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Retrofit a T5 light with LEDs.

fishmosy

By fishmosy
in Equipment & DIY

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fishmosy Shrimp Guru

fishmosy

Posted
Posted

How to retrofit a T5 light with LEDs

Tools required

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I purchased the LED strips from Ebay along with a 12V transformer (basically a computer power pack).

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The light was one I purchased years ago and (accidentally) dropped into a tank.

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First step: Dissemble the light. Strip the old electronics.

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Step two: Remove reflector and clean.

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Step Three: refit reflector and lay out LEDs.

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Step four: Glue in LEDs with silicon.

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Step five: Fit new electronics.

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Step six: Wire in transformer.

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Step seven: Tidy up wiring. Refit end caps.

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Step Eight: Test.

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Step nine. Enjoy.

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Squiggle Shrimp Guru

Squiggle

Posted
Posted

Awesome stuff dude, gotta love DIY stuff, so satisfying! End product looks wicked, well done! :victorious:

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BlueBolts Shrimp Guru

BlueBolts

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Awesome....is there a LED chart that recommends strength/power of LED per litre, and even based on low, med or high lighted tank... Imagine many hobbyist are wondering the required amount of LED's to light up their tanks....

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BristledOne Shrimp Lover

BristledOne

Posted
Posted

This is brilliant, love a good DIY project. Same as BB though it would be nice to know if there is any information you could provide to help knowing which strip would suit best?

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fishmosy Shrimp Guru

fishmosy

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Unfortunately there is no standard for the amount of light put out from an LED. Likewise there are many different types of LED that all perform differently. Hence there can be no LED per litre measure like there was Watt/litre measures for T5 and T8 fluorescents.

I've found what works for me by trial and error. Two strips of this brand of LED combined with appropriate dosing of nutrients allows me to grow low and medium light requiring plants in my six foot long, 1 foot deep tank. However it did take the plants some time to adjust from fluorescents to the LEDs. If I wanted to use CO2 or use a deeper tank I would almost certainly require more LEDs.

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  • 2 weeks later...
jayc Shrimp Guru

jayc

Posted
Posted

Great idea!

Fishmosy,

can we have the link to the site you bought these LED strips, and transformer from please?

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Fishnbe Shrimp Enthusiast

Fishnbe

Posted
Posted

I just found this one. It is brilliant mate. I know what I'm doing with my old broken 4ft Arcadia soon.

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