Any experience on T5 reflectors?

[amyxagl]

I know this is old tech, but I refabed an old 48" 6 bulb t5 shop light with new ballasts and built a lamented shroud with fan to exhaust the heat from the inside. (basically copied ATIs t5 fixture) The only thing is the par isnt quite what I thought it would be. I was reaching around 220 top center at 8" above the tank. Im hoping its the commercial grade, dull reflectors and I'm thinking about replacing them (with whatever is on the market at this point)

Theres a few out there that can be clipped onto the bulb. I like the thought that I could also redirect some of that light towards the center so theres not as much spill.

Theres LET miro-4, CoralVue super lumen, TEK-2. maybe its too specific to ask about the differences in these alone, however, would you think its a good idea to get new reflectors to bring these lights up to .....par?

Are these normal numbers? or would I benefit from the upgrade?

Before the LED people chime in, I agree 100% LEDs are great and can be cheaper for the utilities but I already committed to 5 years worth of bulbs I got for cheap. I will upgrade then but not now. I just didnt have the funds for $2000 worth of LED fixtures.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Those T5s are too high up IMO. You're gonna get higher PAR with better penetration if you bring it down. A lot better. Mine was about 6 inches off the water (maybe 4). I was running a Tek 8x54W 48" on a 90g. I plan on using the same on my 155 when it goes up.

 

[PharmrJohn]

And there's nothing wrong with T5s. The old Tech worked just fine. No bells and whistles like Moon Lights or gradual dimming, but I had excellent luck with the Tek Fixture. When it finally goes, I'll upgrade to LED, as that's the way of things, but if I can make these work, ill do so.

 

[amyxagl]

And there's nothing wrong with T5s. The old Tech worked just fine. No bells and whistles like Moon Lights or gradual dimming, but I had excellent luck with the Tek Fixture. When it finally goes, I'll upgrade to LED, as that's the way of things, but if I can make these work, ill do so.

i agree, i knew i would be learning a lot with flow, cal/alk, nutrient import/export, which is another reason why (besides the cost) i decided to stick with something thats fool proof in terms of spectrum.
i know the lights are a little bit high, and maybe i can lower them but it wont be much. i wanted to leave enough room to still work on the tank, acclimate fish, feed coral, ect.
Even without those thoughts, the Neptune afs still sits about 5" above the water line.

i did have a thought just now, i might lower the light fixture inside the canopy. i think i left it 2" from the plexi splash panel to give space for heat as well as minimize light spilling but im more concerned about those par numbers.

good to know about the reflectors youve used.

 

[KrisReef]

i agree, i knew i would be learning a lot with flow, cal/alk, nutrient import/export, which is another reason why (besides the cost) i decided to stick with something thats fool proof in terms of spectrum.
i know the lights are a little bit high, and maybe i can lower them but it wont be much. i wanted to leave enough room to still work on the tank, acclimate fish, feed coral, ect.
Even without those thoughts, the Neptune afs still sits about 5" above the water line.

i did have a thought just now, i might lower the light fixture inside the canopy. i think i left it 2" from the plexi splash panel to give space for heat as well as minimize light spilling but im more concerned about those par numbers.

good to know about the reflectors youve used.

I was walking through an alley in Long Beach a couple of weeks ago and saw a bunch of old T8 fixtures that had beautiful polished metal reflectors in them that looked brand new. I was thinking that I might grab them but I didn’t know anyone who might use them.

A good reflector is a beautiful thing.

 

[rtparty]

There are 4 main components to T5s and getting the most out of them.

1) Good reflectors
1) Good bulbs
1) Proper ballasts
1) Proper cooling

Skimp on any one and they will suffer. And yes, they’re all labeled number 1 for a reason

ATI fixtures were designed in a very specific way. You brought in cooler fresh air, blew it over the ballasts, and then through little holes onto the cold spot of the bulb. Cold spot is the label end for most bulbs. The air then traveled the length of the bulbs before exiting the fixture. ATI also uses spec T5 ballasts. Many “shop” fixtures do not.

The LET reflectors are super close to ATI reflectors in performance if you have the space.

Btw, don’t cool the bulbs too much or that will kill output as well.

 

[amyxagl]

There are 4 main components to T5s and getting the most out of them.

1) Good reflectors
1) Good bulbs
1) Proper ballasts
1) Proper cooling

Skimp on any one and they will suffer. And yes, they’re all labeled number 1 for a reason

ATI fixtures were designed in a very specific way. You brought in cooler fresh air, blew it over the ballasts, and then through little holes onto the cold spot of the bulb. Cold spot is the label end for most bulbs. The air then traveled the length of the bulbs before exiting the fixture. ATI also uses spec T5 ballasts. Many “shop” fixtures do not.

The LET reflectors are super close to ATI reflectors in performance if you have the space.

Btw, don’t cool the bulbs too much or that will kill output as well.

I think I have 3/4 of your points checked:

Good bulbs - all geismenn 2 blue 2 purple 1 white 1 actinic

Proper ballasts - I replaced the ballasts with the ATI apex controllable 0-10v - as they only do 2 bulbs i had to buy 3 and rework the wiring. NBD for me.
Side note: I was able to squeeze in a 0-10v LED driver so I can run UV bars for supplemental color pop and white pods for shimmer - the white pods were a waste.

Proper cooling - I agree with everything you said. I have a mini 1" Noctua fan for the ballast chamber because you can never have too much cooling on ballasts. This is separate from cooling the bulbs as I punched holes on either side of the ballast chamber and canopy. It hard to see in the pics but theres a black grille on either side in the middle. One side has the fan the other side is the exhaust. Its not a ton of air by any means, just a tiny bit for fresh air to be drawn in.

Then I have another mini 1" fan on top pushing air down controlled by a temp regulator for A/V equipment cabinets and ramps up/down as needed. The fan is placed on opposite side of the plex with holes. The holes on the plex are small 3/8" holes right where the label of the bulbs are for the "cool spot"
All of this I designed based on the video that BRS did about the ATI t5 fixture.
No its not perfect like ATIs but I did what i could with the materials, budget, and skill.

This is why i think my short fall might be the reflectors as they arent designed for high level lighting. That and Im limited on how low I am able to go. I know t5s can be placed an inch above the water without having issues like LED fixture can, but i need to be able to work on it. Also in one of the pics you can see the size of the fixture is a little big. If I lower it, the bulb on the back side may not even hit the tank. Redirecting it with a clip-on reflector might help.

Lastly I added a couple ReefBrite strips for the extra bump and color pop after seeing the corals and par values.

 

[amyxagl]

I was walking through an alley in Long Beach a couple of weeks ago and saw a bunch of old T8 fixtures that had beautiful polished metal reflectors in them that looked brand new. I was thinking that I might grab them but I didn’t know anyone who might use them.

A good reflector is a beautiful thing.

I have a pallet full of working 6 bulb t5 fixtures they replaced in our shop with leds. Thats how i started this lighting endevor. Theres about 30 or so. Might turn this into a side hustle seeing that t5s havent died yet.