Omair February 22, 2012 Share February 22, 2012 (edited) My next build will require retro T5's. I have the ballast, sockets and wiring. I'm not sure how to put all of this together to be nice and neat. I want to do 6-8 bulbs on two different ballasts. One ballast will be running blue/actinics and the second will be running fiji purple whites. Blue/Actinics will turn on in the morning and continue on into the evening. The White/Purples will only run during "daylight" hours. This will be going over a 48x18 tank. Should I do 8 bulbs? Will that be over kill? How do I install the lighting? Should I get a 48"x18" plywood board and build the lights into that? Then attack to the Canopy? The canopy has a hinge and opens up halfway - similar to Oceanic Monterey canopies. Edited February 22, 2012 by Omair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mando77 February 22, 2012 Share February 22, 2012 I would go 8 bulbs, more is always better. There has to be sites and plenty of information online on how to wire and set this up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair February 22, 2012 Author Share February 22, 2012 The wiring isn't what I'm worried about. I think I have that squared away. My concern is properly mounting it in my canopy so it's clean and accessible. Mostly looking for best practices and lessons learned from the other, more experienced, reefers on WAMAS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S February 22, 2012 Share February 22, 2012 Omair, I think installing them on a single piece of plywood is a good idea. You have individual reflectors right? I think 8 would be awesome over a tank with those dimensions. If the canopy hinges, that gives you access into the tank and to change the bulbs or clean them. I think that would work perfectly. Also make sure that they can be unplugged easily enough in case you need to remove the entire canopy for some reason. Other then that, you should be good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 February 22, 2012 Share February 22, 2012 8 bulbs on a 18" wide tank? I think that sounds like a lot, and 6 should be plenty. You are not going to have coral all 18" are you? Can you even fit 8 IR's in a canopy for a 75 gallon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair February 22, 2012 Author Share February 22, 2012 It would be a 90 Gallon. I plan to fill it up with LPS and have plenty of Acans, Wellsophylia, etc on the sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 February 22, 2012 Share February 22, 2012 All LPS, or any SPS? If only doing LPS you will not need 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling February 24, 2012 Share February 24, 2012 The wiring isn't what I'm worried about. I think I have that squared away. My concern is properly mounting it in my canopy so it's clean and accessible. Mostly looking for best practices and lessons learned from the other, more experienced, reefers on WAMAS. Be care full about mounting them in a canopy. I retro fitted 6 T-5 with reflectors and all mounted on home made wooden supports, in my 156G's canpoy. It was working fine for over a year without any problems. Then one day I get a call from home saying the canopy was on fire ! Luckily my neighbor saved the day with a fire extinguisher. Unfortunately it also extinguished all life in the tank, corals and all, only a Sailfin and Maroon Clown made it though that ordeal. The end of the canopy was so badly burnt that I can't tell how the fire started other then to speculate that the Ice Cap ends that were mounted on a wooden support got over heated and started burning the wood there. It's been over a year since that happended and only now am I begining to get back to looking for frags to start over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omair February 24, 2012 Author Share February 24, 2012 Geezus christ you just scared the crap out of me! I'm not sure how I'm going to mount the ballasts now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mling February 24, 2012 Share February 24, 2012 Geezus christ you just scared the crap out of me! I'm not sure how I'm going to mount the ballasts now. I mounted the ballasts under the tank, on a 2x4 "right angle" I made. Bought some wiring at home depot and extended it to the canopy. Ballast had no problem during the fire. In fact, if any one wants IceCap 600 ballast, I would be willing to trade for frags. No longer need it since I now use LED. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RubberFrog February 24, 2012 Share February 24, 2012 Use a piece of hardwood (real hardwood like or maple, not "soft" hardwood like maple or birch"), it will be harder to catch fire! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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