Stusdesktop
New member
Starting with the lighting:
So while I'm laid up at home I grabbed the camera to try and get some shots of the various LED strings as they come on. Pictures are not perfect even with some color balancing but they do show the additive effect as each string comes on.
One of these days I'll actually count how many of each emitter there are, all strings are running at minimum levels in the pictures. All LED's have 60 degree optics and the distance from water surface to emitter is 16 inches, 40 inches to the sand bed. One day I'll invest in a PAR meter and check the real levels.
Royal Blues only, pretty close to seeing them in person although the picture is slightly brighter with less highlighting in person.
tank lighting 003 by Em & Stu, on Flickr
Royal Blues, Blues and Turquoise, actually my favorite color mix, far more muted in person with a lot less highlighting.
tank lighting 005 by Em & Stu, on Flickr
Royal Blue, Blue, Turquoise, Violet and Pinks, very close to seeing it in person, picture is just a touch darker with brighter highlights than in person.
tank lighting 007 by Em & Stu, on Flickr
Royal Blue, Blue, Turquoise, Violet, Pink, Cool White and Warm White, again very close to an in person view although the picture is a touch darker.
tank lighting 009 by Em & Stu, on Flickr
Overall I'm happy with the way the lighting is working and mixing. There are shimmer spots on the rocks and sand but no more than you'd see while snorkeling. You do get occasional flashes of individual colors on the rock from water movement but again it looks very natural. The true test will be once the tank has cycled and how the corals and fish react.
I'll get pictures later of the under tank set up, currently it has the sump, skimmer, return pump, refuge lighting, 10 gallon ATO, controller, under cabinet lighting. I still need to make a few changes under there, clean up some wiring and pick up another 8 port power brick for the Reef Angel. I am appreciating the over sized stand I built, still have room underneath for setting dosing pumps up when we get that far. It's also very easy to do my water testing with the extra 6 inches of stand in front of the tank, set the netbook up for programming the controller etc.
So while I'm laid up at home I grabbed the camera to try and get some shots of the various LED strings as they come on. Pictures are not perfect even with some color balancing but they do show the additive effect as each string comes on.
One of these days I'll actually count how many of each emitter there are, all strings are running at minimum levels in the pictures. All LED's have 60 degree optics and the distance from water surface to emitter is 16 inches, 40 inches to the sand bed. One day I'll invest in a PAR meter and check the real levels.
Royal Blues only, pretty close to seeing them in person although the picture is slightly brighter with less highlighting in person.
tank lighting 003 by Em & Stu, on Flickr
Royal Blues, Blues and Turquoise, actually my favorite color mix, far more muted in person with a lot less highlighting.
tank lighting 005 by Em & Stu, on Flickr
Royal Blue, Blue, Turquoise, Violet and Pinks, very close to seeing it in person, picture is just a touch darker with brighter highlights than in person.
tank lighting 007 by Em & Stu, on Flickr
Royal Blue, Blue, Turquoise, Violet, Pink, Cool White and Warm White, again very close to an in person view although the picture is a touch darker.
tank lighting 009 by Em & Stu, on Flickr
Overall I'm happy with the way the lighting is working and mixing. There are shimmer spots on the rocks and sand but no more than you'd see while snorkeling. You do get occasional flashes of individual colors on the rock from water movement but again it looks very natural. The true test will be once the tank has cycled and how the corals and fish react.
I'll get pictures later of the under tank set up, currently it has the sump, skimmer, return pump, refuge lighting, 10 gallon ATO, controller, under cabinet lighting. I still need to make a few changes under there, clean up some wiring and pick up another 8 port power brick for the Reef Angel. I am appreciating the over sized stand I built, still have room underneath for setting dosing pumps up when we get that far. It's also very easy to do my water testing with the extra 6 inches of stand in front of the tank, set the netbook up for programming the controller etc.
