Fluorescent light question

[seanarino]

To preface: I'm not planning on using fluorescents unless I can find ballasts that aren't $500 like the ones on BRS for relatively generic T5 bulbs...
Are there special things I need to know about fluorescent bulbs? I obviously don't have the option of metal halides (I can't even figure out how you put them together) so I'd like to possibly look into the option of using T5 bulbs. The bulbs themselves aren't very expensive even as 'reef branded' (on BRS) so I'm not worried about the bulbs themselves, but more about the fixture. I wonder if it would be possible to use these bulbs in something like a Reptisun hood (and just string them together in a DIY hanging fixture) or a generic fluorescent ballast fixture. I am aware that the ATI fixtures can squeeze out more PAR from the tubes vs. a generic fixture, but I'm not worried about that exactly. Reptisun hoods are also T5HO like the ATI fixture as well. So my questions are (I'm spacing these out because I talk a lot, sorry for the giant post):

- How many bulbs do I need for a 48" long 75 gallon tank? That is, how many fixtures (or how many bulbs in one multi-fixture) would I need to invest in?

- I want to have the option of growing as many types of coral as possible; what would this entail? Which ATI bulbs should I use for this?

- I can't do the "pure blue" lighting with little-to-no whites, because I have sensitive eyes and it's very painful to look at. I can have some blue, but my tank would end up being a "rich Windex" rather than "deep blue". How would I do this?

- As part of the above question: would I need to get a "normal white" T5 light to offset the blues of the other? I don't mind algae and I don't consider most types of algae to be "unsightly", I have all the time in the world to maintain it, and it would help with growing food for algae-eating clean up crew. (Part of a balanced diet! - I'm kidding.)

- Additionally, could I just supplement white lighting with like... I don't know, those one waterproof LED stick on light bars or something? The white lighting is mostly so I don't start seeing spots if I look at my tank, because that's what blue lighting does to my eyes. I start seeing dark spots and it makes everything look like I walked into a dark room from being outside. I could even place them stuck to the glass euro-brace, because my tank is an old 1990's Oceanic.

- Has anybody tried sticking ATI bulbs into a Reptisun T5HO hood? This is more just my curiosity to see if it would work, because I'd be pleasantly surprised.

- What in the world is the "disco" / "strobe" effect people talk about? How is it any different from "shimmer" that everybody praises? Would a proposed combo of the LED light bars (made for aquariums, they stick under the rims and they're waterproof) + the fluorescents cause this effect?

 

[Big E]

Best economically LET T5 kits................ you will need the two of these for your 75g. The ballast is what ATI has in their fixtures so you'll get same performance.

You can get them here for $20 off--

LET LIGHTING 2x54W Miro-4 T5 High-Output Dimmable Retrofit Kit, 48-in - Chewy.com

Buy LET Lighting 2x54W Miro-4 T5 High-Output Dimmable Retrofit Kit, 48-in at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

You can make a canopy out of 4 pieces of wood about for about $30 or so

2 Coral+ and 2 blue+ will give you a 14k look........slight blue tint. If you want more you can add an inexpensive blue led strip later like 21led or growlight.

The led will last forever............ballast will go for at least 6-8 years.

The best part about the LET kits is that they give you flexibility for expansion and it's uses as time goes by.

 

[seanarino]

Best economically LET T5 kits................ you will need the two of these for your 75g. The ballast is what ATI has in their fixtures so you'll get same performance.

You can get them here for $20 off--

LET LIGHTING 2x54W Miro-4 T5 High-Output Dimmable Retrofit Kit, 48-in - Chewy.com

Buy LET Lighting 2x54W Miro-4 T5 High-Output Dimmable Retrofit Kit, 48-in at Chewy.com. FREE shipping and the BEST customer service!

www.chewy.com

You can make a canopy out of 4 pieces of wood about for about $30 or so

2 Coral+ and 2 blue+ will give you a 14k look........slight blue tint. If you want more you can add an inexpensive blue led strip later like 21led or growlight.

The led will last forever............ballast will go for at least 6-8 years.

The best part about the LET kits is that they give you flexibility for expansion and it's uses as time goes by.

No thank you, I do not want to do retrofits or DIY. I'm a little bit tired of all the DIY projects and if I have to do another physical project with my hands I think they'll snap off. Pre-made fixture or nothing.

 

[Big E]

Lol, I understand where you're coming from, but cheap and not some DIY doesn't exist.

In that case just buy a regular Sunpower. It will last a life time.

Don't buy fixtures that are for reptiles, not the correct application.

If you insist on going cheap than buy a horticulture fixture. It will work but will rust in 2-3 years and then it's a throw away.

