My 500 + gallon system. Last 13 years to now. Build, Aquascaping & more. Lots of pics
- Thread starter slief
- Start date
slief
RC Sponsor
I was pretty much ready to do the install today but realized I need to run an additional power cable up the lighting soffit to accommodate the additional power bar needed for the new lights. I also need to do some cable organization on the light rack so I can divide my Kessils into two groups. My plan is to run the Kessils in conjunction with the Mitras for a while so I can acclimate my corals to the new lights and also be able to adjust the Mitras to have a similar kelvin to my Kessil settings in an afford to minimize the acclimation period and reduce chances of the corals responding negatively to the light change. I've been toying with the idea of getting a Seneye PAR meter to measure Lux and Kelvin to help me dial the Mitras in better. Again to minimize acclimation and negative reprocussions to the lighting upgrade. It will also help me refine the intensities of the different channels.
One good thing I realized today is that the power supplies for the Mitras fit perfectly within the channels of my light rack. This will make it a breeze to find locations for the new power supplies and solves one of the issues that I was concerned about..
I would add a rubber spacer there to keep it from possibility of twisting sideways and dropping. Also tie the power supply so if it does get hit it will not drop in the water.
I live in DC area. I did not ever expect to get a earthquake here. A bump or shake can make it drop. That first picture shoes that one side can slide all the way one way or the other and drop it off into the tank.
I live in DC area. I did not ever expect to get a earthquake here. A bump or shake can make it drop. That first picture shoes that one side can slide all the way one way or the other and drop it off into the tank.
slief
RC Sponsor
It cant go anywhere but up and even that would be difficult. It's fully captured in there. If you look close at the pictures below, you can see there are tabs at each end of the power supply for screwing it down. They stick out well beyond the frame of the PS. I could screw it down but I actually had to force it in to begin with. It takes effort to get it in and take it out because it's just "perfectly" too wide for the rack in that section. I also don't want to drill the rack and deal with covering the tank to keep metal shavings out. I was also planning on zip tying the wires to the light rack at both ends of the power supply.
slief
RC Sponsor
I've been doing a lot of playing with the new Mitras LX7206's over the main display.
I have two setup in temporary locations which I hung there to determine the spread and help me decide how I will be laying them out. I think I have it pretty much figured out. I have a base program setup right now which I will need to tune a bit further as they are set at a real low intensity in order to avoid scorching my corals. I will need to raise those intensity levels and do some final PAR measurement on both my Kessils and the LX7206's so I have a base setting for the Mitras that is similar to that of the Kessils. The actual PAR reading from the Kessils isn't as important as having the two lights match. The Seneye monitor I got is pretty much useless as it won't read the Kelvin from the blue light. I am having to use an orange gel filter to get readings out of it. If nothing else, it's allowing me to match the erronious Kelvin readings between the two lights or at least come close. It would have been nice to know the actual Kelvin but in the end, as long as the numbers come out similar, it's the consistency between the two that will help mitigate shocking my corals from the light upgrade.
Initially I will likely be running 8 of the Kessils instead of my 10 along with the 6 Mitras. This will facilitate the acclimation process. I will likely use the Mitras acclimation program to slowly increase the intensity of the Mitras over the course of a month or two while simultaneously decreasing the Kessil intensity. I will need to find an initial balance between the two lights to avoid over lighting my tank and damaging the corals. That's where my Apogee PAR meter will come in handy. The two fixtures have been over the tank since Monday and the corals haven't responded adversely. Granted, the Mitras are set at a really low intensity.
Chances are good that I will do the final install this weekend. I have everything I need to hang them on my light rack. These two are hung in the center over the openings. 4 of them will likely be hung along the perimeter of the tank light the Kessils while two and the peninsula end of the tank will likely be hung like these in the picture but rotated so they are spreading across the width of the tank instead of length wise. I am not looking forward to re-wiring everything.
I have two setup in temporary locations which I hung there to determine the spread and help me decide how I will be laying them out. I think I have it pretty much figured out. I have a base program setup right now which I will need to tune a bit further as they are set at a real low intensity in order to avoid scorching my corals. I will need to raise those intensity levels and do some final PAR measurement on both my Kessils and the LX7206's so I have a base setting for the Mitras that is similar to that of the Kessils. The actual PAR reading from the Kessils isn't as important as having the two lights match. The Seneye monitor I got is pretty much useless as it won't read the Kelvin from the blue light. I am having to use an orange gel filter to get readings out of it. If nothing else, it's allowing me to match the erronious Kelvin readings between the two lights or at least come close. It would have been nice to know the actual Kelvin but in the end, as long as the numbers come out similar, it's the consistency between the two that will help mitigate shocking my corals from the light upgrade.
