Input of supplemental t5 angle

[Nor'easter Reefer]

So, im gonna start a DIY led t5 combo setup. I'm an electrician by trade and am proficient enough in metal fabrication to be dangerous haha. So my lighting system will be pretty custom. I have 2 viparspectra 165w pictures over my 4ft 120g mixed reef tank now. I want 4 t5 bulbs as well. (2 front and 2 back) I've spoken to a few people about this and figured i might as well throw it out here for a general mass consensus. My t5 fixtures, 2 bulbs each. Fixed angle would obviously be much much easier, but I've heard a slight angle is preferable. I've heard 10° through "enough it doesn't spill out the glass." Which means adjust after i grt it up, aka adjustable. So what's everyone's thoughts before i build this thing and have to tear it apart because I don't like it lol.

 

[oreo54]

So, im gonna start a DIY led t5 combo setup. I'm an electrician by trade and am proficient enough in metal fabrication to be dangerous haha. So my lighting system will be pretty custom. I have 2 viparspectra 165w pictures over my 4ft 120g mixed reef tank now. I want 4 t5 bulbs as well. (2 front and 2 back) I've spoken to a few people about this and figured i might as well throw it out here for a general mass consensus. My t5 fixtures, 2 bulbs each. Fixed angle would obviously be much much easier, but I've heard a slight angle is preferable. I've heard 10° through "enough it doesn't spill out the glass." Which means adjust after i grt it up, aka adjustable. So what's everyone's thoughts before i build this thing and have to tear it apart because I don't like it lol.

There are probably 1/2 doz things to consider.
Starting with the effective angle of any reflectors for the t5's.
The height over the tank.
The width of the tank.
The spread from the Viparspectras. How far away from them.Want to eliminate glare or shadows.

Start with how wide is the tank?
Next Vipars like to be high. The lensing is pretty severe so you need it up to get decent f/back spread while the t5's like to be low.
Matter of fact that is one of the main reasons to tilt them in in the first place

You could probably just as easily optimize them by using the distance away from the Viparspectras.
A slight tilt to combat glare .. or you can use them as a shield sort of from the Vipar glare.
Think mounting so as to be slighty below the plain of the Vipars.

"I" don't know anyone who's done serious work on optimizing it. Mostly "it's what it is" or tweak on the fly.

Oh and as much fun as it is you may want to consider using already optimized commercial reflectors.
https://www.coralvue.com/giesemann-high-output-t5-reflectors
At $80 for 4 lenses..I'd consider it reasonable.
Save $12 by using 2 24's per light.. ;) $68

You can probably get the lens angle from Giesemann.

The Aurora design is physicality similar to what you are working with. The leds though probably spread more than the vipars.
https://www.giesemann.de/en/light/hybrid/aurora-hybrid

Due to the different beam angles of the T-5 and LED, a uniform, intensive illumination of the entire aquarium is achieved.

It would be nice if they told you what they are..
My guess is 90 on the t5's 20 on the leds.

You would have 90(60) on the leds 90 on the t5's

Another EDIT.. The reflectors can be tilted instead of the fixture.

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

There are probably 1/2 doz things to consider.
Starting with the effective angle of any reflectors for the t5's.
The height over the tank.
The width of the tank.
The spread from the Viparspectras. How far away from them.Want to eliminate glare or shadows.

Start with how wide is the tank?
Next Vipars like to be high. The lensing is pretty severe so you need it up to get decent f/back spread while the t5's like to be low.
Matter of fact that is one of the main reasons to tilt them in in the first place

You could probably just as easily optimize them by using the distance away from the Viparspectras.
A slight tilt to combat glare .. or you can use them as a shield sort of from the Vipar glare.
Think mounting so as to be slighty below the plain of the Vipars.

"I" don't know anyone who's done serious work on optimizing it. Mostly "it's what it is" or tweak on the fly.

Oh and as much fun as it is you may want to consider using already optimized commercial reflectors.
https://www.coralvue.com/giesemann-high-output-t5-reflectors
At $80 for 4 lenses..I'd consider it reasonable.
Save $12 by using 2 24's per light.. ;) $68

You can probably get the lens angle from Giesemann.

The Aurora design is physicality similar to what you are working with. The leds though probably spread more than the vipars.
https://www.giesemann.de/en/light/hybrid/aurora-hybrid
It would be nice if they told you what they are..
My guess is 90 on the t5's 20 on the leds.

You would have 90(60) on the leds 90 on the t5's

Another EDIT.. The reflectors can be tilted instead of the fixture.

Jeepers haha here I was thinking this would be simple :grinning-squinting-face: I really want to get some more even light flow, and optimize spectrum as well as possible if I can. My next goal is to build a hood that goes tank to ceiling so hiding the fixture/glare isn't a super huge issue, although it would definitely motivate me lol im in central maine, and my sump in the cool basement, so if it heats the tank up some, that's more than welcome. My hood will have vents in it though so as to keep fixture temps down. Most of my gas exchange happens downstairs.

So the light fixtures i have is an 8 bulb t5 grow fixture. Stainless housings and the wrinkled looking mylar reflectors. I have most general tools for metal fab so i was going to chop up the light pretty aggresively (imagine cutting the center 4 bulbs out and being left with 2 2 bulb strip lights) and fold the extra metal down to solidify the fixture. I figured that would be fairly decent and I planned on buying some 1/2"steel tubing that I would cut, weld, and paint to drop the 2 strip lights down and then put them at an angle of some sort. Probably low enough to hide the vipars light when your looking from the side, but so that you could see the display on the vipars above the t5 housing. That way so as to allow full air flow to the cooling vents on the fixtures. I planned on having one of the brackets on each end that I heat and bend so I can use it at a wire chase for the ballast wires(no risk of sharp edges inside the tubing if i dont cut and weld) I figured I'd want the t5's within 8" of the water where I have a 4'x2'x2' tank?