Adding DIY LED strip to existing T5 fixture -Done! post #21

I have an Odyssea brand 4 bulb T5 fixture and while it does the job for LPS and softies, the few SPS I have near the top seem to be browning out. So I wanted to add some LED's to increase the PAR value and hopefully add a bit of shimmer and pop to the display.

I was thinking of ordering a package from aquastyleonline.com. **Money is an issue as I need to stay below $100 including shipping which is why I want to just add a strip as opposed to building an entire LED unit. **

Specifically I was thinking of getting the 14 LED dimmable kit and switching out the heatsink for the 2"x22" heatsink.

I would then attach my LED strip to my fixture on the front edge (not sure how yet) at an angle like this:


If I place the heatsink at a 45degree angle with 80degree optics I should have good coverage across all of my rock.

I was thinking of using 12 LED's basically every 2" to get good coverage.

This may be overkill but I figure I can dim it to where it works for this set-up and I won't have any spotlighting. And when I upgrade to a deeper tank, I can just add another strip to the other side of the fixture

Questions:

1) Does this seem feasible?
- If not how can I make it work

2) Should I bother with optics? I want to keep the fixture fairly close to the water so will I even need them?

3) I want to have a slightly bluer look, should I go for 2-to-1 blue to white LEDS? Or get 1-to-1 LEDs and add in another actinic T5 bulb.
- or I suppose I can control the color by having the blue and the white on separate dimmers...not sure if the kit I was thinking of has that as an option

Thanks!!

 

I think it would work. But how are you gonna attach the heatsink to the fixture? Willing to drill the light case?

 

Use a lot of command strips?! Iv seen other posts of people putting LEDs at angles to get better light on rock.

But the question is how can you attach without drilling... :-/

 

I was thinking about getting some small L brackets and bending them to the angle I want, attaching the heatsink to them and then gluing them to the fixture with Krazy glue...

Even with the heatsink, i can't imagine that it would weigh enough to cause any problems with the krazy glue.

I was also wondering if there was some sort of bracket that would allow me to change the angle of the strip.

 

Id rather go with Command strips vs glue... Maybe you could do both.

 

yeah the command strips would actually be pretty good...

something like this:



with a bracket like this:

 

Just remember, both the light fixture and heatsink get fairly warm and it might not hold as good as when they are cold. I would use two~ long metal brackets that are long enough to reach to the other side of the light fixture and hook the bracket somewhere (on maybe legs?).

 

good point about the heat...I will take a trip down to lowes today and see if I can find anything that might be useful to attach.

I may end up just drilling the housing on the fixture.

 

This is exactly what I want to do to my TEK 4 bulb in the future I will definitely be following this

 

Any progress on this project?