Show me your DIY LED/T5 Hybrids

[LJLKRL05]

Really curious about this. I have a 210 gallon reef tank and two reef breeders photon v2 32 inch lights. What benefit would adding T5 fixtures give me? Would it cut down on shadows under the ledges?
What is the cost for the T5 fixtures and bulbs?

 

[iemsparticus]

I think it's pretty undeniable that T5s are the best producers of diffuse lighting there is by a large margin. They will absolutely reduce the shadows under ledges. You'd be looking at around $25 each for the ever popular 5' ATI bulbs.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

how happy are you guys with the hybrids, going to start building one for my 525XL all I have now is Hydras but want to add T5 just don't know how many bulbs yet.

I couldn't be happier with mine. I added two 54w bulbs to my 75 gallon, but I imagine you'll want two of the 80w version of something similar to this (so four 5' bulbs total) http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hamilton-aruba-sun-v-series-t5-ho-fluorescent-retrofit.html.

Really curious about this. I have a 210 gallon reef tank and two reef breeders photon v2 32 inch lights. What benefit would adding T5 fixtures give me? Would it cut down on shadows under the ledges?
What is the cost for the T5 fixtures and bulbs?

This will most definitely reduce shadowing. You're off to a good start with the Photons, as they are more spread out than the puck style LEDs. This doesn't do much for front to back shadowing though, but adding some t5s will! Since you already have the LEDs I'd suggest getting yourself a few retrofit kits. You could get an eight bulb fixture and replace the inner bulbs with the LEDs, but fixtures are fairly expensive. If it were me I'd get four of the 39w version of these
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/hamilton-aruba-sun-v-series-t5-ho-fluorescent-retrofit.html and place two on either side of your existing lighting.

 

[LJLKRL05]

I think it's pretty undeniable that T5s are the best producers of diffuse lighting there is by a large margin. They will absolutely reduce the shadows under ledges. You'd be looking at around $25 each for the ever popular 5' ATI bulbs.

I am wondering if one bulb in front and one in back of the LEDs would be enough. I just looked at a T5 retrofit kit on BRS for about $140 that I can mount under my canopy.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

I am wondering if one bulb in front and one in back of the LEDs would be enough. I just looked at a T5 retrofit kit on BRS for about $140 that I can mount under my canopy.

What are the dimensions of your tank? Adding t5s will help either way, but if you're having problems with shadowing two bulbs on a 210 May be insufficient...

 

[iemsparticus]

I am wondering if one bulb in front and one in back of the LEDs would be enough. I just looked at a T5 retrofit kit on BRS for about $140 that I can mount under my canopy.

If you have the room and/or budget, I'd really recommend a minimum of 2 in front, 2 in back.

 

[LJLKRL05]

What are the dimensions of your tank? Adding t5s will help either way, but if you're having problems with shadowing two bulbs on a 210 May be insufficient...

6 foot wide, 29 inches tall and 24 inches front to back.

 

[LJLKRL05]

If you have the room and/or budget, I'd really recommend a minimum of 2 in front, 2 in back.

I have the room, but would have to check the budget. Of course cheaper is better for the pocket

 

[Ty Hamatake]

I have the room, but would have to check the budget. Of course cheaper is better for the pocket

If it's purely for aesthetics, one front and back would do just fine. If you're having problems with shadowing that's effecting growth, I'd definitely go with two.

 

[HeulittSalmi]

So I have only been in the hobby for about a year and I have been toying with the idea of a Led t5 hybrid. It had never been something I seriously considered though until recently because I just recently got a 30 gallon and I am about to set up a 4 foot long frag tank.Bbefore I only ever had a ten gallon so it doesnt make too much sense lol, but I figured this would be a good place to ask a question or two. I have a custom stand for the few tanks I have in my bedroom, its about 9-10 feet long and two feet wide, would it be reasonable to run a few sets of T5's along the top under a diy canopy and only have the leds above each tank?

I just added 2 x 39W T5s to supplement the 2 x R420R 120W LEDs I have over my 120G. They added a LOT more light than I expected.

This looks so simple yet so attractive!

Did it yesterday afternoon! I have a Gen3 XR30 with 120 lenses and now a 24"4 bulb T5. LFS couldn't sell it because everyone wants led. Got a good deal. I wanted to try this setup for mainly 2 reasons. Anemones and I wanted a bright tank. I felt that you could achieve that with the radion, but you gotta crank it way up. It always had a dull look. My obsession is anemones, so I'm hoping this will be a huge benefit to them. That picture makes it look like daylight. Its not that white. But it is bright! The tank is a 65g 2 months old. Hence the algae. But majority of rocks came from my other tank that was running for a year. It was only on for a few hours yesterday afternoon. Looking forward to see how everything does today. Adjust the radion as required...

Im thinking about doing something similar with my Gen 4 XR30

I have fun doing it. When I was 18 and getting back into the hobby I really wanted gen 1 radions but couldn't afford them, so I taught myself how to build LED fixtures. I'm now 23 and have gotten pretty handy at it. Both fixtures are controllable from my phone. I could have cleaned up the sunpower retrofit by not mounting the power supply on top of the fixture but I got lazy and didn't want to make the extension cords that would be needed to run it elsewhere and out of sight. I personally don't really care that its mounted on top but I'm sure some people would.

