DIY light help

[MPevine11]

Bought a tank off a member, came with a pretty cool diy light hood. Has 4 t5 ho bulbs. Would like to add another bulb and maybe some led's


What is a good sit for diy t5 ho stuff? I know of a couple led diy sites


Any input, or pictures would be awesome

 

[ro_nicu]

first you're going to need a ballast that can run the number of bulbs you want to add. Some ballasts will not run a sigle light so look at the specs. sockets and reflector is next on the list. they are pretty simple to wire if you got the paperwork for the ballast or know the model and can look it up online.

 

[MPevine11]

I'm an electrician, so the whole wiring part is easy. I don't know if I should do 4 or 6 bulbs.
Also if I should add some LEDs also.

 

[ro_nicu]

get the parmeter that the club has. measure what you have for par now and decide based on that. Leds are nice if you just want to accent some particular color, for moonlights or as a "spotlight" to increase par in an area. mixing them up with a LOT of T5 will probably be a waster of effort and money, the T5s alone will provide enough par.

 

[MPevine11]

How would I go about getting the par meter? I'm not a member until the next meeting.....

 

[ro_nicu]

you can just paypal the membership to one of the board members. I believe there's a thread on "how to join" somewhere. Or contact FlamAngel or HigorC, they would most definitely know.