DIY led & t5 combo light fixture (1 Viewer)

[ronin07x]

Hey guys. I have a 150g tall tank. It's 48" long. I had an 8 bulb t5 48" ATI nondimmable fixture over it for about 3 or 4 months. I felt that the fixture was overkill and was getting to much of an algae growth. I was cutting down the times and raising it up. But, even with more water changes, I was getting more algae growth then I wanted and I just didn't like the look and no control of dimming or anything. Also, I wasn't too excited about the cost to replace all those bulbs when the time came.

I had an older reef breeders value led light from a tank years ago. I decided to buy another used cheap led fixture and just buy 2 separate single t5 bulb fixtures and a little blue led moonlight strip and make my own light fixture for a fraction of the cost. I'll only have to replace 2 bulbs instead of 8. I'll have control of the dimming with the leds and I'll have moonlighting.

These are the pictures of my fixture. Took me about 6 hours to plan, make, and paint. Let me know what yall think.

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[Clownfish Chris]

That is pretty sweet! I may have to do something like this myself! I have MH that I would like to supplement.

 

[chris85]

Looks great!!

 

[johntdaballa]

Looks clean

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[ronin07x]

Ya. It came out great. Wish I did this from the beginning. A lot more budget friendly.

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[Lord Spice]

Nice ! The stand looks great !

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[Cody]

That's more or less what I did, just had a different style canopy. The T5s and LEDs compliment each other so well, and you're absolutely right about being cost effective.

 

[ronin07x]

Yes. Your thread actually inspired me to do it. I was looking around for a budget friendly set up and really liked what you did. So I just modified for mine. I got step by step pictures of how I did mine if anyone wants to know. I could post them.

And thanks for the compliment about my stand. I built my whole stand too. Here an better picture of the stand. Before it was filled.

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[Cody]

Beautiful stand! And I'm glad I could inspire you to try this method. I like how you routed out a clean hole for the lights to shine through. I might incorporate that in my next build. How are you liking the combo so far?

 

[ronin07x]

Man. I love it. There is no other way to do it. The t5 and led combo is just amazing. The price tag on a ati power module is just too much for me. The corals love it. I don't see myself going back.

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[SHAZELEY]

looks amazing. what type of T5 bulbs is that you using. basically the spectrum??

 

[ronin07x]

I'm using an ati blue and ati purple bulb.

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[SHAZELEY]

great. love this build. I running leds right now and really just love this idea. think I will be doing this set up this weekend

 

[Lord Spice]

Man i need you to teach me how to make something so nice

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[Cody]

I'm using an ati blue and ati purple bulb.

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Glad you like the lights! I'm a big fan of mine. Anyway, how far apart are your T5s? I ran the same bulbs on the front and back due to wanting to get equal color distribution on each side. I really wanted to run a white and blue, but turned away from it. Maybe I should run blue in the front and white in the back. The blue would definitely make things pop in the front.

 

[ronin07x]

Ya. I played around with blue, purple, and coral white color. I liked the combo I have now the best.

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[ronin07x]

Also, here is a walk through of the light build.

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[Cody]

Ya. I played around with blue, purple, and coral white color. I liked the combo I have now the best.

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So you didn't experience one side of the tank looking a different color than the other due to two different colors of bulbs? I was worried about the back half of the tank looking one color and the other half looking a different color.

 

[ronin07x]

Not at all. It's not as direct as you are thinking. It all blends well. Just depends on what color blend you want.

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[Cody]

OK cool. I might try a white and a blue and see how they blend. I'm just so used to leds. You have to plan carefully if you don't want to create a rocking disco.