T5 DIY planning.
 

Now, I'm not the best DIY'er but I am always up for trying something if its gonna save me some money (especially on a low budget build).

Ok, So I am pretty sure I have figured out what I wanna try for my lighting on my 40G cube.

I was thinking of purchasing 2 - Aquamedic 4x24W NO T5 units (getting a good deal), tear them open, DIY to brace them together as one unit, therefore creating a 8x24W unit cheaper than anything I can find. I was then going to pull out the single reflector and NO ballasts, and swap in Tek individual reflectors, and run 2 Workhorse 3 HOT5 ballasts and 1 Workhorse 5 HOT5 ballast. Bulb configuration (and proposed light schedule) as follows.

Ballast #1 and #2 are the Workhorse 3's
Ballast #3 is the Workhorse 5.

Giesemann 10K (Ballast #2) (On: 1000 Off: 2200)
KZ Fiji Purple (Ballast #3) (On: 1100 Off: 2100)
Giesemann 10K (Ballast #3) (On: 1100 Off: 2100)
Giesemann Actinic+ (Ballast #1) (On: 0600 Off: 2400)
Giesemann Actinic+ (Ballast #1) (On: 0600 Off: 2400)
Giesemann 10K (Ballast #3) (On: 1100 Off: 2100)
Giesemann True Actinic (Ballast #3) (On: 1100 Off: 2100)
Giesemann 10K (Ballast #2) (On: 1000 Off: 2200)


Now my main concern after all that........ Is there an easier way to set this up??

So you want to build two fixtures into one? Or do you plan to build a canopy?

Sounds cheaper to just buy end caps, cause you're replacing everything else?

Yea, basically two fixtures into one. No canopy.

I was looking to keep the fixtures for pure aesthetic reasons.

It really depends on what you feel is a good deal. Conidering what you're going to spend, I would build a box and bang together 4 of these:
http://www.aquacave.com/24-two-lamp-...lvue-1144.html

You may not start with the bulb combination you were thinking but you'd have bulbs already and could change them over at your leisure. All for around $400 US.

Yea, i was just looking on Ocean Aquatics website after nazerine posted about end caps...

8 TekII 24" Reflectors
2 Workhorse 3
1 Workhorse 5
16 Waterproof sockets

All for $430CDN.

I was really hoping to go with the clean look of some modded fixtures. Guess I should re-evaluate my plan.

4 TekII T5 Reflector 48" (cut them in half)
2 Workhorse 3
1 Workhorse 5
16 Waterproof sockets

All for $360. lol

If you really want to save a couple more bucks you could skip the waterproof end caps and use standard ones which usually cost about $2-3 per pair. These are used in Tek and other fixtures. You can protect them with a shield or periodic cleaning. You can also apply a little silicone around the bulb ends and meets the end caps, when replacing the bulbs the silicone tends to stick to the bulbs rather than the end caps.

You'll also obviously save more money skipping the WH3s and using another WH5.

Good call on the 48" reflectors, I do the same thing. You will have to either get extra bulb clips or simply screw the reflectors to the fixture or canopy.

Now, the one problem in looking at this is that it doesn't take into consideration the bulbs. At an average price of $26, that's another $200 plus dollars. If you could find some retro kits that gave you bulbs included, then you'd save some serious dough.

What are you looking to do with this thing? If you are doing something like SPS or shallow softies I'd look at a different ballast like the Advance, the Workhorse is a little weak. I have a WH5 and it suits my LPS tank fine but compared to a Tek light (uses advance) it is noticeably dimmer. If you dig around RC you can find par tests that have been done and show how much difference there is.

The results I've seen show about 7% difference between dynamic T5 ballasts and workhorse when comparing par. I haven't seen a direct comparison of advance vs workhorse so if you have a link please provide it. I've used both workhorse and advance and haven't noticed a difference except one costs almost twice as much.