Brilliant

I decided to retrofit my power compact fixtures with T5HO/SLR reflectors. My goal is to shave energy use in half with these SLR reflectors.

Alright the goodies are here. This will be a real-time thread. I will add pictures and information as I go. If you have any questions for me let er rip.

Picture: All the goodies arrive just in time for the weekend!

36" Current USA Orbit 2x96w
I am starting with an Orbit. Originally I wanted to do the 36" Orbit 4x96w...maybe I will, so don't let that confuse you. I chose this fixture because of its sleek looks and active cooling design. The 2x96w model can fit 2xT5HO the 4x96w model can fit 4xT5HO.

36" 2x39W SLR T5 High-Output Retrofit Kit w/ Bulbs
by IceCap from Reefgeek.com
I chose this because IceCap SLR reflectors are the best thing I can get my hands on. Along with the kit I selected 3x39W 6000K Midday Sun T5 HO Fluorescent and 1x39W 11000K Aquablue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent. My original plan was to have 4x39w T5HO retrofit.

Picture: Retrofit kit electronics
Picture: Bulbs and reflectors

The reflector layout pictured above is 31" x 10 1/4". The 4x96w Orbit lighting pane is 35 1/2" x 10 1/4". The SLR reflectors are going to be shorter then the OEM bulb reflector by 2" on each side. Boy the 96w power compact bulbs are perfect for the 36" tank.

The kit looks good. I was going to chop apart my 36" Nova for parts. Somehow I justified buying entire kits because I wanted Giesemann bulbs too.

80 mm Papst 8412NGLE
The fans in the Current USA fixtures can be too loud for my taste. So I selected a quiet fan from the world's best. This will require a DC power supply and cord into the fixture. I plan on using a variable power supply from RadioShack so I can find that quiet sweet spot. Maybe I will just settle for plain jane 12v AC->DC power plug I can find around the house in a box somewhere.

I cannot bring myself to destroy the nice shiny reflector in the Orbit. Small delay for Flyers game and trip to the store for some more parts for mounting end caps.

Here are some costs for modified Orbit. You can buy a used or refurbished Orbit on Ebay. The retrofit kits are from Reefgeek.com. Your favorite silent PC store will carry the fan.

36" Orbit Pro
Fixture Orbit 36" $110.00
Retrofit SLR T5HO 36" $162.00
$272.00

36" Orbit Stealth
Fixture Orbit 36" $110.00
Retrofit SLR T5HO 36" $162.00
Accessory Fan kit $40.00
$312.00

36" Orbit Ultimate
Fixture Orbit 36" $174.00
Retrofit SLR T5HO 36" $298.00
Accessory Fan kit $40.00
$512.00

More to come soon!!!

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

 

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Brilliant

The fixture is almost done. It lights the tank really well and I love the 6000k midday. I ended up retrofitting the 2x96w fixture.

Time will tell me how well this fixture works. I took a leap of faith buying all the parts now after clicking the switch on I am pretty confident it will do fine.

Picture: Original electronics layout

I wanted to save the original reflector so I created a new part out of sheet metal. The moonlight LED array comes right off, no need for cutting/rewiring. The original reflector has to be modified to allow room for water proof endcaps. The endcaps are much too large to mount right onto the OEM reflector.

Picture: New electronics

Not too bad. You can reuse the hardware used to mount the Sunpaq ballasts. The new ballasts are a little longer so you have to work with what you got. I put in two ballasts this time. In the future I am going to use this fixture on my 30g and see if I can get away with 39w. The next one will have one ballast, one switch and two bulbs which is for my 65g.

Picture: New fixture with SLR installed

Eat your heart out Tek fans. T5HO with individual SLR reflector, active cooling, tank mounts and removable splash gaurd. Plenty of room in Orbit 2x96w for 2xSLR.

ummyeah

You should try the new Aquactinics reflectors since they're only 2 inches wide and use a 98% reflective coating.

Brilliant

Great, now you tell me Aquactinics has reflectors If this does not work out its good to know I can fit three in here using their reflectors. Oh boy I can fit six in my Nova! (as if) Thank you for your input it has led me to fun night of reading.

Right now the goal is energy reduction. I found this great article on calculating nergy costs:
Article: Calculating The Cost Of Electricity
I calculated that I will be saving roughly $5 a month from this retrofit. Combine that with $70 cost of new bulbs and this whole project does not seem to costly after all.
Article: Local Energy Costs

ingg

Okay, while it looks really pretty, this is a super expensive mod, no?

I spent under $750, including Geisemann bulbs, for 12x39 in TEK's over my 180g - and I don't even have to use them all, heh.

Couple of questions -

Have you ever considered just finding someone who would sell you a casing, as that is all you are using, and building from there - or is there a specific reason to gut the Orbits?

It's still be super expensive, but that would possibly cut the cost some...

And for the real question. Able to pull PAR reading to show us just how effective this really is?

Brilliant

The Orbit is very retrofit friendly. I chose this fixture because its an awesome design for active cooling which incorporates a splash gaurd. You really would not know how much stuff you actually use from the fixture until your done. Plus the 96w ballasts, bulbs and reflector will prolly fetch some payback.

I wish I had a PAR meter. Anyone out there? I will just have to see how the tank reacts. I was thinking about creating a post for my tank here.

Obviously if you already have the fixture it is a tremendous savings. I did take overall price into consideration. I compared the price of a Tek unit which would be $452.89 with tank mount and splash gaurd but I would still be left without active cooling and an even hotter running Tek unit. I considered ATI but wanted to try two bulbs and could not see buying the 2x fixture for that price. With buying retrofit components I am able to try out 2 bulbs then move to 3 or 4 if I need to. With all things considered I would actually buy this fixture over most. Current USA will have a new 2x fixtures coming out soon.

Brilliant

It has been three months and the tank has not skipped a beat.

I've since installed two SLR into my Nova Extreme on my 90g. The SLR reflectors are amazing.

 

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