Or you can buy something like this---- A frame for these will take about 30 minutes to make. All the wood can be pre- cut at Home Depot. A few screws and you're done.

Reefbrite 48" Supra Quad T5 Fixture | Premium Aquatics

Aquarium & Fish Supplies Superstore. Guaranteed Low Prices. Free Shipping for qualified orders. Aquarium supply for your aquarium fish, saltwater aquariums, freshwater aquariums and ponds. The best aquarium lighting, protein skimmers, aquarium chillers, calcium reactors, aquarium pumps for fish...

premiumaquatics.com

Or this---

Giesemann Razor T5 Retro Kit Aquarium Light (CLOSEOUT)

The Razor T5 Retro Kit Aquarium Light is ideal for watertight illumination applications. Can be used on its own or as supplemental T5 lighting. Bulbs are sold separately.

www.coralvue.com

The above are quality fixtures and you don't have to put together.

 

[Big E]

I you want to go with LED strips and no T5 there are many options.

Some have hardware or you're going to have to diy some type of frame for them. The more expensive will fit mounting frames hardware they sell.

Orphek & the more expensive brands have mounting kits

You aren't going to get disco with strips if the bars overlap slightly.

 

[seanarino]

Update: I've decided to save up for a VIVOSUN T5 fixture (4 ft, 6-tube). I realized I wouldn't be able to clip anything like "hang-over" goose neck lights on my tank anyway because of the thick wooden trim old Oceanic tanks had. I can't really DIY too much, so this is the option I've got. Some people say that as long as you make sure it isn't getting hit with a lot of salt splash, it was just as good as the ATI fixture.
I think my combination is going to be much like homer1475's suggestion in 2020 on another thread, who said that their lighting was more 'windex' blue (front to back):

coral+
purple+
blue+
actinic
coral+
blue+

So I have some new questions:
- Optimally, how high should I have my lights It's about 21" if it was bare bottom and I plan on having about 1.5 - 2 inches of sand?
- Can T5 lighting go through glass / acrylic / plastic lids? I'd like to make (re: buy a thin acrylic sheet or something) a lid for salt splash reasons that sits over where the lights directly hang to prevent any kind of salt splash / creep. If not, no big deal, I'll figure something out.

 

[Bpb]

You can try an acrylic or glass shield. You do run the risk of trapping heat and suppression of ph without allowing the gas exchange the open top affords. But it’s worth a shot. Just be flexible. The glass or acrylic shield will undoubtedly get fogged with condensation quickly which will heavily impact the amount of light that reaches your coral.

Shimmer is just the focused caustic lines of high intensity light caused by water ripples. You need an intense point source of light to have shimmer. Think of what the bottom of a swimming pool looks like on a bright sunny day. Like this

Disco effect IS shimmer, but the difference is it is the individual separation of colors dancing around in the tank, typically found in led fixtures that are poorly blended/diffused. Like this

So you’ll see red bands, green bands, blue bands all crossing paths.

Quality well blended shimmer will just have white caustic lines

T5 lit tanks typically will have little to no shimmer at all

 

[RedoubtReef]

where are you seeing ballasts for T5 at $500?? ATI replacements are between $30-$50.

 

[oreo54]

My fav on glitter lines.
Do note that natural caustic lines can have some color separation. Not near the same as artificial though.

The fluttering intensity can be drastic.
May not matter.

Glitter Lines: More Than Aesthetic?

This article will present some initial data from recent experiments relating to the physiological effects of glitter lines within aquaria, and also how our artificial glitter compares to that found in natural reefs.

reefs.com

 

[seanarino]

where are you seeing ballasts for T5 at $500?? ATI replacements are between $30-$50.

Fixtures. Everybody I've known my whole life has called fluorescent fixtures 'ballasts'. ATI fixtures are ~$500.

 

[seanarino]

You can try an acrylic or glass shield. You do run the risk of trapping heat and suppression of ph without allowing the gas exchange the open top affords. But it’s worth a shot. Just be flexible. The glass or acrylic shield will undoubtedly get fogged with condensation quickly which will heavily impact the amount of light that reaches your coral.

Shimmer is just the focused caustic lines of high intensity light caused by water ripples. You need an intense point source of light to have shimmer. Think of what the bottom of a swimming pool looks like on a bright sunny day. Like this

Disco effect IS shimmer, but the difference is it is the individual separation of colors dancing around in the tank, typically found in led fixtures that are poorly blended/diffused. Like this

So you’ll see red bands, green bands, blue bands all crossing paths.

