Help With DIY Lighting

[gio28]

im gonna start a DIY project to make a T5 light fixture for my tank. i have a few questions though.
can i buy a T5 ballast at Home Depot or are they only online. im looking for 3 24watt ballasts that can take two bulbs each...so a total of 6 24 watt bulbs for my 35 gallon tank. is 144 watts of T5 good for all types of corals except SPS?
all the materials i need are the housing (i was gonna use drain gutters you would find on a house), the endcaps (can i buy these are home depot or lowes also?), the ballasts, the reflectors (can i buy these at a store also?), and the bulbs..right?
any input or answers to my questions? thanks

 

[i<3reefs]

Sent you a PM on a ballast company. I lost the DIY page, but I've seen online someone use plastic gutters.

 

[gio28]

thanks.
does anybody have any other ideas of how to house the lights besides the plastic gutters? i would rather have all of the lights in the same housing than a few separate ones.

 

[reefraff]

Any T5 spec ballast you can find should be good. Doubt you can find endcaps local. If you use good reflectors you should be able to grow anything as long as the tank isn't over 20" or so tall. Without good reflectors maybe 16" tall if that.

 

[scsinet]

Being in CA you've got a whole bunch of companies that are close enough that you can get anything you need shipped ground and still have it next day (LUCKY!)
You probably won't find the ballasts local either, T5 are almost never found in residential use and their use outside aquariums has yet to become mainstream in commercial as well, so you pretty much are going to want to order it online.
You can get icecaps at any major aquarium retailer, but you may want to check out the Fulham workhorse ballasts, they are reasonably cheap and IME work quite well, especially for the price.

 

[gio28]

thanks for the ballast and endcaps help. i am having a hard time finding reflectors that work real good and i dont know how to make/find a fixture to put 6 bulbs in unless i glue together 3 drain gutters together...which i guess will work.

 

[reefraff]

Originally Posted by gio28
http:///forum/post/3086672
thanks for the ballast and endcaps help. i am having a hard time finding reflectors that work real good and i dont know how to make/find a fixture to put 6 bulbs in unless i glue together 3 drain gutters together...which i guess will work.
I saw a custom built fixture that was made using different material but it wasn't a whole lot different than using the 3 gutters and it looked VERY nice. Take your time and I am sure you can make a nice looking fixture. If you can find the gutters that are built with right angles or reform then so they do they will match up with just a seam showing. That isn't a whole lot different than the ATI Powermodule look.