d2mini's "Essential Focus" Mixed Reef Build

Wow... yet another great build from The MAN!! I was thrilled when I logged into the forum and saw you had another build thread. 2 days later and I'm pretty much caught up but only thanks to "skim reading" LOL.

I have a few questions for you when you have time.

A) How does light spillage into the room affect comfort when in the room and doing other things which do not include admiring the tank? Does the light cause any problems when watching TV etc?

B) When you have time (or if you have a recent shot and I just missed it) could you snap a long range shot of your system like from across the room showing the light spill on the walls etc?

C) Are the lights controlled by the Profilux or just being controlled by their own built-in controller?

D) Do the lights have any type of "Lightning/Storm" effect? I know some don't care for it but it was something that lead me to GHL to begin with several years ago and it's something that is important to me :)

Your builds are always so inspiring and I can't wait to go back and read more indepth through it when I have some time.

Thanks in advance,
Allen
 
BigAl2007 said:
Wow... yet another great build from The MAN!! I was thrilled when I logged into the forum and saw you had another build thread. 2 days later and I'm pretty much caught up but only thanks to "skim reading" LOL.

I have a few questions for you when you have time.
Allen
Click to expand...
Hey Al, how's it going? :)

A) How does light spillage into the room affect comfort when in the room and doing other things which do not include admiring the tank? Does the light cause any problems when watching TV etc?

No issues. Maybe if the screen is really dark and you are at the right angle you'll see a little reflection but it hasn't been anything that has bothered me. I had to think about this for a minute. What is annoying is any time I try to take a non-reef photo (like of my kids or something) in that part of the house. All photos have a blue cast. LOL

B) When you have time (or if you have a recent shot and I just missed it) could you snap a long range shot of your system like from across the room showing the light spill on the walls etc?
I don't really notice direct light spill. It's just like I was saying above... the blue light just kinda mixes with the white led lighting in my ceiling cans. Bouncing off the walls and stuff. See photo below. That's the farthest one I have.

C) Are the lights controlled by the Profilux or just being controlled by their own built-in controller?
They are plugged into the powerbar, but not being controlled by it. Sockets set to always on.

D) Do the lights have any type of "Lightning/Storm" effect? I know some don't care for it but it was something that lead me to GHL to begin with several years ago and it's something that is important to me :)
Yes. Everything is controlled via EcoSmart Live. Storms, clouds, moonphases, etc. But i usually don't do much with all that. I used a Mitras LX7 on my office nano (until i tore it down) and the two lamps are similar in most ways/features. But the Mitras has much stronger programming capabilities. The Radions are more simple in this regard.

Your builds are always so inspiring and I can't wait to go back and read more indepth through it when I have some time.

Thanks in advance,
Thanks, Al. :)



i-VqBLV85.jpg


And this video starts a little bit back... not much more though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moK40QOW2Tw&t=4s
 
Perfect! Exactly the things I needed (wanted) to hear.

Your system is amazing and definitely something to strive to replicate in some degree.

When you answer a post you don't half-way do it.

That video is exactly what I needed to see. Light spillage into the living area is of major concern for my other half.

Thank you sir! Always a pleasure.

Allen
 
Dennis, do know how many amps the lights use for the percentage you have them set to? What percent are you running them at? The reason I ask is I'm about maxed out on my circuit's amps and I am looking at going with these lights and not use my T5s anymore. I know the option would be to run another electrical line and outlet but it's not really possible. Thanks!
 
cincyjim said:
Dennis, do know how many amps the lights use for the percentage you have them set to? What percent are you running them at? The reason I ask is I'm about maxed out on my circuit's amps and I am looking at going with these lights and not use my T5s anymore. I know the option would be to run another electrical line and outlet but it's not really possible. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Jim, I can't speak for Dennis but the "safe" thing to do is calculate how many amps the lights "could" pull if you were to run at 100% because at some point you very well could run them at 100%. You don't want to "guestimate" on the low side and then run into problems should you need to run them at 100% even for a short period of time. Better safe than sorry.

If those are the G4 Pro (I don't see Dennis running anything less normally LOL) they can pull up to 190W and he's running 3 of them so 570W at 100% output. You should be able to use those #'s to figure amps for your calcs.

Hope this helps :)
 
cincyjim said:
Dennis, do know how many amps the lights use for the percentage you have them set to? What percent are you running them at? The reason I ask is I'm about maxed out on my circuit's amps and I am looking at going with these lights and not use my T5s anymore. I know the option would be to run another electrical line and outlet but it's not really possible. Thanks!
Click to expand...
They run at 90% overall intensity but with not all channels running at 100% the total output is 63% for midday. I don't know how many amps they are pulling.
 
Thanks BigAl for the feedback. You are right about planning for a 100% usage rate. I'm trying to figure out how I can get the best lighting for little amp usage as possible.


Dennis, based on my rough math to get amps, that looks to be about 3amps (at 65% use) or so not including what the fans would be using. I gather the lights are not controlled by Apex... is that a safe assumption?
 
cincyjim said:
Thanks BigAl for the feedback. You are right about planning for a 100% usage rate. I'm trying to figure out how I can get the best lighting for little amp usage as possible.


Dennis, based on my rough math to get amps, that looks to be about 3amps (at 65% use) or so not including what the fans would be using. I gather the lights are not controlled by Apex... is that a safe assumption?
Click to expand...

Amp draw should be part of the specs published by Ecotech for the lights.
 
Amazing tank. One of my favorites.

1) What's your favorite fish in there?
2) What's your favorite coral in there?
3) What fish are on the horizon?
4) What fish do you wish you could add?
5) What do you feed your fish?
6) What's your favorite breakfast cereal?
 
cincyjim said:
Very good. How are you liking the Ecosmart Live? Easy to use, intuitive, reliability?
Click to expand...
It's fine. Easy to use. Except every move you make is instantly saved. So before playing around or making changes, make sure you export your current schedule to a file. And i loathe having to use the ReefLink to connect. Literally a 50/50 chance that it's not connected to your wifi and you'll have to power cycle it. Ok when you're home. Not so much when you are away.

brett559 said:
Amazing tank. One of my favorites.

1) What's your favorite fish in there?
2) What's your favorite coral in there?
3) What fish are on the horizon?
4) What fish do you wish you could add?
5) What do you feed your fish?
6) What's your favorite breakfast cereal?
Click to expand...
Thanks! :)

1) Would probably be most heartbroken over losing the purple tang
2) Hard to say. I like different ones for different reasons. And some that are just "ok" now might end up pretty stunning when they become big colonies.
3) Nothing in particular. I enjoy the coral more than the fish.
4) Bigger tangs
5) Reef Frenzy and/or Rod's Food. Sometimes mix in a cube of cyclops. And nori for the tang.
6) The sadly now discontinued Oatmeal Raisin Crisp. :(
 
cincyjim said:
Dennis, are you saying that if the Ecosmart Live loses connection that the lights will turn off or something like that?
Click to expand...

No, the lights hold the programming on-board.
I'm just saying that if I want to go in and make any changes, I'm relying on the reeflink to let me do so.
 
Very good, thanks! I'm not sure if I should get an Ecosmart or just utilize my Apex for them. I like the base light settings that come with the Ecosmart and I'm not sure if I can duplicate that on the Apex. I'm sure some can and have but I'm not sure if I can ;). I appreciate all your thoughts and input!
 
d2mini said:
Correct. Like i told Al above, they are plugged into my Profilux power bar but not controlled by it. All programming/control is done through Ecosmart Live.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking I may do the same thing on my set-up. I'm really liking the idea/concept of the EcoSmart route for EcoTech equipment.
 
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