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Lighting upgrade: from T12 to auto-dimming T6 fluorescents
Time to upgrade the lighting in my rivertank (see Morphlizard’s RiverTank)
I have been wanting to upgrade to T5HO for some time now. I also want auto-dimming lights. My current bulbs are past due for replacement so now is the time to upgrade since I have to buy bulbs anyways.
Current setup:
I currently have two 4’ shop fixtures (4 bulbs total) retrofitted to my custom canopy. These use cheap magnetic ballasts and can only drive T10 and T12 bulbs. I removed the ballasts from their original enclosures and have them mounted to the back of the tank stand where they can't add heat and weight to the canopy. I turned the light enclosures inside-out so that I can have a slim unit and reflectors.. kinda. I currently only run two of the four bulbs, which are on an analog timer.
(Click for Flickr image) Wanted setup:
- T5HO
- Automatic dimming (sunrise/sunset)
- Affordable (relative I know; let’s say ~$200 vs. $1000)
Q: It rains in my RiverTank three times a day so are automatic sunsets and sunrises too much to ask for?
A: I guess so, since I can’t find an affordable automatic dimming solution for T5s :(
Ballast:
What I do see is the Exo Terra Light Cycle Unit (2x40w): (exo-terra.com)
Some notes:
- Why they focus on reptile terrariums is beyond me. The same pro-dimming case can be made for aquariums, grow-ops, etc.
- I would like more dimming control instead of the given 3 settings (10, 12, 14 hours), such as
- Adjustable dimming rate
- Finely adjustable light period
- Why not enter in the date and desired latitude to emulate?
- Why do they focus on T10 and T8 bulbs?
- T10 to T6 adapter bushing should also be included (T10 to T8 adapters are included in U.S. markets)
- I emailed Hagen customer support and asked if they were considering a T5 design and got this response:
Unfortunately I am not aware of that light cycle unit that you are referencing coming out in a 54Watt T5 version any time soon.
Enough of that. OK, good enough I guess. I will do T6 instead. Not the same as T5 I know.
Q: Who’s doing T6?
A: Yikes… nobody.
I hear stories of those unhappy souls who buy those cheap T6 fixtures off of ebay or whatever.. NOT what I am looking for. Anyways, you can get the Exo Terra dimming 2x40 unit including shipping for $55 if you shop around… on ebay coincidentally.
Bulbs:
I found at least 3 manufactures that make T6 plant grow bulbs, so that’s good enough for me regarding bulb availability:
- Flora Plus T6 Bulb by Ethical Pet Products(Quantum),
- Helios T6 SuperLux Ultra Spectrum Grow (USG) (commodityaxis.com)
- Natural Lighting T6 - HO Grow Lights. (naturallighting.com)
T6 Bulbs are also available from Jalli, GE, etc.
Reflectors:
I would be a fool not to use individual bulb parabolic reflectors when using T5 or T6 bulbs. Problem is: it is pretty tough to find quality reflectors made for T6 bulbs. I found only one, and it was not easy: (commodityaxis.com) / www.viaaqua.net. In case you are wondering these are different all together from the reflectors included with those inexpensive Helios T5 lighting units. These are high quality reflectors of the same material as used by icecap and sunlight. Reflectors are also T6 parabolic. That’s their claim anyways….
(Click for Flickr image)
(Click for Flickr image)On the topic of commodityaxis:
Their order website is lame, currently you pretty much have to communicate via email and fax orderforms around… what year is this again? What millennium? I ended up emailing a jpeg of the order form (faxes are soooo dated) and a rep called me for my CC info (seemed like a nice guy as we chatted a bit about my project) so good enough.
Fine, since I have to order reflectors from them directly (no local source) I may as well splurge and get T10 to T6 SuperLux Adaptor Bushings (just to try them out), T6 high performance moisture resistant end-caps, and my bulbs from them as well: a grow bulb and a 6,700k Daylight bulb.
Jan 06, 2009 - The price tag:
Everything was ordered today. That makes my total for Commodity Axis $121.65 shipped, plus $55 for the ballast from ebay, which makes my total $176.65, and would have been 6 bucks less if I did not purchase the unnecessary T10 to t6 bushings. This satisfies my “affordable” condition and is a nice upgrade to what I have been using on this tank for the last 5 years.
Jan 09: Ballast price too good to be true? Youbetchya. And here I thought I found a deal on ebay… like that happens these days. I promptly received the unit but discovered that the seller incorrectly sent the non-dimming version. Argg! The dimming was the whole point! It also does not have a built-in timer. The unit is small and light-weight however which is nice. I have a feeling that my Helios order won’t arrive as quickly so I should have some time to get the correct dimming ballast.
Friday Jan 16: Received the Helios order last night which included the bulbs and reflectors. I am only installing 2 tubes in my diy canopy. A quick measurement and I see that I would just barely be able to install 4 of these reflectors in this canopy… in the event I wanted to double the output. This morning the ballast that I returned arrived back to the ebay seller. Let’s hope that they have a speedy turnaround and ship me the correct ballast soon!
Jan 20: the seller fedexd the correct ballast (I received it on the 23rd). While waiting for the ballast I installed the lights on to my canopy. First I had to remove the T-12 setups.
(Click for Flickr image)I placed the 2 reflectors as close as possible to the front of the hood while allowing it to close. One problem that I have now is that bulbs with endcaps only have a few mm on each side to allow the hood to close.
(Click for Flickr image)
(Click for Flickr image)I reattached a set of T12s so I can have light until I receive the ballast and finish the project.
(Click for Flickr image)Feb 16: Wow, it’s been a while since I jotted some notes down. The tight fit of the lights in the hood has not proven to be a problem. After I installed the lights, I tested them with the ballast. I then snipped off the T10 endcaps and spliced in the T6 encaps (the T10 versions really did not fit the way I attached the reflectors anyways). The auto dimming feature is pretty cool. Unfortunately to initial fire up the tubes they come on as pretty bright but immediately dim down to the bottom setting. Normally, it dims in approximately 7 or 8 steps taking something like 16 minutes to complete. The ballast does not have a settable clock. You set it to 10, 12, or 14 hours and then turn it on which is a little annoying because you have to be there to start the cycle if you ever lose power or mess with it. It also has a test feature, which dims on quickly and then dims off near the end of a minute. Last night I took the video below with my photo camera. Unfortunately the camera auto-adjusts to the brightness levels so it is a little defeating when you are trying to film dimming! I will post an updated video if I ever get the chance to film it with a camera with more user-controlled settings! (yeah, may not happen). Be sure to watch the last 20 seconds for the dim off:
Also, in the video you see the cat known as “Mo”. He and I both like to stare at the fish.
Some of the plants are already responding to the change, but I think new bulbs would have helped regardless. I am happy with the upgrade and it is a nice effect when it starts to dim off in the evening. T5s are supposed to be better for dimming so it sucks that there is not an affordable T5 option. I will not even contemplate upgrading this tank again.. unless one can’t find T6 bulbs anymore when I need to replace the bulbs. Perhaps I should stock up on bulbs… but it is kinda fun to shop for them.
continued in next post....
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