Aqualight Pro Series upgrade?

[Okguy]

I'm just sort of thinking out loud and I'm completely useless when it comes to electrical work.

But I thought I would throw this idea out here to see if it's even possible.

I have a 36" aqualight pro with a 150w HQI MH and 2 x 65w pc's. Now the 2 pc's are only 22" in length.

Is it possible to replace the 22" pc's with 36" T5's? There is plenty of room in the hood for them to fit and the reflector goes all the way down. So if the coralife ballast can fire T5's it would be a significant lighting upgrade with minimal cost.

If this is possible, what wattage of T5's would work? And how many can I run?

[midgetwaiter]

You would probably have to switch the ballast. You could possibly fire NO T5s with those but that's not going to get you anywhere as I've never come across a really good NO T5 actinic.

[Okguy]

Thanks, I thought it sounded a little too good to be true. But it doesn't hurt to ask. I may switch ballasts in the future and replace the pc's with T5's.

Kevin

[Chin_Lee]

you don't need to swap out ballasts. the fluorescent ballasts in the Aqualight Pro are electronic and they will adjust accordingly to your bulb's power demand up to its rated max which in this case is 65W (meaning the electronic ballast will not push 65W power through a 40W bulb).
Since the 36" T5's are 39W, the ballast will work fine for your HOT5 bulbs.

[fkshiu]

However, you might have some mounting issues with the different length of T5 bulb and the fact that you'll have to somehow get a second endcap in there.

I'm not sure if the swap would be worth the cost. The vast majority of the light would still come from the halide lamp as without properly designed T5HO reflectors (e.g. Icecap SLR), you won't get as much of an improvement over the PCs as you would like.

Further, if you just want better actinic lighting, simply buying a T5 strip light would be more cost effective and wouldn't have to rip into the fixture.

[Chin_Lee]

Originally Posted by fkshiu

However, you might have some mounting issues with the different length of T5 bulb and the fact that you'll have to somehow get a second endcap in there.

I'm not sure if the swap would be worth the cost. The vast majority of the light would still come from the halide lamp as without properly designed T5HO reflectors (e.g. Icecap SLR), you won't get as much of an improvement over the PCs as you would like.

Further, if you just want better actinic lighting, simply buying a T5 strip light would be more cost effective and wouldn't have to rip into the fixture.

sorry but i have to disagree - you won't have any mounting issues. just buy some t5 endcaps like the ones from britelite that you can screw into the reflector http://britelite.com/pdf/linear.pdf just make sure they are screwed in the right distance properly to fit the 36" t5 bulbs. then run the wires to the end caps. to make the endcaps more rigid, use some metal plates to back the reflector around where you screw in the end caps.

total costs should only be the bulb itself and endcaps.
keep the ballast, keep the reflector in the aqualight pro.