Quality well blended shimmer will just have white caustic lines

T5 lit tanks typically will have little to no shimmer at all

I was thinking a partial shield rather than the entire top of the tank - taking plastic screen mesh, gluing it to an acrylic sheet at the edges, and then making a finished edge over top of where the screen is glued with another piece of black plastic / acrylic sandwiched on each side. this image isn't exact, it's just a bit of a silly ms-paint mockup I did to show you what I meant. I'm not doing another 'window screen frame' DIY lid because i can't get the spline in and have nobody to help me. i have chronic severe pain in my wrists and by the time i'd given up making the window screen lid, i couldn't move my fingers at all and my hands had swelled up to the point they looked like gloves full of air. it was terrible. Gluing is easy and cyanoacrylate cures fast.

Plus I need to make lids for the tank anyway. I don't think Oceanic has lids for their weird old 90's 75 gallons anymore.

 

[RedoubtReef]

Fixtures. Everybody I've known my whole life has called fluorescent fixtures 'ballasts'. ATI fixtures are ~$500.

ah, ok. A ballast is what actually powers the light in a fixture.

 

[seanarino]

... Another not-exactly-fluorescent light related question that Google will not give me a solid answer on:

What's the temperature Kelvin exactly that most blue lights are made from, and can any light in the right range work? Does it just have to be the right temperature Kelvin?

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Buy a Amazon indoor t5 grow light 6 bulb. 150.00 run 4 ATI blue t and an actinic add a 6500k regular t5 it will give you a natural looking white light. Want a little bluer replace 6500k with a coral+ or aqua blue special

 

[oreo54]

... Another not-exactly-fluorescent light related question that Google will not give me a solid answer on:

What's the temperature Kelvin exactly that most blue lights are made from, and can any light in the right range work? Does it just have to be the right temperature Kelvin?

Blue diodes do not have a K temp.
Visually K sort of goes from blue white to white red.

What is Kelvin? A precise description og the Kelvin scale | Suprabeam

Kelvin is a temperature scale used in the world of science, but how can Kelvin be used to describe colour temperature? Read more here.

suprabeam.com

 

[seanarino]

Buy a Amazon indoor t5 grow light 6 bulb. 150.00 run 4 ATI blue t and an actinic add a 6500k regular t5 it will give you a natural looking white light. Want a little bluer replace 6500k with a coral+ or aqua blue special

I'm sorry, you'll need to explain what you said better.
I already am going to be doing a 6-bulb T5. I already have planned which bulbs I'm going to be using in it (from another member on R2R here). I was just wondering if it was possible for me to use those submersible light bars to create extra blue lighting in the tank without harming my eyes. People say that 440-470 nm is the lighting spectrum of blue that most corals use.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I'm sorry, you'll need to explain what you said better.
I already am going to be doing a 6-bulb T5. I already have planned which bulbs I'm going to be using in it (from another member on R2R here). I was just wondering if it was possible for me to use those submersible light bars to create extra blue lighting in the tank without harming my eyes. People say that 440-470 nm is the lighting spectrum of blue that most corals use.

Sorry misunderstood

 

[Bpb]

I'm sorry, you'll need to explain what you said better.
I already am going to be doing a 6-bulb T5. I already have planned which bulbs I'm going to be using in it (from another member on R2R here). I was just wondering if it was possible for me to use those submersible light bars to create extra blue lighting in the tank without harming my eyes. People say that 440-470 nm is the lighting spectrum of blue that most corals use.

Those t5 bulbs you’ll be using all provide every bit of blue your tank would possibly need. Supplementing with blue LEDs won’t necessarily benefit the coral in any way, though it may enhance your own viewing experience of your tank if you choose to go that route. Many people do. Your eyes will be fine. Just don’t hold the lights directly up to your face for hours a day every day. The amount of light your eyes get from tank lighting isn’t enough to cause retinal damage or cataracts.

 

[seanarino]

Those t5 bulbs you’ll be using all provide every bit of blue your tank would possibly need. Supplementing with blue LEDs won’t necessarily benefit the coral in any way, though it may enhance your own viewing experience of your tank if you choose to go that route. Many people do. Your eyes will be fine. Just don’t hold the lights directly up to your face for hours a day every day. The amount of light your eyes get from tank lighting isn’t enough to cause retinal damage or cataracts.

Once again: I have autism and sensory issues and the blue makes my vision start blacking out and I start seeing spots. This isn't a "a lot of people do it so it's fine for you too" situation. It's physically painful and it's like sticking needles in my eyes.

 

[Bpb]

Then why are you trying to add more blue if it is uncomfortable to look at? It is unnecessary. You could use a bank of entirely 6500k t5ho lights and the corals would be happy as can be. Extra blue is entirely unnecessary. It is purely visual