My 280g Custom upgrade.....
- Thread starter SPotter
- Start date
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
We all have our moments. Glad you found the source. Those valves can be a PITA as I've used them in the past...
SPotter
Active member
Light update.....
Light update.....
Not much has been going on over the last three weeks until last week when the cabinetry was begun and my light arrived on Friday. I ended up going with the Pacific Sun Pandora Hyperion T5/LED fixture. Here's a brief description of it....
Pandora Hyperion the most recent in the Pacific Sun lineup as it is the newest and only current product to offer the Hyperion 8 channel LED panels with T5 fluorescents in one modern, sleek and powerful lighting fixture. Pandora Hyperion incorporates fully controllable and dimmable T5 fluorescent technology into this series in combination with their powerful, 150W 8ch LED panels offering 9 LED chips including CREE XM-L (capable of up to 10 watts of power). Pandora Hyperion comes in two sizes, 49" and 65" with 3x150W and 4x150W LED panels respectively. 49" model houses 4x54W T5 fluorescents lamps, 65" model with 4x80W T5 lamps. These units are the widest available fixtures from Pacific Sun measuring in at 16.5", yet still only 2" tall. Pandora XM is perfect for extra wide reef systems (up to 36" wide) where the extra coverage provided by the T5s is necessary. Control with Bluetooth via PC or Android tablet featuring X Touch app.
I went with the 65" model and have been tinkering with it over the last few days. The fixture weighs 75lbs so I am making a new hanging kit for it that will me to raise/lower and slide it out from over the tank. I ordered channel struts and trolleys from mcmaster-carr and they arrived yesterday. Cabinetry is almost done....need some finishing touches on the molding and the door needs to put on the canopy.
Here are some pictures of the light.....
Droid touch tablet to control the lamp via bluetooth but also controllable with windows and they are launching mac software in the very near future!!!
Here's the very first full tank shot with lights on.....pictures are taken with cell phone camera. I get the big cannon camera out over the weekend and see if I can get some better shots!
LED only....all colors @ 100%
LED only... at 50%
T5'S only....
Now for the some quick par readings that I did last night......
Water surface 3" below the light..... 1950
20" below the light.....650
Sandbed 30" below the light....300
Growing coral wont be my problem....torching them will be!!!!
Cabinets are almost done. They had a problem with the hinges for the canopy door so waiting on replacement hinges to come in. Once they arrive I will post pictures of the cabinets.
I havent tested nitrates in a few days but my Algae Turf Scrubber arrives today and that will get put online asap!
Light update.....
Not much has been going on over the last three weeks until last week when the cabinetry was begun and my light arrived on Friday. I ended up going with the Pacific Sun Pandora Hyperion T5/LED fixture. Here's a brief description of it....
Pandora Hyperion the most recent in the Pacific Sun lineup as it is the newest and only current product to offer the Hyperion 8 channel LED panels with T5 fluorescents in one modern, sleek and powerful lighting fixture. Pandora Hyperion incorporates fully controllable and dimmable T5 fluorescent technology into this series in combination with their powerful, 150W 8ch LED panels offering 9 LED chips including CREE XM-L (capable of up to 10 watts of power). Pandora Hyperion comes in two sizes, 49" and 65" with 3x150W and 4x150W LED panels respectively. 49" model houses 4x54W T5 fluorescents lamps, 65" model with 4x80W T5 lamps. These units are the widest available fixtures from Pacific Sun measuring in at 16.5", yet still only 2" tall. Pandora XM is perfect for extra wide reef systems (up to 36" wide) where the extra coverage provided by the T5s is necessary. Control with Bluetooth via PC or Android tablet featuring X Touch app.
I went with the 65" model and have been tinkering with it over the last few days. The fixture weighs 75lbs so I am making a new hanging kit for it that will me to raise/lower and slide it out from over the tank. I ordered channel struts and trolleys from mcmaster-carr and they arrived yesterday. Cabinetry is almost done....need some finishing touches on the molding and the door needs to put on the canopy.
Here are some pictures of the light.....
Droid touch tablet to control the lamp via bluetooth but also controllable with windows and they are launching mac software in the very near future!!!
Here's the very first full tank shot with lights on.....pictures are taken with cell phone camera. I get the big cannon camera out over the weekend and see if I can get some better shots!
LED only....all colors @ 100%
LED only... at 50%
T5'S only....
Now for the some quick par readings that I did last night......
Water surface 3" below the light..... 1950
20" below the light.....650
Sandbed 30" below the light....300
Growing coral wont be my problem....torching them will be!!!!
Cabinets are almost done. They had a problem with the hinges for the canopy door so waiting on replacement hinges to come in. Once they arrive I will post pictures of the cabinets.
I havent tested nitrates in a few days but my Algae Turf Scrubber arrives today and that will get put online asap!
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
Jealousy pours from my veins. No one makes a fixture for a 48" deep tank so I'm leaning more and more towards a DIY. Can't wait to see that ATS you will be receiving!
SPotter
Active member
Thanks Dustin.....Yeah 48" is going to be tough. I would think about doing something with LED and T5's. I really love the combination and for my tank....the full coverage. there are no dark spots a drop offs with light in the tank. I should be able to grow coral in every inch of the tank.
prop-frags
SPS Slave
Sorry about the lag on the reply, Steve.
Check out this post in our build thread for details on how we plumbed the salt mixing station...
Dustin1300
Reefaholic
Looks great Steve. I think I like the way the cabinetry opens on yours better than the pics I earlier referenced. Ensures that you have full/easy access and prevents any light from spilling through the cracks!
Now let's hope the ATS starts working on those Nitrates for you!!!
Now let's hope the ATS starts working on those Nitrates for you!!!
TheFishTeen
New member
Beautiful cabinetry!
TheFishTeen
New member
400W MH are old school but would work fine, otherwise I would do a mix of T5 or VHO, and LED canons like Ecoxotic or Orphek.
SPotter
Active member
Thanks Henry!!!! Its hard to believe that it was a year ago that I started planning all of this and its finally a reality!!!!
muttley000
MTS Sufferer!
Looks stunning. I do custom woodworking in my spare time and that is nice work!
SPotter
Active member
Thank you!!!! these guys really delivered especially with the canopy. They had never done anything like this before since they are primarily kitchen cabinet builders but I was able to show them some examples of builds on here and they ran with it. The biggest challenge was making sure the cabinets came down far enough and they hid the water line but they hit it out of the park with everythign.
CarlitosReef
New member
Tagging along mainly for the frag tank!
Where did you get that Tablet from?
Where did you get that Tablet from?
SPotter
Active member
The tablet came with the light and it has an app on it to control the lamp.
