Poor man's t5 ideas

Stang67 · Jul 18, 2023

I am currently running 2 32" Reefbreeders over my 6' x2' x2 180g. I am looking to supplement them with some t5's. I am looking for something other then the "stock" out of the box set ups available. Any diy options to consider?

Troylee · Jul 18, 2023

Plenty of retro kits available or what I’ve always done is find a cheap fixture and disassemble it and use the parts inside my hood..

Stang67 · Jul 18, 2023

Troylee said:
Plenty of retro kits available or what I’ve always done is find a cheap fixture and disassemble it and use the parts inside my hood..

Yeah I need to look at building a hood too.
What kind of retro kits are you referring to? I am clueless when it comes to lighting and fixtures.

Troylee · Jul 18, 2023

Stang67 said:
Yeah I need to look at building a hood too.
What kind of retro kits are you referring to? I am clueless when it comes to lighting and fixtures.

Just google t5 retrofit kit.

Stang67 · Jul 18, 2023

Troylee said:
Just google t5 retrofit kit.

Ahhhh ok awesome thanks!

TheSheff · Jul 18, 2023

I've used this fixture for about six months now and haven't had any issues : https://www.target.com/p/sunblaster...xsf&AFID=google&CPNG=storefront&adgroup=84-19

It obviously doesn't have to come from target but that's the first link I saw

Stang67 · Jul 18, 2023

TheSheff said:
I've used this fixture for about six months now and haven't had any issues : https://www.target.com/p/sunblaster...xsf&AFID=google&CPNG=storefront&adgroup=84-19

It obviously doesn't have to come from target but that's the first link I saw

OK so a grow light fixture would work? I assume as long as the bulbs fix the fixture doesn't matter much. Water resistant for certain.

zheka757 · Jul 18, 2023

I use these, works awesome. And already comes with a actinic bulb. And a 10k bulb. https://www.ebay.com/itm/112033836181

fodsod · Jul 18, 2023

Stang67 said:
I am currently running 2 32" Reefbreeders over my 6' x2' x2 180g. I am looking to supplement them with some t5's. I am looking for something other then the "stock" out of the box set ups available. Any diy options to consider?

I'm running the 48" ReefBreeders light on my 90G, can I ask what your plan is for the T5's? I guess a more accurate question is "why" for the T5's? Is the PAR too low just using the RB lights or are you looking to blast on some acros? Just curious. Thanks.

Stang67 · Jul 18, 2023

fodsod said:
I'm running the 48" ReefBreeders light on my 90G, can I ask what your plan is for the T5's? I guess a more accurate question is "why" for the T5's? Is the PAR too low just using the RB lights or are you looking to blast on some acros? Just curious. Thanks.

I want to expand the lighting to get a better overall lighting setup. Thee leds seem to be doing the job but I would like to explore some more sps. Trying to figure out if my money is best spent in upgrading the lighting or the chemistry.

TheSheff · Jul 18, 2023

Stang67 said:
OK so a grow light fixture would work? I assume as long as the bulbs fix the fixture doesn't matter much. Water resistant for certain.

i'm pretty certain that no fixture is going to be water resistant as where the t5 connects is pretty much just open connectors. As long as the fixture says "high output" or "HO" then it should be fine.

Troylee · Jul 18, 2023

Stang67 said:
I want to expand the lighting to get a better overall lighting setup. Thee leds seem to be doing the job but I would like to explore some more sps. Trying to figure out if my money is best spent in upgrading the lighting or the chemistry.

I don’t have experience with reefbreeders but Therman does and he’s got a crazy Sps farm ran on just reef breeders as does Adam from battle corals.. I think the lights alone “granted you got proper coverage” are fine for anything you wanna do.. I’m actually looking to trade my radions for for breeders haha!

Troylee · Jul 18, 2023

TheSheff said:
i'm pretty certain that no fixture is going to be water resistant as where the t5 connects is pretty much just open connectors. As long as the fixture says "high output" or "HO" then it should be fine.

They actually are water proof ends on fish tank fixtures. If you wanna run the standard tombstone ends you’ll need a splash guard.

Lbrdsoxfan · Jul 18, 2023

Ive used the hydroponics fixtures and they work OK, just are rot boxes inside a canopy:

2nd iteration, was a let kit that I put together my own components cheaper @ the time:

Currently running 2 bulbs of t5's with 2x smat farm fixtures and the 460nm aliexpress light bars.

Lbrdsoxfan · Jul 18, 2023

Troylee said:
They actually are water proof ends on fish tank fixtures. If you wanna run the standard tombstone ends you’ll need a splash guard.

This. I was a rebel with the hydroponics fixture as the waterproof tombstones wont fit in the fixture and trying to retro a splash guard was a utter pain. The combination of no splashguard and the general rot/cheapness of the hydroponics fixture got me to switch out to the let style fixtures.

Stang67 · Jul 18, 2023

Troylee said:
I don’t have experience with reefbreeders but Therman does and he’s got a crazy Sps farm ran on just reef breeders as does Adam from battle corals.. I think the lights alone “granted you got proper coverage” are fine for anything you wanna do.. I’m actually looking to trade my radions for for breeders haha!

I have seen that as well. Esp interested in battlecorals. He was why I got the breeders to begin with. This is leading me to think I should focus on chemistry vs lighting. I just wanted to get some insight.

Stang67 · Jul 18, 2023

Lbrdsoxfan said:
This. I was a rebel with the hydroponics fixture as the waterproof tombstones wont fit in the fixture and trying to retro a splash guard was a utter pain. The combination of no splashguard and the general rot/cheapness of the hydroponics fixture got me to switch out to the let style fixtures.

Sorry gonna ask let style? I'm off to Google some more.

Lbrdsoxfan · Jul 18, 2023

Let = Let Lighting, its the same thing thats posted above from chewy. I just sourced similar components on my own as some things I already had and some things I found cheaper @ the time.

LET Lighting Miro-4 T5 High-Output Fixtures

fodsod · Jul 18, 2023

Stang67 said:
I want to expand the lighting to get a better overall lighting setup. Thee leds seem to be doing the job but I would like to explore some more sps. Trying to figure out if my money is best spent in upgrading the lighting or the chemistry.

Thanks for the reply. I currently get 275-310 PAR (using my Apogee 510) at the top of my rocks with my light at 68% blues/uv, 10% white, 3% red and green so I was curious what kind of number you were looking to get. Better coverage makes sense though. Again, thanks for the reply.

I'll be watching this as I'm also interested in T5's for an SPS only tank.

Stang67 · Jul 18, 2023

fodsod said:
Thanks for the reply. I currently get 275-310 PAR (using my Apogee 510) at the top of my rocks with my light at 68% blues/uv, 10% white, 3% red and green so I was curious what kind of number you were looking to get. Better coverage makes sense though. Again, thanks for the reply.

I'll be watching this as I'm also interested in T5's for an SPS only tank.

I am up to 80% on the blues 5 on white and no green and red.