient.

 

[coraladdict]

Well my lighting setup will be built in the canopy but I might just suspend it rather than covering the top.

 

[perpetual98]

I just built a new canopy for my 120 and I figured I'd put some fans in it while I had it in my shop. The fans themselves I got off of ebay (I haven't put the black grills on yet) and they're heat sensitive. The hotter that their probe gets, the faster the fans spin.

 

[coraladdict]

Those are very clear pictures.
That's what I' ll be doing too!how far are your light from the surface?

 

[perpetual98]

I've had several people ask me that. I figure that they're about 5" or 6" above the water, but I need to measure to make sure. I was more concerned with having room to work over the tank than having the bulbs as low as possible over the tank. I've burned my arm many a time on my other tank because the bulbs are closer to the water and I'm digging around in the tank trying to do something. The 6x54W setup is brutally bright. The 4 white bulbs are on an IceCap 660 and the 2 blue ones are on a spec Sylvania ballast. I'm going to take 2 of the white off of the 660 and replace them with another blue and a GE6500K I think at some point.

Eric

 

[coraladdict]

Are your fans blowing in or out?

 

[perpetual98]

They all blow in. From everything I've read, having them blow out reduces the life of the fans because of salinity, humidity, etc.

 

[coraladdict]

Right

 

[horkn]

eric, what size tank are those t5s on?


its amazing how much light even normally driven t5ho with good reflectors make.

 

[perpetual98]

They're on a 120G tank that is 48x24x24.

T5 without reflectors are crap
T5 with a flat reflectors are slightly better than crap
T5 with parabolic reflectors are awesome
T5 with parabolic reflectors on a 660 at the cat's anus.

That sould pretty much sum up all future questions.