I just purchased a 90 g with an oak cabinet and hood. I an looking at my lighting options. I can have a retro kit built with two 175 MH and actinics, but I have power issues at my house. It was built in 1915 and the last time there was serious eletrical work done was in the 70's. I am plumbing a closed loop system so when you include a pump ( approx 1500gph), sump return ( 1200GPH), Skimmer (600GPH) and a chiller (500GPH) the power demands on the 20 amp circuit is already taxed. This loop only has 4 outlets that I have found. Only two are currently being used for my 50g system. Are LED's an option? I have looked closly at the Solaris systems and for what I need they have a 36" with 60 LED's It looks like 40 white and 20 blue. The problem is I don't want to pay the $3k. I have found a local nor cal compant that makes sealed LED sticks that come in pairs. 20 white and 20 blue or all white or all blue that run off of one power supply. If I fabricated a hood to contain three of these units would it be enough for a mixed reef?
LED Lighting question
- Thread starter pv1191
- Start date
36" solaris $1568 at www.everything4saltwater.com I have the 48" and love it. They're totally programable for ultimate control. If you want to do LEDs I would go this route.
These are in an array of 48 led's not sticks. Each array is rated at an equivalant to 250 watts. Alot of makers are using the blue leds instead of actinics. I was thinking I could use 4 of the 48 bulb white arrays and two 20"( 12 led's each) of the blue and mount them in my hood. If the ratings are correct that would be 1000+ watts of light for a 90g tank, with almost no heat and only about 14 watts of power draw.
I'm going to put one of these to use. I don't want to assemble all the components so I'm trying to get them to at least put the arrays togather with the power supplies. I can put it into a retro fit hood. Who know if it works I might have a home business in the making. I'll keep you informed of my progress. So IP do I have a link? Yes. And if this works I'll share the link to my store 
I have had alot of posts on and ther forum. From what I have been able to learn is the solaris lighting system is 12 white and 13 blue at 3 watts each. Well the array I'm looking at is 16 three bulb arrays at about 1.84 watts each. Now knowing that LED light is more directional than conventional what is the penetration at a depth of 24". Will I lose too much light at the lower depths? or will the combined wattage compensate? IE 4 48 bulb arrays that are rated at 5000k each suffice? I dont know! Will I have enough light at the lower levels to support my current zoo's and LPS?
8 bulb T5 sounds better to me. What T5 unit? Why 8 bulbs? What bulbs? Make sure your unit has individual reflectors, good bulbs (geisman, ATI, URL, etc.) and active cooling (a fan). Make sure NOT to get a current nova extreme, crappy unit.
tek ligt and aquactinics are great T5 units, with a slight not going to aquactinics-better reflectors and active cooling
tek ligt and aquactinics are great T5 units, with a slight not going to aquactinics-better reflectors and active cooling
This is a retro fit unit from Catalina Aquarium in Sacramento. It comes with your choice of bulbs (he has good list to choose from) , individual reflectors, and blue LED Moonlights for $340. For fans I just ordered a 4 4inch fan kit with a seperate controller so you can adjust the fan speed. Beacuse the back of canopy is open I'll set two up on each side and let it exit out the back. A friend does alot of business with him so I should be able to get a better price then that!
Similar threads
