Inherited 90

[redfishbluefish]

So are you going to fix them or get new LEDs. With all going T5 and halide I'm sure you can find them for a steal.

Pete, haven't decided yet.....the fix is 40-50 bucks...and the concern is that it still might happen again because unsure of the original cause. And I'm happy with LED's.....actually happy I'm not spending $130/year for bulb replacement on the T5's I originally had.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Pete, haven't decided yet.....the fix is 40-50 bucks...and the concern is that it still might happen again because unsure of the original cause. And I'm happy with LED's.....actually happy I'm not spending $130/year for bulb replacement on the T5's I originally had.

I hear you on that one....I thought LEDs were finally the sweet spot between MH and T5 but in more than one way I miss my T5...wonder what the best 2 T5/LED combo is.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Shamed Back Into T5's

With all the folks adding T5's back into their LED systems, I too bit the bullet and added two 54W bulbs to my tank.







I still have my entire retro IceCap system, and even though I have an IceCap 430 ballast to run these two bulbs, I'm not going to use it. I'm ordering up a Fulham Workhorse 5 instead because I'd prefer not overdriving these bulbs........less heat and energy usage running at 108 watts versus the IceCap 160 watts. Not sure how I'll use them or how long, but they are now there! Waiting for the ballast to show up.

 

[Zippy69]

I added 4 24 watt bulbs to my 120. Overall, I feel it fills in the voids and eliminates shadows. The scattered light helps one to grow things in more areas of the tank.IMHO. I still love my LEDs by the way and will never part with them.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Deceptive Sizes

So the stuff I ordered a couple days ago is trickling in. I don't know why, but my little pea brain envisioned the sizes of the items I purchased from the pictures they provided. Granted, there was no reference to judge size, but my brain did it anyway. Here are the pictures provided for two of the items:

Ballast:

Thermal Compound:

And now here are the actual items with reference. The new ballast is next to an IceCap ballast, and the thermal compound is next to a quarter. I'm thinking I'll have a ton of thermal compound.....but now I'm wondering if I'll have enough.

 

[JRWOHLER]

I will give you some good news. Those are the same ballasts I had in my T5 fixture while I did have a couple go they always replaced them so they stood behind them and the customer service was excellent. Now you know why they didn't put big gobs of the compound on.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Fired up the T5's by installing a Fulham Workhorse 5 ballast with ATI Blue Plus bulbs. I've been told, with my application of 54 W bulbs, that this ballast will overdrive the bulbs as well, but only by 7 percent.






Visually it's a bit brighter. Here's an LEDs only (full on) and LEDs (full on) and T5s combination.

Full LED's only


Full LED's and two Blue Plus T5's





Still haven't decided how I'll be using these. I'm so blue right now running 20K LEDs, so the addition of the T5's really didn't add noticeable additional blue....just additional brightness.

 

[blange3]

So I left reefing at the beginning of the LED boom and now folks are going back to T5's?

Glad I still have Some VHO's so I can get on board with the next wave!

 

[redfishbluefish]

Well Bill, not sure how long the T5's will last. Even though it's only two bulbs, I'm not liking the additional heat. Once I fix my LED fixtures, I'll most likely pull the T5's and try three 120W LED fixtures over my five foot 90 gallon.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Surprised two bulbs put off that much extra heat. How much heat comes off the old LEDs vs the Apollo?

 

[jgraz]

Surprised two bulbs put off that much extra heat. How much heat comes off the old LEDs vs the Apollo?

Was thinking the same thing. Is your canopy vented? Two 54w bulbs should not put any noticeable heat into a tank that size unless they are in the water or at least near the surface. When I switch from the LEDs to 8x80w bulbs I did not see even a fraction of a degree swing. Though I have no canopy.

 

[Zippy69]

Paul here is how placed 4 led units over my 120. The are actually out of the canopy, all fans pull in fresh air, no heat stress is put on the led units.... Now I do have a top hat look. No biggie!

 

[saltkreep88]

Paul here is how placed 4 led units over my 120. The are actually out of the canopy, all fans pull in fresh air, no heat stress is put on the led units.... Now I do have a top hat look. No biggie!View attachment 11481View attachment 11482View attachment 11483

You know you can turn the screens off on the lights, right?

 

[Zippy69]

Why would I? I do not see them at all and if I want to spot check with the assistance of a chair for my 6 foot frame I can see that all times and levels are where they are.

 

[saltkreep88]

I am just saying you can turn the screens off so they last longer by holding the left arrow down for a few seconds. Just trying to help.

 

[Zippy69]

I am just saying you can turn the screens off so they last longer by holding the left arrow down for a few seconds. Just trying to help.

I appreciate, but like I said it serves me better having it on. If they burn out ( two are 3 yrs old) the technology is so obsolete it means time to upgrade.lol

 

[redfishbluefish]

Surprised two bulbs put off that much extra heat. How much heat comes off the old LEDs vs the Apollo?

Was thinking the same thing. Is your canopy vented? Two 54w bulbs should not put any noticeable heat into a tank that size unless they are in the water or at least near the surface. When I switch from the LEDs to 8x80w bulbs I did not see even a fraction of a degree swing. Though I have no canopy.

I should have clarified this "additional heat" comment. First off the top of the canopy is open, although the T5 reflectors do partially block the open-ness of the top of the canopy. I would also imagine that the reflectors reflect heat downward as well.







What I noticed was after the T5's were on for a while, I opened the canopy door and there was a noticable heat difference between the inside and outside of the canopy. I never noticed this when running LED's only. However, I still have a fan mounted in the canopy and what I did was tie the fan running when the T5's were running.






This dissipated the heat and there was no longer a noticable difference in heat. At no time was an increase in water temperature noticed.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Tom's Aqualifter Rebuild

The Tom's Aqualifter that I use for my ATO died today. This pump was purchased in 2007 for the external overflow I was running at the time, so I can't complain. Now I have a back-up Aqualifter, but also have a little rebuild kit. Here's the kit next to the opened pump.






I never took close notice of this rebuild kit, and just thought it was the two diaphragms. However, after opening up the kit I found that it also contained new pump chamber parts....everything to make the pump new again. Here's the rebuilt pump head with the old parts that were replaced spread out next to the pumphead.







So I'm really impressed with this rebuild kit. I originally purchased this form BRS a number of years ago and just looked it up......it sells for $2.39. I'd highly recommend this little kit if you own an Aqualifter. Within 30 minutes that pump was up and running again.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Those pumps are one of the few bargains of the reefkeeping hobby. I have had mine since the tank went up in 2008. I will have to check out a replacement kit....of course they cost about 7 bucks new.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Those pumps are one of the few bargains of the reefkeeping hobby. I have had mine since the tank went up in 2008. I will have to check out a replacement kit....of course they cost about 7 bucks new.

Inflation James.....they are about $18 now. But the pump kit at $2.39.....that's chump change.