Doc's Reef

[Fat Tony]

Nice work! waiting for more updates.

[drdude05]

Very nice job on the wiring but I have to question having the lights mounted to the top of the canopy like that. How high off the water are those bulbs going to end up once the canopy is on the tank? You may want to incorporate some standoffs and bring those bulbs down a few inches.

Thanks. The bulbs are 7" from the surface of the water and about 30" - 31" from the very bottom of the tank. Remember though ... these are 80w bulbs overdriven to 100W each and I have 8 for a total of 800W. To my eye, the tank is just a tad dimmer than it was with my MH setup ... which I expected since these are T5's and about 200W less overall than my previous fixture.

[Jadinop]

Originally Posted by drdude05

Thanks. The bulbs are 7" from the surface of the water and about 30" - 31" from the very bottom of the tank. Remember though ... these are 80w bulbs overdriven to 100W each and I have 8 for a total of 800W. To my eye, the tank is just a tad dimmer than it was with my MH setup ... which I expected since these are T5's and about 200W less overall than my previous fixture.

That's not as far as I thought. From the photos, it looked to me like it was going to be a few inches more.

[drdude05]

Ok ... I've got some updates. I got all the standoffs and endcaps mounted and wired a few days ago and installed all the lights to make sure my spacing was correct. I have to say I'm rather impressed ... the spacing actually came out looking like I had actually tried to put some planning in this install . I don't have the reflectors installed in the pictures as I was just testing spacing and that I had wired everything correctly. Also, the final bulb placement isn't going to be what's shown in the photo either, again because I was just testing the wiring and making sure everything was hooked up correctly.




The next couple of pictures show how I zip tied the wiring together. These photos don't show it, but I also used wire brackets and nailed them into the top of the canopy to support the wiring and hold it up and in place to make it even neater. I'll gete some pics of that also.

Here are a few more shots to show how I routed the wiring.





I'm not sure if you can read it or not ... but that piece of paper under the bulbs has my proposed bulb order on it!!

[drdude05]

It's ALIVE!!!!

It WORKS!!!

We're in BUSINESS!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!

[drdude05]

Here is a pic to prove that I wired it correctly.

[drdude05]

I made it to post number 1500! Awesome

I was looking through my notes and found a copy I made of the bulb order I am going to use. My bulbs are a mixture of Blue Plus and Aqua Blue Special from ATI and Pure Actinic and Midday from Geismann (sp correctly?)

From front to back they will install as:
1. Blue Plus -- ATI
2. Pure Actinic -- G
3. Aqua Blue Special -- ATI
4. Blue Plus -- ATI
5. Midday -- G
6. Blue Plus -- ATI
7. Aqua Blue Special -- ATI
8. Pure Actinic -- G

[crvz]

I like the bulb choice. Regarding the coax seal, I doubt you'll need it, but it's surely not hurting anything. I've been running my setup for over 2 years now without any corrosion.

[drdude05]

I like the bulb choice.

Thanks ... I was inspired by an outside source!

How do you like the Actinics by UVL? I went with actinics I did because they were Geismann. Do you know if the UVL's are any brighter or have better PAR?

[drdude05]

That's not as far as I thought. From the photos, it looked to me like it was going to be a few inches more.

Yeah, from the pics it does look like they are a long way from the water surface. One thing though, there is a trim piece at the bottom of my canopy that fits down over the aquarium trim. From the pic, it makes the canopy look like it sits taller than it actually does.

[drdude05]

Hey Chris,

I don't suppose that I could talk you into letting me borrow your PAR meter could I??

[crvz]

Originally Posted by drdude05

Hey Chris,

I don't suppose that I could talk you into letting me borrow your PAR meter could I??

sure, when can you be here to pick it up?

[drdude05]

sure, when can you be here to pick it up?

I'm always up for a road trip!!

[drdude05]

How deep is your tank and how far is it from the bottom of your tank to your T5's? What kind of PAR readings to you get? I've got a crocea clam this is about 28" away from the lights and I'm trying to figure if it's getting enough light. It seems happy enough. I've had the lights back on the tank and running for the last three days and it seems like it has started to brighten back up again. I had the hood off working on it for three weeks !!!! Mainly due to the fact it took forever to get replacement fans from Hamilton Technology.

[drdude05]

Here are a few more update pics. These show the cleaned up wiring and the installation of the new fans. I bought four new 30cfm fans from Hamiltion Technology. I have them all blowing in since the back of my canopy is open to force air across the bulbs to help keep them cool and lengthen bulb life.