Aqurium Lighting Black Box with Currrent Loop.

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diver22

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My tank is a standard 125 which is 21" tall. My 2 300 watt viparapectras are hanging about 12" above the tank, and I only keep them at around 50% blue and 25% white. I've only had corals for a little over a year but at my current settings I can grow everything from zoas to acropora.

Since my tank is rimmed and has the two black braces on the top I actually wish I would've gone with 3 165 watt fixtures instead of 2 300 watt. With the lights at that height I don't see any shading from the braces on the corals, but if a fish is swimming at the top I can see it go through dark places as it swims under a brace.

Great advise, yes my tand is that as well, I have the 2 plastic braces.. thanks for the heads up...
 

Gtinnel

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Great advise, yes my tand is that as well, I have the 2 plastic braces.. thanks for the heads up...
I was going to post a picture of my tank but surprisingly I don't have a full tank shot on my phone and I'm not home right now. Later this evening I will post a full tank picture so you can get an idea of what it looks like with the 2 300watt.
 
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diver22

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2 of those could work with your size tank!

I made DIY stands if your a into DIY


Yes I have my display in the wall.... still cycling.... see below...

I do clone myself because is to difficult...lol...

That is front and back, I got a closet which the wife killed me.... lol...
 

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diver22

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I ended up hanging mine from the ceiling to get the height I needed. I wouldn't mind seeing a pic of your stand if you have one handy.
I posted pictures above... Thanks... I think the 3 165W like was suggested by Gtinnil is a great idea...
 

Gtinnel

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So after actually paying more attention to my lights they are not a foot above the water, they're 8" above the water at most. Here is a full tank shot so you can see what the lights look like on my tank. Most of my corals are still frags, but all of my corals (minus a few exceptions) have done well in my tank with the viparapectra lights.
20210701_161916.jpg
 
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diver22

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So after actually paying more attention to my lights they are not a foot above the water, they're 8" above the water at most. Here is a full tank shot so you can see what the lights look like on my tank. Most of my corals are still frags, but all of my corals (minus a few exceptions) have done well in my tank with the viparapectra lights.
20210701_161916.jpg
Nice, you did mention your 24" from the bottom ?
 
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Hey I just noticed, where di you get those power heads on each side ? do they work well circulating water ?
 

Gtinnel

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Nice, you did mention your 24" from the bottom ?
The tank is 21" and the light is close to 8" above tank, so I'm probably close to 29" from light to bottom of tank. Unfortunately I don't have a par meter so I can't tell you what my par levels are.
 
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Seems everything is happy, maybe I will go with 3 165 and put them lower...
 

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Hey I just noticed, where di you get those power heads on each side ? do they work well circulating water ?
They're just the cheap jebao scp150. But any brand gyre pump would work the same. They're set to alternate turning on and they do a good job of creating a wave motion in the tank. I'd prefer them to be horizontal but they wouldn't fit that way with my corner overflows.
 
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How long have you had them ? Trying to find something so i do not have so many in my tank due to my aquas
cape...
 
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Hey does the Vipraspectra have the ramp up and ramp down feature, or is just turn on and off the channels ?
 

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I've had mine for around 2 years with no problems at all. They only have the ability to set on/off times, and what intensity you want each channel to be. No ramping or anything fancy.

Actually I believe they can be made to ramp up and down with an apex controller if you install a seperate board, but you would have to be very comfortable with diy. I only mention it because I am going to try and make mine ramp up and down in the near future and I'm kinda excited about it.
 
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I've had mine for around 2 years with no problems at all. They only have the ability to set on/off times, and what intensity you want each channel to be. No ramping or anything fancy.

Actually I believe they can be made to ramp up and down with an apex controller if you install a seperate board, but you would have to be very comfortable with diy. I only mention it because I am going to try and make mine ramp up and down in the near future and I'm kinda excited about it.
Do you know what board is it ?
 

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I ended up hanging mine from the ceiling to get the height I needed. I wouldn't mind seeing a pic of your stand if you have one handy.
20210706_211445.jpg


Going to eventually get a light for the middle and build another stand so I have more even spread. Ive mounted them this way because my tank has some depth to the sides
 

Mixing lighting technologies: Do you use multiple types of lighting for your reef?

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