Here it is... 20 gallon nano tank build

[ordi260]

2 coats of stain later...




...and my pearly jawfish patiently waiting for the canopy to be ready...   

[HomerJ]

Quite the craftsmanship if I can say so myself... Of course it would have helped if the wood had been straight. ;-b  Nice color with the stain.  Can't wait to see it on the tank.

[ordi260]

3rd coat of stain on the door is now done!  I think I was removing too much stain with the rag in the beginning so i think staining is done...ill look tomorrow morning once dreid but I think door and canopy will be matching now

Varnish here we come!

[ordi260]

Of course it would have helped if the wood had been straight. ;-b

That's for sure...but we've been able to deal with it

[ordi260]

Got the t5 lights today!

What do you think about this layout?  Do you think it will be OK?

Pics:

[ordi260]

Two of them are at 45 degree angle, in the middle Reef Brite LED strip and 2 of them flat on the bottom (top i guess) of the canopy!

[ordi260]

I will just lay the all on the bottom of the canopy and figure out how to attach the reefbrite later...

-Pics of the fixture fired up! 

Fixture working

[ordi260]

-Here is a couple of pics of the fans im thinking of using: they are 4 inches 

Will that be enough to cool the 4 t5HO?
Nevermind the crappy picture brightness...I had to boost it with photobucket, they were much too dark...

-First fan pushing cool air on the bulbs




-Second one extracting hot air out of the canopy


-The picture with the 2 fans on the back would be an option to add later IF the 2 on the left and right panels are not cooling enough.

[JetJumper]

Hey man,

I was doing some reading about this and according to what I have found you don't want to cool your T5HO's TOO much as this will actually be detrimental to the performance of the bulbs.  Although I can't find information yet to say whats an ideal operating temp.  You just want to make sure they don't cool them too much to keep the Gas inside from "burning" at its optimal temps.

[RossW]

I agree, cooling T5's is not a blast it and forget it.  I understand you want to cool the end w/ the label... if that makes any sense.

[HomerJ]

Do you really NEED to cool the lights themselves?  I think as long as your fans pull out the hot air from your canopy and you have an equal amount of fresh air intake, they'll cool themselves.  I might be wrong, but i'd think a fan on one side pushing in and another one on the other side pushing out is all you need (or even simpler, a fan in the back middle pulling out, and an intake on each side).

[ordi260]

  I understand you want to cool the end w/ the label... if that makes any sense.

What do you mean?

[ordi260]

Do you really NEED to cool the lights themselves? 

I think that they would benefit from being cooled directly...the ballast is overdriving them!

Id like some opinions before drilling 2 X 5 inches holes on the side of my nice canopy 

[Malyon18]

If it was me I would try and hang them in the back somehow that way there keeping the sides of your canopy in one piece incase you change your mind down the road. Or you could even drill a bunch of smaller holes in a nice design or pattern eliminating the big 5'' holes, might not be as efficient as the big 5'' hole but would still work and look a little cleaner in my opinion.

[RossW]

I seem to recall that the fixtures with cooling, only cool the label end of the bulb... or is it they heat the label end and cool the rest?!?

I am confused now... I would do more research before I cut holes in the side of my cabinet if I were you.

http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=35648.msg222011#msg222011

I understand you want to cool the end w/ the label... if that makes any sense.

What do you mean?

[JetJumper]

From what I found the other night... Florescent Bulbs have a cool zone which is the part of the bulb you want to cool.  If you cool the entire bulb it will effect the output of the bulb.  They require running at a certain temp. at a minimum.  If it doesn't then the gas inside the glass will not emit the correct colour spectrum.  Ever looked at a T5/8/12 bulb in the garage in the winter time?  Takes a while for it to give off the 'normal' light effect of that bulb due to having to heat the gas inside. 

If you cool the ends of bulbs, this is idea and not the center of the tubes were it requires the heat.

I am still trying to find more info on this as I wanted to cool my fixture as well but have put a hold on it.

If you have airflow around the fixture and not directly on / across the bulbs I think you will be good.

[JetJumper]

Here is one link I found.  I know its not really a credible site, but I have seen lots of duplicate information on other sites as well.

http://home.comcast.net/~stevelarsen00/site/?/page/T5_Basics/

Another was they ran so cool there was no need for cooling. This is partially true; the lights typically don't create tank heating issues. However the performance is greatly enhanced by proper cooling. T5's have what is known as a cold spot where the temperature determines the gas pressure inside the lamp. Some, but not all of the lamps have a dedicated cold spot which is at the label end. On other lamps regulating the temperature at either end will give you top performance but it is good practice to just cool the label end of all lamps to remove any doubt. Using a fan on the center section of the lamp will quickly over cool the lamp which actually will hurt performance more than not cooling at all in the case of the normally driven T5's.  T5 VHO systems which are T5's ran on Ice Cap ballasts to overdrive the lamps must be cooled. Not doing so will lead to early lamp failure which is typically a crack at the reflector clip. The Same rule applies to cooling HO or VHO T5's, don't cool the center of the lamps.

Update:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp_formats

T5 tubes operate at a higher than ideal temperature for the purposes of regulating the mercury vapor pressure in the tube. A fluorescent lamp's "cold spot" is the area where the internal glass wall temperature is at its lowest. It is the temperature of the coldest spot which effectively sets the mercury vapor pressure for the whole tube. Unlike a T8 or T12 fluorescent lamp, where the cold spot is in the middle, in T5 lamps it is at the tube end which is marked with the rating label, in the extended space behind the filament. By having this extended area outside of the discharge run cooler, this reduces the mercury vapor pressure in the whole tube to more ideal levels.[17]

[ordi260]

@ Jet jumper: this is good info!

Thanks ill take that in account and keep you guys posted

[ordi260]

I seem to recall that the fixtures with cooling, only cool the label end of the bulb... or is it they heat the label end and cool the rest?!?

I am confused now... I would do more research before I cut holes in the side of my cabinet if I were you.

http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=35648.msg222011#msg222011

Also good info!  I use icecap 660 ballast with 24 inches bulb.  That's why im converned about cooling 

[ordi260]

First coat of varnish is done!

Still thinking about the fans setup