jnigriny January 28, 2009 Share January 28, 2009 I've been looking at Current's options for my 90 gallon tank. Having to wipe salt creep off the glass instead of in between each bulb is tempting! The DIY retro kits are interesting, but I'm pretty intimidated by a DIY light project to be honest. I'm not an electrician either so I'd need help in that department. Would anyone who's done a DIY light project be willing to post what you did for your tank, how you did your installation process (details please), how it turned out, and how you feel about the results? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeltwayBandit January 28, 2009 Share January 28, 2009 DIY lighting is pretty easy. Especially when it is just connecting components together. It would be easier to help you if you would give a bit more info on your tank. Is it fish only. softies, lps, sps, clams. etc. Also do you have a specific type of lighting in mind? Metal halide (SE or DE)? Fluorescent (CF, VHO, T5)? LED? If you can connect two wires with a wire nut, you can do a DIY lighting project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBoy98 January 28, 2009 Share January 28, 2009 The light rack is easy too if you have power tools. But honestly, go take advantage of the IceCap deal now while you can. The prices are really good and you can get all the parts you need. If you want T5's, the retro fit kits are really good price wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnigriny January 28, 2009 Author Share January 28, 2009 The light rack is easy too if you have power tools. But honestly, go take advantage of the IceCap deal now while you can. The prices are really good and you can get all the parts you need. If you want T5's, the retro fit kits are really good price wise. Thanks for the info on the IceCap deal! I appreciate it! It's a great deal, and I'm now considering it. My husband has power tools - I've never used them before. Current specs on my tank: 8 year old 90 gal. (48x18x24) peaceful community fish, inverts, and softies limited by 4 - 65W PCs that I want to upgrade to try my hand at keeping LPS and a Clam or two. Not sure if I want to attempt SPS. 100+ lbs of live rock, 4" live sand bed, 20 gal. sump. I do want T5s and MHs. The lighting I had in mind was the 48" Current USA Outer Orbit 2x250W 10,000K HQI-MH w/ 4x54W T5 HO & 18 Lunar Lights. That would give me about 7.87 wpg. But it's $$$. I've connected two wires with a wire nut in the past for my 4 - 65w PCs - but it wasn't pretty. LFS would not help and charged too much $$$ for them to do this install for me. I took a lot of notes from the LFS instructions that I could get and did the best I could. I used A LOT of electricians tape and never had a fire (knock on wood). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJBoy98 January 29, 2009 Share January 29, 2009 Since you are doing MH and T5 combo, I would contact the member Coral Hind and ask to buy his T5 ballasts. You won't need the IceCap 660 T5 because over driving them would be pointless with MH. You can go cheap and get some cheap encaps for the T5's or go with the water proof ones from IceCap. I would order the MH ballast, blubs, etc from them because of the great prices. As for the light rack, you can build it out of Aluminum angle brackets riveted together. All that is available at Home Depot. Look on Reefcentral.com for examples. Hooking up the wires for the ballast, endcaps are easy. Use wire nuts because they secure the wires better than tape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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