terry4505
New member
Last week I upgraded from my PC 4 bulb Coral life fixture to a 6 bulb t5 Tek light. The difference in the amount of light generated is amazing, I also love the flexibility of bulb combinations.
The one downside to the fixture was that it lacked the moonlights and integrated fan cooling that I had come to love in my PC light.
I solved the moon light issue with a strip of 36 blue LEDs from Auto Zone, which actually is too much light, as the fish were up all night swimming when they usually find a crack to wedge themselves into, forcing me to put it on a timer until I can come up with a better solution
This is a picture of the LED strip, I tucked it along the front edge of the underside of the fixture near where the reflector meets the black metal, and it is invisible unless you flip the whole light over.
That was one problem solved, but I still was interested in actively cooling the bulbs, as everything I have read states that it will drastically increase both light output and bulb life, then I found this:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1572514
I decided to go with blue LED fans that can be found on the third page of the thread. I ordered two fans and the power source on Sunday, and they are on my light as I type this Wednesday.
I started by taking the bulbs out and removing the reflectors, then I measured where I wanted the fans and cut two holes using a Dremmel.
The cuts were not perfect, but with the metal grilles that came with the fans, the cut lines are almost unnoticeable, I think I did a good job sanding the edges down.
Then I inserted the two fans and wired them up to the power source (this was fairly easy, and I am no electrician)
I have one fan pulling cool air in, and one blowing hot air out. I have read (and I am not sure if this is true) but it is best to cool the label end of t5 bulbs, as they are designed to be cooled from one end only. So I have the air blowing on this end.
Each fan has a knob that I can use to adjust the speed of the fans individually, this helps to reduce the amount of noise they are producing (which isn't much).
I reattached the reflectors, replaced the bulbs and plugged everything back in!
I plugged the fans into the same timer that controls the actinic lights, so they will come on early and stay on late.
I seriously could not be happier with the way that this turned out.
between this, and my recently added auto top off (courtesy of autotopoff.com)
Now I just need to sell the light that I replaced so that my GF won't kill me: http://rochester.craigslist.org/for/2181473667.html
I am really happy with where my tank is at. First I did a mesh mod on my ASM G1 skimmer (which has me emptying the cup every other day) and now this, what aspect of my tank can I take apart next and redo?
The one downside to the fixture was that it lacked the moonlights and integrated fan cooling that I had come to love in my PC light.
I solved the moon light issue with a strip of 36 blue LEDs from Auto Zone, which actually is too much light, as the fish were up all night swimming when they usually find a crack to wedge themselves into, forcing me to put it on a timer until I can come up with a better solution
This is a picture of the LED strip, I tucked it along the front edge of the underside of the fixture near where the reflector meets the black metal, and it is invisible unless you flip the whole light over.
That was one problem solved, but I still was interested in actively cooling the bulbs, as everything I have read states that it will drastically increase both light output and bulb life, then I found this:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1572514
I decided to go with blue LED fans that can be found on the third page of the thread. I ordered two fans and the power source on Sunday, and they are on my light as I type this Wednesday.
I started by taking the bulbs out and removing the reflectors, then I measured where I wanted the fans and cut two holes using a Dremmel.
The cuts were not perfect, but with the metal grilles that came with the fans, the cut lines are almost unnoticeable, I think I did a good job sanding the edges down.
Then I inserted the two fans and wired them up to the power source (this was fairly easy, and I am no electrician)
I have one fan pulling cool air in, and one blowing hot air out. I have read (and I am not sure if this is true) but it is best to cool the label end of t5 bulbs, as they are designed to be cooled from one end only. So I have the air blowing on this end.
Each fan has a knob that I can use to adjust the speed of the fans individually, this helps to reduce the amount of noise they are producing (which isn't much).
I reattached the reflectors, replaced the bulbs and plugged everything back in!
I plugged the fans into the same timer that controls the actinic lights, so they will come on early and stay on late.
I seriously could not be happier with the way that this turned out.
between this, and my recently added auto top off (courtesy of autotopoff.com)
Now I just need to sell the light that I replaced so that my GF won't kill me: http://rochester.craigslist.org/for/2181473667.html
I am really happy with where my tank is at. First I did a mesh mod on my ASM G1 skimmer (which has me emptying the cup every other day) and now this, what aspect of my tank can I take apart next and redo?
