T5 DIY planning.

[mseepman]

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.

[JDigital]

Originally Posted by mseepman

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.

[JDigital]

Originally Posted by JDigital

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.

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

All for $360. lol

[sphelps]

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.

[JDigital]

Originally Posted by sphelps

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

.

Only thing with this is I want to fire different sets of bulbs at different times of the day.. I could only fire 4 and 4 with 2xWH5, correct? I want to be able to fire 2, 2, 4 and then shut them down 4, 2, 2.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by JDigital

Only thing with this is I want to fire different sets of bulbs at different times of the day.. I could only fire 4 and 4 with 2xWH5, correct? I want to be able to fire 2, 2, 4 and then shut them down 4, 2, 2.

Yes that's correct I was just saying if you wanted to cut back on cost you could just fire 4 and 4. Keeps things a little more simple to.

[Rbacchiega]

*tagging along*

Let me know how this works out for you.....great idea rather than spending so much more on an 8 bulb unit...

[mseepman]

Originally Posted by JDigital

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

All for $360. lol

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.

[midgetwaiter]

Originally Posted by JDigital

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

All for $360. lol

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.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by midgetwaiter

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.