Challenge: lighting a drop off

[RiddleEagle18]

I posted this in the lightning forum but didnt get many responses. You guys are always good for some ideas so....

I am building a drop off tank that will pose some serious challenges with lighting. I would like to DIY something and I was leaning towards the lumia 5.2 but I am open to suggestions. I also want a very shallow hood. I dont like the look of big hoods but I want something to control light spill. My current tank has nothing and the lights dancing on the ceiling is too much in our living room.



The biggest chalenge to this build is the simultanious lighting of a shallow 12" section and a deep 30" section. Also the middle brace and the shelf itself pose shadowing problems.







So that is your challenge. Help me design something that can fit in a shallow hood, light the shallows, penetrate the deep and prevent shadowing. Oh and SPS capable.

 

[Pife]

I would run a 250w mh on the left and a 400w mh on the deep end. But I am sure you are thinking led.

 

[RiddleEagle18]

I would run a 250w mh on the left and a 400w mh on the deep end. But I am sure you are thinking led.

Yep LED. Trying to cut out heat so I dont have to run a chiller.

 

[Egkid]

Not DIY but one or two Kessil a150w's over the shallow section then a a360w over the drop off should work.

 

[CuzzA]

If you're going DIY, couldn't you just make a 48" fixture and put the drop off on a different channel to increase the intensity. Since hardly anyone can max out intensity on their LEDs without frying something. And/or put stronger optics on the drop off, 40 degrees for example.

 

[hoohoohdillyo]

Is the tank already built? If not, why not have the brace made out of clear glass/plexi? It won't change a whole lot on it, but will make lighting a bit easier.

As for the depth issue the Lumia 5.2 works well in up to 24" depth just the way it is and I am fairly certain they make a lense for it.
You could also go with the Aurora Puck. Use the wide angle for the top section and the regular for the deep side.
There is another option of making your own custom led light with single and/or triple led's and using tighter degree lenses for the deep section.

 

[Webmanny]

This is what I would recommend. As far as the drop, I would just increase the LED concentration on that side.

A couple of these heatsinks and maybe one more 10" one.
http://www.rapidled.com/as-is-6-x-20-drilled-tapped-black-anodized-aluminum-heat-sink/

The right amount of these LEDs
http://m.ebay.com/itm/271034371590?nav=SEARCH

The right amount of these
http://m.ebay.com/itm/141109343864?nav=SEARCH

Some more green, red and purple LEDs.

Some of these led lenses
http://m.ebay.com/itm/251146392691?nav=SEARCH

Some of these
http://m.ebay.com/itm/181495604969?nav=SEARCH

One or two of these power supplies
http://m.ebay.com/itm/111433651703?nav=SEARCH

 

[rogergolf66]

Not DIY but one or two Kessil a150w's over the shallow section then a a360w over the drop off should work.

I link this idea

 

[leveldrummer]

I like drop off tanks, and if I were to keep one, I woudl simply not put super light intesive corals on the deep end.

 

[RiddleEagle18]

Challenge: lighting a drop off

The tank is a 110 so the brace is already there. I could swap it out for some clear acrylic.

I could build a 4 6-10" heatsinks. 2 over the left side of the tank with no optics and then 2 over the right side 1 without optics and 1 with 90 degree optics.



I was looking at the A360 options. Do you think an A360W on one side and a A360N over the right side would work? Would i have enough coverage? Only problem I see here is that to get proper coverage on the deep side I would need to hang the 360N 8 inches from the edge.

The 150 option might just work. I have never seen one of these in person though. How would you describe the color?

 

[Samfish18]

Personally I think you won't be able to place to many sps corals on the deeper part of the drop off side. It's a great tank idea and can't wait to see what the finished product looks like.

 

[weiserboy]

Sorry if this is hi-jacking but I built the same tank. Let me know what you think.
The light I'm using is Current USA Orbit Marine LED Saltwater Reef Lighting System.
Weiser

 

[Samfish18]

Weiser that looks awesome, is that a new tank?

 

[RiddleEagle18]

Challenge: lighting a drop off

You have a build thread? Are you local to tampa?

 

[weiserboy]

Thanks and yes it's a new build..and no sadly I don't have a build thread. New at the whole thread building, but I'll try and answer any questions you may have. I do have a lot of pics.
I'm not local.

 

[RiddleEagle18]

Challenge: lighting a drop off

You should start a thread. I would love to see pictures of the build out process.

Glass or acrylic?

 

[RiddleEagle18]

I would love to know what you did with flow and powerhead placement. Although mine will be peninsula style so a bit different trying to hide cables and such.

 

[weiserboy]

Acrylic. A friend of mine is a sun tanning booth manufacturer. He built the tank for me using my dims and I built the stand using oak.

 

[weiserboy]

As you can tell from the pics, it's fairly new. I placed two powerheads (Hydor Koralia Nano 425) one located on the fair left and the other located in the deep end. As for the return pump, I'm using Sicce Syncra 4.0. I still need to add more LR and I haven't yet decided if I require more circulation.

 

[RiddleEagle18]

Did you end up going 15 or 18 wide on the deep section?