Adding LED to T5s

[DracoKat]

Hi all,

I have a Coralife Lunar 48" 4 bulb T5 fixture, currently running
2 Blue +
Purple +
Coral +
all ATI bulbs

I want to add a little more PAR for good measure, and was thinking about adding an LED strip or something.

any suggestions? something not too expensive and easy to install. Maybe a thin fixture to go behind the current T5 fixture? I am not sure if those stick-on type of strips will be powerful enough?

I will be adding acros and in the future clams and nems. I just want to be prepared for them too

 

[Brian Treadwell]

I have the same T5 fixture and as a matter a fact the same bulbs , I added a Current USA Marine programmable LED strip with suns rise and sunset and it works great.

 

[ksc]

I'd go with the sbreef light or one of the 21led strips. Much more bang for the buck than the Current stuff. I run this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquarium-LE...3W-Bridgelux-55-/271855701639?var=&hash=item0

If this was available at the time I probably would have spent the extra $$

https://sbreeflights.com/sbar-suppl...mental-5050-bar-lights.html#/6-sbar_sizing-48

 

[DracoKat]

thanks for the suggestions! I may get the Sbreef lights. still looking around

 

[mcarroll]

Save a pile of money and decommission the T5 fixture. At least consider it.

2¢

 

[DracoKat]

Save a pile of money and decommission the T5 fixture. At least consider it.

2¢

@mcarroll
Why?

 

[Bpb]

There unfortunately aren't a lot of affordable led strip lights that would substantially increase your par, and offer great value and reliability at a budget friendly price. The older BML strips (which in my opinion were pretty much the pinnacle of led strip lighting), and the reefbrite strips are far from cheap. Even the DIY stuff from rapid led will run you a few hundred most likely.

I hate to say it but if you want increased par from LEDs, you're better off reworking your whole tank to use the imported/rebranded bridgelux/evergrow led lights (sbreef, reef breeders, Mars Aqua, ect).

If you're like me and you just prefer the t5ho technology fundamentally, and you want/need more par, you need to look into an ATI sunpower or giesemann matrixx fixture. It's really the reflectors that make the biggest difference and your current fixture just doesn't sport as efficient of reflectors. Better wrap around reflectors can increase your par by well over 30% from that modification alone, not to mention ati's superior cooling and ballasts. The ATI can be found used for fairly cheap (compared to brand new). Hope that helps

 

[mcarroll]

@mcarroll
Why?

If I have to explain why to save a big pile of money, then you can probably do whatever you want. Ignore me. ;)

If not...

Commercial Options
I would suggest the CurrentUSA Orbit Marine Pro (OMPro). One 48" model would do it for the whole tank, and it has all the nice user features. $330, based on a quick search. Designing a system based on strip LED's is what I would recommend more generally....there are literally tons of options. I just like the OMPro the best...not many have all the features, and I don't know of any that are as well designed. The use of lenses on the OMPro is smart.

DIY
Just for perspective on cost, your bulbs appear to cost about $88 for the set. If we count electricity used, I'm sure we could fairly round that up to $100 a year.

If you're up for an easy DIY project, you can light your tank for around $100. Maybe half that much depending on how you do it and what animals you plan to keep. Very, very little money either way - as much as, or less than, you will spend on bulbs alone every year or so! (Of course, you can spend more too, if you choose.)

But DIY is usually a whole other discussion, so let me know if that sounds interesting. :)

Light Requirements
I saved this for last – hopefully you're still with me. ;)

Are you sure you need more light?? Plenty of folks have kept tanks deeper than that happy with just a 4-bulb T5HO fixture. I'd use a lux meter to measure the lights you have.

As a rule, corals don't need much light. Anemones are in the same group as far as that goes. They all seem to specialize in deeper-water environments. Anything above 10,000 lux will be suitable...20,000+ lux will keep just about anything happy.

Clams are the ones that need much brighter light. 30,000+ lux for them.

Start by measuring what you have though and post your results!

If you don't have a light meter, get a free lux meter app (like "galactica luxmeter" for IOS) for your smartphone. It uses the camera's light meter to compute a normal lux reading. That'll get you started. I would also order a handheld lux meter for ongoing usage....much safer around your tank and it'll give better readings. One of these shouldn't cost you more than $15, delivered. Search for the "LX-1010B"...that's what I use.

 

[DracoKat]

thank you for the explaination! Makes more sense to your thoughts. I am the type of person that needs details!

I've been doing a lot more reading, and you are right, quite a bit of people has had success with just a 4-bulb T5, so I am going to see how I do before going crazy. I just like to keep my options open and read up still

 

[Brandonlotz]

arent these sbreef lights just like the mars aqua or not?

 

[lion king]

Do not get rid of the t5s, I am going back to t5s as soon as my budget allows. I've been on the led train for the last 3 years and frankly don't care for them. I'll do blue/white combos for my fowlrs but am going back to t5s with a blue/white led accent for some sparkle in my reef. My corals did so much better with t5s and even halides. I never had cyano in 30 years until I started using full spectrum leds. I never had extreme algae issues until I started using full spectrum leds. So many top knotch lfs are dusting off their t5s and even halides to put them back on their sps tanks.

 

[pdt7361]

Look into the ReefBar Pro from 21LEDs. I too run a 4 bulb t5 over my 90g with almost thr same bulbs. I had them provide me with an LED strip that was very blue heavy and then mounted it to my T5 fixture. The LED strip is 36" and has 36 3watt LEDs. The LED strip with sunset timer cost me around $135 shipped and the parts to make my mount were only a few dollars.

 

[Jej34]

I have the same T5 fixture and as a matter a fact the same bulbs , I added a Current USA Marine programmable LED strip with suns rise and sunset and it works great.

How did you position the light, in front of the t5?

 

[Velcro]

people that automatically say ditch T5 or halide in favor of all LED confuse me.