T5 help

[Brandon Pantzlaff]

hey guys I’m new to reef2reef. I have had a 10 gallon nano running for almost a year now and starting up a 40 breeder mixed reef. My buddy is running t5s on his reef and swears by them so I bought a 4 buld 2 foot fixture off amazon. Thinking about doing 2x blue +, 1x coral +, and 1x purple +. I’m just wondering how high everyone is hanging there t5 fixtures from the top of water. I want to do an enclosed top over the fixture with two computer fans circulating air through the enclosure. Just want to know how high everyone is mounting there fixture so I can start designing my canopy. Thanks in advanced for the help. Joined this forum because everyone seems to be nice and very helpful!!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

12in would be best

 

[Daniel Waters]

40 gallon breeder is 36" long, so with a 24" T5 fixture, I think @saltyfilmfolks suggestion of 12 inches is spot on.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Fwiw, if the ballast is good , you’ll get a par of about 500 at the top of the tank.

With t5 that’s a nice mixed reef range.

 

[Brandon Pantzlaff]

Okay I was think around 8 to 12 inches. Do you think t5s will get warm being in a canopy even if I put computer fans in?

 

[Daniel Waters]

Okay I was think around 8 to 12 inches. Do you think t5s will get warm being in a canopy even if I put computer fans in?

I think it will depend on how you construct your canopy. If it's completely enclosed and there's no place for the heat to escape (except down), then you might see some minor temperature increase. Typically, T5s aren't bad about putting out too much heat.

 

[Brandon Pantzlaff]

Alright I plan on doing two competer fans on the canopy. One will be blowing air in and one will pushing air out

 

[Daniel Waters]

Alright I plan on doing two competer fans on the canopy. One will be blowing air in and one will pushing air out

I can't imagine you running into an issue. May want to research fans, as computer fans may rust with humid air over time. Also, I remember researching air movement in a canopy and remember reading several posts from knowledgeable people saying it's better to just have fans blowing air in versus out. You obviously would still want vents or holes to allow the air to escape. But the canopy size might have been a factor in that, as a small computer fan trying to pull air out of a 6 foot long canopy is a lot different than a 3 foot long canopy. I wouldn't worry about your setup. I'm sure it will be fine.

 

[Brandon Pantzlaff]

Okay thanks for the help!