L.e.d t5 hybrid

[Foxy-88]

I just picked up today a sunblaze 8 bulb t5 and I am planning on taking out the middle 4 bulbs and inserting my radion gen4 xr15s in it. My thought is to keep one cord coming out of the fixture and mounting everything up in the fixture. I will also install a timer for the t5s to come after the xr15s and stay on for 4 to 5 hours. In my research I found out not many people supplement radions like this so I thought it would be an interesting post. Here are some pictures of the fixture and my current setup

 

[Foxy-88]

Inside of the light

 

[Foxy-88]

 

[Lowefx]

I have a friend that has Maxspec razors. He was getting okay growth. But then he added 2 t5s and WOW, did things take off! Once I can afford G4s, I'll be doing the same thing as you, so I am looking forward to all of your details on this build!

 

[Foxy-88]

Right on!! I'm going to try and be as detailed as possible.

 

[Ligershark]

i have an 8 bulb sunpower and was able to get some radion gen2 pro pucks from someone only taking out two middle bulbs though

 

[Foxy-88]

That's awesome. These gen4 do pretty good in my opinion even the smaller xr15s. Just want to try and correct some shading areas

 

[Theo15]

Is there a splash gourd on these ?

 

[Foxy-88]

There is no splash guard on the t5s and the leds have the lens. Currently my radions are about 10 inches above the water

 

[Theo15]

My light are close to the tank so I'm scared to get theses

 

[Lowefx]

Here's a quick google search, some where on R2R.

 

[Foxy-88]

I hear ya luckily with this hybrid I'm hoping to raise it up a little more if need be

 

[Foxy-88]

Completely broke down now for paint and mockup. I'm relocating the ballast to the other side where the middle lights ballast was. This will make it easier for me to run a plug out and connect to the timer off the daisy chain. The extra space where all the power is coming in will be used to supply power to the radions

 

[Foxy-88]

I think I've seen that post lowefx. One of the fee I could find haha. There's another that I think marinedepot posted or shared that someone made a hood with xr30s and t5s in it as well

 

[bif24701]

I've added two 60" T5s to my 2 Kessil AP700s and I love it. Corals have responded very well, I'm going to get a second pair soon.

 

[Foxy-88]

That's awesome! I'm super excited about this project

 

[ifarmer]

looks beautiful.

 

[Foxy-88]

As far as hardware goes I am using 8 m5-8 30mm long screws that will thread into the four holes I drilled for the leds. On the inside of the fixture will be 2 wingnuts one to tighten against the fixture the other to tighten against the led and will look something like this

The black piece is the radion receiving end. A flat washer and lock is placed between the wingnut and the white fixture.

I used a 13/64 drill bit for the support holes for the radions

I also have 4 m6 x 10mm screws with flat washers and lock washers for the new hanging kit going on it using the old hanging kits holes

I also am using 6/32 x 1/2in with nuts and poly hanger strap to support my radions transformers in the fixture. Picture of that will come soon. I also order a timer and two new pc plugs for my radions so I can hardwire them into the fixture for a clean install. More to come in the next week

 

[Foxy-88]

Here's how the mounted transformer looks. Now time to paint it black to match the rest of the tank

 

[Foxy-88]

Will cutting up the original reflectors I found actually cutting them left a messy job. I instead flattened the point together and then proceed to slowly rip it down the middle. It left a very clean edge and now each t5 has it's own separate reflector