My display tank is the one with the 4 bulb t5 hybrid and I built that LED fixture 3.5 years ago and its still running strong. Building it is nice because I don't have to deal with warranties and crap. I just fix it myself and usually runs me $20-$30 to fix it. The only issue I had was when I switched to screen tops and took my glass tops off. I have 8 wrasses so sometimes they splash and one little droplet of saltwater managed to somehow reach one of my drivers on my display tanks lights, but it was a $25 fix so no biggie. I try to build them to last and so far its doing very well. I'm tempted to re build my DT lights just because my inner nerd wants to test out all the new LEDs that have come out since I built it.

I'm not finished with the sunpower hybrid yet, I plan to add 2 more color channels into the mix. Its not needed but I want to try out some new LED's that I may incorporate into my future builds if I like the results. I have a par meter and the sunpower put 125-150 par on the sandbed of my frag tank when using 4 t5 bulbs, after the retrofit I did it puts just a little over 500 par on the sand bed (I of course have it tuned back). My display tank lights I need to check again because I forgot the par numbers.

The specs for the sunpower is pretty simple, 28 royal blues and 14 neutral whites. I plan to add 6 cree deep blues and 6 luxeon lime leds just to test them out. The LED fixture over my DT has 28 royal blues, 14 neutral whites, 20 hyper violets/uv, 8 reds, 8 greens, 8 cyan's, and 8 true blue cools. Its not to shabby for being built almost 4 years ago.

Man you need to teach a class on this!

 

[LJLKRL05]

If it's purely for aesthetics, one front and back would do just fine. If you're having problems with shadowing that's effecting growth, I'd definitely go with two.

Aesthetics mainly. I don't have any corals in the shadows, and they are growing under the LEDs. I just don't get the light coverage in the back I would like to see, and there are some pretty big shadows under some ledges so maybe one in front and back would be enough.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Aesthetics mainly. I don't have any corals in the shadows, and they are growing under the LEDs. I just don't get the light coverage in the back I would like to see, and there are some pretty big shadows under some ledges so maybe one in front and back would be enough.

Should be easy enough to fix then! I would just space the bulbs out a good bit from center and that should take care of it!

 

[Masedaddy]

Have you looked into getting single T5 fixtures from a hydroponics store like HG supply? You can get a pair of single 4ft T5 fixtures for under 80 bucks and a pair for 2ft fixtures for under 40... Just need to replace the bulbs with ATI/Geissmenn etc. Since they are single T5 no need for ballast just straight cord into outlet. Then just need a timer or Apex for lighting schedule. I added them to my Radions and couldn't be happier. They are controlled by my Apex.

 

[Masedaddy]

You will have to contend with multiple cords but that is really the only draw back. You can link them together but the linking cords are either 6 inch or several feet. So it can become a hassle, but I felt price wise it negated the cord management problem.

 

[HeulittSalmi]

Have you looked into getting single T5 fixtures from a hydroponics store like HG supply? You can get a pair of single 4ft T5 fixtures for under 80 bucks and a pair for 2ft fixtures for under 40... Just need to replace the bulbs with ATI/Geissmenn etc. Since they are single T5 no need for ballast just straight cord into outlet. Then just need a timer or Apex for lighting schedule. I added them to my Radions and couldn't be happier. They are controlled by my Apex.

Do you have a build thread so I can check it out?

 

[LJLKRL05]

Have you looked into getting single T5 fixtures from a hydroponics store like HG supply? You can get a pair of single 4ft T5 fixtures for under 80 bucks and a pair for 2ft fixtures for under 40... Just need to replace the bulbs with ATI/Geissmenn etc. Since they are single T5 no need for ballast just straight cord into outlet. Then just need a timer or Apex for lighting schedule. I added them to my Radions and couldn't be happier. They are controlled by my Apex.

Great idea! I did not realize with a single bulb there was no need for a ballast.
Sorry to the OP for hijacking his thread like this.

 

[Masedaddy]

All of these are fixtures that you can get all start under $50 bucks....

I'll get a pic of what I did over my tank. My tank was in my basement and I knew it was a temporary setup because I'm moving to SC this month. I never tried to make it super pretty but it was functional.

My plans are to do the same with my next tank but to have everything mounted in a floating canopy.

 

[ksanfranfan]

I built this one about about 3 years ago. It was just a diy led build before making a hybrid. Wires on the heat sink were more uniform and better routed throughout but I made changes and removed all of the white diodes and added more royal blue, blue and violets.

 

[HeulittSalmi]

So I have been thinking about building a T5-LED combo with my Radions being the led component, would I be wrong in thinking I can place two of these T5 fixtures ( http://www.htgsupply.com/products/htg-supply-4-foot-2-lamp-high-output-t5-fixture ) to hang inside my hood with the Radions hanging between them?

 

[iemsparticus]

So here the best shot I have of mine. Two 4' T5s in front, two Kessil A360WEs in the middle (along with the 4 LED Apex Lunar Module), and two 4' T5s in the back. It's great.