Initially I will likely be running 8 of the Kessils instead of my 10 along with the 6 Mitras. This will facilitate the acclimation process. I will likely use the Mitras acclimation program to slowly increase the intensity of the Mitras over the course of a month or two while simultaneously decreasing the Kessil intensity. I will need to find an initial balance between the two lights to avoid over lighting my tank and damaging the corals. That's where my Apogee PAR meter will come in handy. The two fixtures have been over the tank since Monday and the corals haven't responded adversely. Granted, the Mitras are set at a really low intensity.
Chances are good that I will do the final install this weekend. I have everything I need to hang them on my light rack. These two are hung in the center over the openings. 4 of them will likely be hung along the perimeter of the tank light the Kessils while two and the peninsula end of the tank will likely be hung like these in the picture but rotated so they are spreading across the width of the tank instead of length wise. I am not looking forward to re-wiring everything.
slief
RC Sponsor
Catching up
slief,
Are you replacing the 10 Kessils with 6 Mitras?
Initially it will be a combination of the two. I need to see first and foremost if the 6 Mitras will provide the coverage I need. I already run some Mitras on other tanks so I am 100% confident in their ability to grow coral every bit as well as my Kessils and provide better coloration of the corals. What I am not sure about is whether the 6 LX7206's will provide enough coverage at the ends of the tank. I might need to add one more or possibly 2 more because of the way my tank is laid out and more importantly the location of the overflow. The other question will come down to shimmer. I love the Kessil shimmer and have yet to see the Mitras alone on the entire tank. A part of me would love to run both but really that is way overkill. Especially when the Mitras are one of the best lights I've ever had my hands on.
GoVols
Cobb Webb - 1989
Thanks for the info
Kessil does have that "Kessil Shimmer" that a lot of reefers love.
My understanding is the Mitras push defused leds.
Do they still have some shimmer too?
slief
RC Sponsor
Thanks for the info
Kessil does have that "Kessil Shimmer" that a lot of reefers love.
My understanding is the Mitras push defused leds.
Do they still have some shimmer too?
They do have some shimmer. Not as much as Kessils but it's not like they are absent of shimmer. There is very minor diffusion if any of the LED's. There are 6 pucks but the max power of the Mitras is double that of the Kessil so it's more like taking one Kessil and splitting them into 3 pucks. I will say that these fixtures are insanely powerful if you crank them up. I can't ever imagine anybody needing to run them at 100% across all channels.
Here is a shot of the LX7206 clusters.
And a closeup of one of the clusters.
sfsuphysics
Active member
Very curious to see what the spread of these is like.
Local reef buddy has 3 over a 4' long tank, probably a bit overkill (or at least I am hoping they don't need that type of density)
Local reef buddy has 3 over a 4' long tank, probably a bit overkill (or at least I am hoping they don't need that type of density)
slief
RC Sponsor
2 should be more than enough for a 4' tank. I have one LX6200 over a 3' tank and there is plenty of light. 2 over a 4' tank would be perfect.
sfsuphysics
Active member
So a 3 foot spread is acceptable? Just was curious since next tank is going to be in the 7 to 8 foot range
slief
RC Sponsor
They will spread 3' if the fixture is up high enough but I'd probably keep them a bit closer so you have better intensity between them. On a 7 or 8 foot tank, I would go with 3 if not 4 of them but it will depend greatly on how you have the rock and coral situated and the depth of the tank from front to back. ideally you would want to run the lights from from to back instead of length wise in which case, you would want the fixtures closer together.
slief
RC Sponsor
Right now I have a program/project that is very minimal intensity as I didn't want to shock the corals with the full potential of these fixtures. Especially considering that the Kessils haven't been dialed back. I need to work on the project a bit more as I need to increase the intensity to more usable levels. Once I do that, I will post the screen shots of the programming. Hopefully that will come tomorrow assuming I get them hung then. The plan is to film the install for an LA Fish Guys episode so I need to get Jim here for that.
slief
RC Sponsor
LOL.. Fortunately there is no shortage of light above the tank at the moment with 10 Kessils and the two Mitras. Tomorrow I'll be thinning the herd slightly.. Well, maybe not really since I will only remove two of the 10 kessils to start but will be adding the rest of the Mitras. At that point I will begin the acclimation process by lowering the Kessil intensity some and increasing the Mitras. What I haven't decided yet is what intensity I will be running them both at. I will use my PAR meter to determine that as I will get some numbers of the Kessils and find a happy medium between the two in terms of intenisty that doesn't increase the PAR for the short term.
GoVols
Cobb Webb - 1989
Thanks for that info on a 4' tank.
I have a 42" x 22" x 24" display area.
Slief, looks like 2 fixtures would pull that off easily or would I still get shadowing?
