No you don’t, program 4 channels and send to all lights... dead easyIf you are patient maybe you need to go with orphek, you’ll need to program each led (+48)
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No you don’t, program 4 channels and send to all lights... dead easyIf you are patient maybe you need to go with orphek, you’ll need to program each led (+48)
Hi, a really good puck style light will give you plenty of converge for your tank, and as to how many you need I would go with one per 24" x 24" area. This would cost around $6500.00 for 8 of them, and you could add a few more if needed. Your $9000.00 estimate is not to far off, but I believe you will get much better coverage with a puck style light. The Radions or GHL Mitra LX 7602 lights would do a magnificent job of lighting your system. My next tank build will be in the 10' x 5' range, or maybe a little bigger 12' x 5' or maybe even 6' wide. On my current 600 gal. system I am using the GHL Mitra lights and I really like them, great coverage and light penetration, and no Disco Ball effect since they use a parabolic reflector, almost the same as good MH light fixtures useThe pucks just dont make much sense to me. They are fine for small tanks but the par is just all over the place until you get pretty far down in the tank. Plus the shading that you get. For big tanks I just dont see them working that well unless you have $9,000 worth of them.
I think they are so "popular" simply because there are not many choices out there. That is just my opinion. The small size thing is simply physics.
Seems to me that the way to go is halides.
Is this a joke?Hey gang,
Wanted to throw this out there with a little info about my experience. I have a 300 gallon sps tank with a geiseman spectra and reef brites. All told about 1,000 watts of power. I am NOT worried about heat as I live in oregon and for 9 months out of the year my house sits at around 65 degrees. I have 1,100 watts of heater in that system so it's either heaters or halides... one of them is almost always running. I got fantastic growth and coloration.. so much that I typically dismissed LEDs. My settings are ON and OFF, which is fine for me. The Spectra casts an AMAZINGLY even cloud of par.
Flash forward.. buying a new house so of course I need a bigger tank. 8x4x30" in wall. I can build any light rack I want as I am handy. I thought 4 250 halides down the middle and then 2 rows of t5 on each side... a 4 foot wide tank does present challenges for lighting.
But I have been hearing great things about the orphek lights and I really like that they are a big panel as opposed to pucks. So now I an thinking 3 of the big V4 units and nothing else?
Anyone have experience with them for sps growth and coloration? My tank is 80% spa with some euphoria and clams for good measure. How is the disco ball effect?
Do they make corals pop like just reef brites do?
Thanks for any info!
Thanks Daniel,
I guess the big hurdle is cost. After talking to some hood manufacturers and measuring par in the garage, i think three 400's and t5's will be my jumping off point.
Three blockbuster reflectors on craigslist.. $150. Four 4' dual t5ho reflectors on CL.. $300. I only need one more 400 watt ballast.
So all in with bulbs for i am at $700.
Anywho... why is it that LED have more shadows than regular light? Is it because they are more focused?
Because they are a point source of light without reflection from behind the bulbs (diodes). The halides have the reflectors that will do the great job of spreading the light. Plus the halides have a good amount of UV, and LEDs will never substitute that before they melt....
Anywho... why is it that LED have more shadows than regular light? Is it because they are more focused?
Flash light effect, yes. That's why they need T5s to be more decent.Hi Brain,
I have 2 MH reflectors you can have if you need more.
Yes, the initial cost of LEDs are high. However, consider no yearly bulbs cost, electricity savings (light plus cooling), and much higher resell value, but for me the main attraction for LEDs is the ability to change color spectrums and intensity as you wish. For example, you can focus the spectrum for growth for part of the day and for color when you're home viewing your tank. You can fine tune intensity to color up SPS or LPS without having to rise or lower light fixtures, move corals up or down, or add shade clothes.
LED only have more shadows when they put optical lens on the diode. Without additional lens or reflectors, LEDs diode have 120-140 deg spread. A lot of manufactures opt to go with optical lens because it focus the light to give more PAR at the bottom of the tank so they can use less LED diodes.. However, this create a focus beam of strong light but outside of that beam cone you have almost no light. So the light becomes very directional. Think of flashlight analogy, everywhere the light hits is bright but it cast a strong shadow and outside the flash light beam is also very dark.
Hi Brain,
I have 2 MH reflectors you can have if you need more.
Yes, the initial cost of LEDs are high. However, consider no yearly bulbs cost, electricity savings (light plus cooling), and much higher resell value, but for me the main attraction for LEDs is the ability to change color spectrums and intensity as you wish. For example, you can focus the spectrum for growth for part of the day and for color when you're home viewing your tank. You can fine tune intensity to color up SPS or LPS without having to rise or lower light fixtures, move corals up or down, or add shade clothes.
LED only have more shadows when they put optical lens on the diode. Without additional lens or reflectors, LEDs diode have 120-140 deg spread. A lot of manufactures opt to go with optical lens because it focus the light to give more PAR at the bottom of the tank so they can use less LED diodes.. However, this create a focus beam of strong light but outside of that beam cone you have almost no light. So the light becomes very directional. Think of flashlight analogy, everywhere the light hits is bright but it cast a strong shadow and outside the flash light beam is also very dark.
That happen to me a lot! They call me to see their tanks and I can't say much, but they complain that if they had T5s or halides... and when they realize what I've got runnig they say they miss their old lights a lot but...It is a little staggering to me how some myths never seem to die. I had offered to sell my 6' geisseman spectra to a guy with a 180g tank and he didn't want it because he "didn't want to run a chiller". We live in Oregon which only has two months with average temps over 80 degrees. My apex records show.. if the halides are on, your heater is off. The halides go off.... 30 minutes later the heaters turn back on.
In cooler climates the net energy savings is absolutely zero. None, zilch. This thread has absolutely convinced me of what my initial feeling was... halide is the way.
My favorite thing that happens is when club members say one day "oh, you went old school" Then another time they say, man, your corals have crazy good color...