Looking to trade for 36" light or mh pendant

[tank o tang]

I'm going to be setting up a 40 breeder this weekend and need to find a light. Looking for either a 36" light system (t-5 or mh) or a mh pendant. I have a bunch of stuff to trade for it, 30" acrylic sump, pan world pump, pm bullet 1 skimmer, ice cap 660 ballast, mag 12 pump, rk lite (head unit only), and I'm sure I can find more.

 

[fiddly_foo]

If you need help at all this weekend I'm 4 min. down the road I can stop bye and help you and hang out ..Just let me know later Brian

 

[Nerdy Nudi]

tank,

If you decide to sell some of the gear shoot me a pm with some info on the sump. I am in the middle of a build and I may be able to use it.

 

[terahz]

40B are sweet tanks. That will be my next tank as well . Post pics!

I don't have any lights to trade, but you can let me know if you decide to go LED and I'll help

 

[tank o tang]

Foo, thanks for the offer (should mention I have dogs).

Nudi, sump is 30"(l)x13"(d)x18(h), 2 chamber, 1st with filter sock holder, 2nd drilled for 3 - 1" bulkheads on the side.

Terahz, I may be going that route for my daughters 30gal in the near future and definitely could use a lesson in leds.

All of my tanks have canopys so I was looking to leave the 40 with an open top (reason for not just putting some t-5s on the ice cap). I really like the look of a pendant on some bent conduit (painted of course).

 

[terahz]

Terahz, I may be going that route for my daughters 30gal in the near future and definitely could use a lesson in leds.

Sure, as I've promised I'll give you guys an overview of LEDs next time or in Feb (which reminds me I forgot to confirm the date for Feb, I'll do it tomorrow)

All of my tanks have canopys so I was looking to leave the 40 with an open top (reason for not just putting some t-5s on the ice cap). I really like the look of a pendant on some bent conduit (painted of course).

If you can mount the lights on the ceiling you can use some tight optics (10 or so degrees) with the LEDs and the tank will stay open top. OTOH 8 degree optics on an LED will give you about 12" light radius at 7ft distance, so you can make it look really cool that way, just a thought.

 

[Gooch79]

I have no clue what you just said.

 

[terahz]

I have no clue what you just said.

That's why I'll do a thing on LEDs in one of the next meetings...

Let me try and simplify it a bit...
Imagine a flashlight. If you point it at the wall you get a circile of light. If you were to draw two lines starting at the flashlight and ending at two opposite edges of that circle, the angle between these two lines is the number that defines how focused the light is. If you move closer to the wall the circle gets smaller and more intense. If you move away from the wall the circle gets bigger and less intense.

LEDs are very focused light sources - about 130 degrees for the common ones people here use - compared to a regular bulb (360 degrees usually). So if you have one LED, 1" from the surface of the water, that LED will cast about 4" circle of light. At 2 3/4" the circle is a bit shy of a foot. The further you move the LED up, the bigger the circle of light (and less intense). So if you were to hang your LED on the ceiling - say 7ft from the tank - that LED will cast a 30ft circle of light that will be very faint. However if you use a reflector (the optics I was referring to) you can focus that light. So with an 8 degree reflector, that 30ft circle will become 1ft and you get the same intensity and spread as though you have the LEDs 2 3/4" from the surface without any reflectors.

So if you build an LED fixture and it sits about 3" from the surface of the tank, you can put it on the ceiling, add 8 degree reflectors and you will not change anything in terms of how much light gets to your tank.

Don't know how much that helps but I'm too tired right now to do drawings

 

[rjinct]

That's why I'll do a thing on LEDs in one of the next meetings...

And perhaps your DIY controller some other time? Guys, this thing was slick...had a chance to see it the other day. Terahz has it controlling his LEDs...via remote control no less.

But back on topic...who has a light for Jeff?

 

[terahz]

Jeff, did you find a fixture?

Take a look at this:
[strike]http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1780117[/strike]

EDIT: nevermind, I think it is sold already.

 

[fiddly_foo]

man some of his stuff was soo dirty.... never seen eqipment that dirty wow.. alot of stuff cheap though..

 

[RTMA]

Terahz, If I build a LED fixture to replace 2 250w MH which reside about 8" off the surface 48" long x 18" wide are there optics to fill my tank at that height?

How many LEDs would I need? I am thinking about replacing my MH with LEDs. Putting the 150 bucks that I would spend on new bulbs into the build. I think I would only need white leds as I would keep the 4 T5s as my actinic.

Also I think my Reefkeeper Elite could control them, which would be cool.

LEDs are very focused light sources - about 130 degrees for the common ones people here use - compared to a regular bulb (360 degrees usually). So if you have one LED, 1" from the surface of the water, that LED will cast about 4" circle of light. At 2 3/4" the circle is a bit shy of a foot. The further you move the LED up, the bigger the circle of light (and less intense). So if you were to hang your LED on the ceiling - say 7ft from the tank - that LED will cast a 30ft circle of light that will be very faint. However if you use a reflector (the optics I was referring to) you can focus that light. So with an 8 degree reflector, that 30ft circle will become 1ft and you get the same intensity and spread as though you have the LEDs 2 3/4" from the surface without any reflectors.

So if you build an LED fixture and it sits about 3" from the surface of the tank, you can put it on the ceiling, add 8 degree reflectors and you will not change anything in terms of how much light gets to your tank.

 

[tank o tang]

Still looking, but plans have changed. Due to me building the stand so tall, I will be using a canopy. Now just have to find a reflector.

Thanks