What LEDs do i need?
- Thread starter FloatinBy
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Forsaken77
Valuable Member
The disco ball effect, where you see the individual colors on the rocks ect..., is because the lights are mounted so close to the water line. If they are raised up, that goes away.
The difficulty is that you have an extremely deep tank to begin with. So it would have to be mounted close to the water to get enough light to the bottom, which is going to be a challenge. I would probably not go with led's for your style aquarium if you want to keep corals towards the bottom, or you're going to have to get pretty expensive (or a hybrid solution like someone else mentioned).
If you want to keep coral towards the the mid to upper range, then led lights would work in a more price friendly range.
Forsaken77
Valuable Member
You don't need to leave the entire top open, no. This is different for every household, but if you have a high amount of carbon dioxide in your house (a lot of pets or people breathing) then the full open top could add more carbon dioxide to the tank over oxygen. My Ph levels actually got better when I put a glass top on my tank and it's right next to a door that I would leave open. You can actually leave one of your stand doors cracked open slightly to allow more air flow below if there's not enough.
As well, a full open top will cause huge amounts of evaporation compared to a hood (not just a wood canopy, but a glass top). As long as you leave the back pieces off the glass top, that should be fine.
This is something you'll have to test out because, like I said, it's different in every house. Just make sure you have powerheads moving water at all levels of the tank, especially creating water movement at the top.
FloatinBy
Active Member
My cabinent is opened in back and 2 foot from wall to allow plenty of air movment in cabninet. I habe wavemaker basically at water line almost. Just low enough to not suck are. My pH is always steady at 8.2. I also run a cheto reactor with lighta opposite of DT lights. Reactor is 2ft tall by 4in diameter so a good ammount of cheato. I have it draining back into sump but above water line so it "splashes" in sump. Figured more surface agitation in sump. Plua obviously the conatant overflow of water traveling to sump. I guess ill monitor better but havent had any issues as of yet. And i have a 110lb dog and a 60lb dog that shed like crazy so id rather not have their fur in take by leaving a lot of stuff open. Plus i probably have lids off at least an hour ady between feeding or tinkering with rockwork or cleaning ect. So just monitor my pH then? If gets wakey try venting by either taking lids off completely or like only half way or so?
Forsaken77
Valuable Member
Yea, so your Ph is fine with the lids on. You don't need an open top. I also have an open back stand away from the wall, but cracking the front door allows better cross ventilation IF you need it. The opposite chaeto reactor is also probably having a positive effect.
Just out of curiosity, did you buy a chaeto reactor or make a diy one? I've been trying to find the proper lights for one.
FloatinBy
Active Member
Topled Light[emoji768] LED Plant Grow Strip Light with Power Adapter,Full Spectrum SMD 5050 Red Blue 4:1 Rope Light for Aquarium Greenhouse Hydroponic Pant Garden Flowers Veg Grow Light (5M)and
Those are the lights im using and seem to work great. And below is the reactor im using. Word of caution thio. Never run the lights without water flowing thru the reactor they do get hot. With water running tho, its just warm to touch with lights on.
Forsaken77
Valuable Member
Topled Light[emoji768] LED Plant Grow Strip Light with Power Adapter,Full Spectrum SMD 5050 Red Blue 4:1 Rope Light for Aquarium Greenhouse Hydroponic Pant Garden Flowers Veg Grow Light (5M)and
Those are the lights im using and seem to work great. And below is the reactor im using. Word of caution thio. Never run the lights without water flowing thru the reactor they do get hot. With water running tho, its just warm to touch with lights on.
Thanks for posting that. I created a thread about algae reactors HERE, if you want to check it out, and there's 19 pages worth of good info in there.
As for the heat, people actually used a large size piece of pvc (like a sleeve) over the reactor so it wouldn't melt the plastic and also prevent light bleed into your sump. So they used the sticky back of the led's and stuck them around the inside of the pvc sleeve so it wouldn't touch the reactor, keeping it cooler. The white of the pvc also helps reflect light back into the reactor chamber as well.
Finding a good, reliable, water proof set of led's was the problem we were having.
FloatinBy
Active Member
Well i got my XTC kit installed. It is a massive difference between my T5s and these LEDs. Ive never done anything like this before and Bill was extremly helpful and always returned all phone calls. I highly recommend his lights. Ill get pics up tomorrow
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