Bought new led light fixture from China.
- Thread starter Gillguy
- Start date
I would order as you have them layed out and maybe order a few extra whites to change some out if you want( you will have to solder if you want to change) The blue look these have is growing on me. I don't dislike them. I would say that they are equal to a 20k bulb but guessing I never had 20 k just 14k
So here it is, I got mine setup and running finally.
View from the top. The wire on top of the fixture feeds power, which is coming off of a separate power supply box. Next to it is a connector with a wire to the smart controller. The T5HO light under the canopy is visible.
Conix, Quick question If I may?
What "gap" would you recommend in the hood? I will hopefully get my new tank this week although will be another couple before i setup. The tank will have a full front to back hood and I intend to mod this to allow for the light to sit on mounts. Front to back is 24 and with mounts the light should be around 11 - 12 above the water line
Thinking of modding the hood with a 6 inch cover at the back and the same at the front which will leave a 12 inch gap in the middle for the light to sit above
Do you think that would be enough to allow for spread of light? I got 120 optics although I also ordered a full set of 90's to switch if needed
Assuming that your mounts rest on a screw in the middle of the hood? What is the size of the cover that you have at the back? I want something at the front to prevent small hands from dropping things in
Thanks in advance
Ste
Conix, Quick question If I may?
What "gap" would you recommend in the hood? I will hopefully get my new tank this week although will be another couple before i setup. The tank will have a full front to back hood and I intend to mod this to allow for the light to sit on mounts. Front to back is 24 and with mounts the light should be around 11 - 12 above the water line
Thinking of modding the hood with a 6 inch cover at the back and the same at the front which will leave a 12 inch gap in the middle for the light to sit above
Do you think that would be enough to allow for spread of light? I got 120 optics although I also ordered a full set of 90's to switch if needed
Assuming that your mounts rest on a screw in the middle of the hood? What is the size of the cover that you have at the back? I want something at the front to prevent small hands from dropping things in
Thanks in advance
Ste
Depending on actual height where the light will sit on, you can come up with the exact size of the covers you can add without obstructing light rays. However, there will still be some gaps, probably still rather large especially if the fixture is sitting above the canopy like mine, via the stand from Ledzeal, so it may not provide much of protection from the small hands droppings.
However, for such small hands the height of tank + canopy is still relatively tall that small kids won't be able to get their hands over. If you're really concerned about that, you might want to consider screen cover for the tank.
Yes, the screws were added to prevent the mounting legs from slipping out. I wanted to add small railing there but this was simple and still fairly effective. I have small cover on the back which happened to be part of the canopy, not something I added myself.
As for 90 deg vs 120 deg, I expect small difference. Problem is that the light spread is not even across the specified range, and much of the light is still concentrated in the center. What I can say is that even with 120 deg lens and the fixture sitting 12" above water, I get much less light spill than my previous fixture (T5HO retro fit) sitting much closer to the surface of water.
Thanks Conix. Looks like it will be trial and error rather than a scientific approach. Looking at adding a screen as well to stop flying lego from entering tank! Will mock something up with cardboard first and then work from there. Do the legs slip or was that done as a precaution?
Since the legs simply slide into the designated holes on the side of the lighting fixture, they *can* slip out although it should never slip out on its own. There's no screw or other mechanism to secure the position of these legs on the fixture itself. Yes, it is mostly precautionary measure, and even if it slips out, the light fixture won't fall into the tank.
I wouldn't worry too much about lego pieces, they shouldn't do any harm..
Have you seen the latest figures? Itchy and scratchy from the Simpsons. Those 2 can do some serious damage
Have you seen the latest figures? Itchy and scratchy from the Simpsons. Those 2 can do some serious damage
Send me these guys. I'll put them in my tank and check if they are safe or not, for you.
volsfan199
New member
Whats the smallest I could get by with on a 55 gallon tank?
coralreefjunkie
New member
I am happy to report my tank is doing well with the new light unit, which was installed over a month ago. I had a combination of LEDs and T5s before. The Malibu S300 gives a good spread, as I customized mine lenses with 120 optics (I don't like shadows, as my tank has 3 islands with deep canyons).
My only regret is I had requested 2 reds on each of the 4 clusters. The reds are overpowering the blues. I should have designed it with the reds being on the same zone as the whites. Also, recently, I came across a study that revealed that the red lights inhibit the growth of SPS corals.
If I were more technical, I would buy additional purple/UV lights to replace the reds.
My only regret is I had requested 2 reds on each of the 4 clusters. The reds are overpowering the blues. I should have designed it with the reds being on the same zone as the whites. Also, recently, I came across a study that revealed that the red lights inhibit the growth of SPS corals.
If I were more technical, I would buy additional purple/UV lights to replace the reds.
coralreefjunkie
New member
My tank is a custom 55" long. The S300 is perfect for that length.
For you, it really depends on how high your light will be above the water surface and what degrees you designate your lenses. Also, you may want to consider your aquascaping and where you place your corals. If you have corals at both ends of the tank, then you may want to go with the S300, which is 48". When in doubt, go bigger, as that will give you more flexibility down the road. Just my 2 cents.
For you, it really depends on how high your light will be above the water surface and what degrees you designate your lenses. Also, you may want to consider your aquascaping and where you place your corals. If you have corals at both ends of the tank, then you may want to go with the S300, which is 48". When in doubt, go bigger, as that will give you more flexibility down the road. Just my 2 cents.
Gillguy
New member
This question has come up a lot in the thread. If it's going inside a canopy or not. If it is you should use the S200 with 90 or 120 lenses. If not then get the S300 and use 60 lenses which gives you deeper penetration.
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