Reefbreeders/(Evergrow OEM) Fixtures D120/IT20** series
- Thread starter bhazard451
- Start date
Mine was kind of the same way till I changed out a bunch of leds.
I have a couple less whites now, removed half the blues and added a lot of UV, and yellow, orange, red, and deep red leds.
Ron Reefman
Active member
You don't want a 48" led for a 48" tank. It will throw light out the ends of the tank, which is just wasted light. The 32" will be much better choice It will give you better PAR and be cheaper. The 32 and 48 have the same number of leds and therefore the same amount of light is delivered, using the 48 over a 48" tank wastes light by lighting outside the tank and lowers the PAR you'll get. The 32 will keep much more of the light in the tank (the 32" light covers about 56" of tank at 24" of depth).
BTW, I have 2 IT2080's (the same as the Photon32 only by the manufacturer, EverGrow) and they are very good lights. And all you do is plug it in and set up the timer/controller and you have a great light!
jacob.morgan78
New member
Well said!!
Thanks so much for this post. I will be ordering soon.
A couple more questions if you don't mind. What height above the tank and optics would I need for my tank? Also, I am not crazy about hanging the lights from the ceiling as I have 10 foot ceilings and I think it would look a bit silly. What are my other options? I am building my own stand so I have a lot of flexibility there. I could even build a canopy if necessary.
dja1980
Active member
Ah... I got excited, but I missed the details also. My first thought about the 48 was that light would spill off the sides. But, on second thought, I didn't care because I assumed the LED density was the same as the 32. Now that you mention that the 48 uses the same amount of LEDs as the 32 (99 vs. 102... but more spread out), a 48 on a 48" tank definitely doesn't make sense. I guess that explains why you're only paying $50 for 16" more inches of light ($449 vs. $499).
I'm still torn on which way to go. There are just too many complaints about the 32" not spreading the light well enough to the edges of a 48" tank unless you go with the 48" optics setup. But, if you go with that setup, people say that you can't grow SPS on the edges of the tank. I definitely need lighting that will grow SPS on the edges, so I'm still thinking 2 16s (110 total LEDs, $638) might be best. I just hate the idea of paying for 2 controllers. I wish they would come out with a 40" fixture!
Density...
16 ( 55 LEDs) = .430 LEDs / sq.in.
24 ( 51 LEDs) = .266 LEDs / sq.in.
32 ( 99 LEDs) = .387 LEDs / sq.in.
48 (102 LEDs) = .271 LEDs / sq.in.
So, for the 48 to be on par (no pun intended) with the 16 or 32, it would need to have 144-165 LEDs. Or, better yet... let's see a 40" fixture with 124-135 LEDs!
likmonster
New member
Ron I need your advice, my tank is 60x28x20 what would you recommend?
Reef_Breeders
Sponsor
Ah... I got excited, but I missed the details also. My first thought about the 48 was that light would spill off the sides. But, on second thought, I didn't care because I assumed the LED density was the same as the 32. Now that you mention that the 48 uses the same amount of LEDs as the 32 (99 vs. 102... but more spread out), a 48 on a 48" tank definitely doesn't make sense. I guess that explains why you're only paying $50 for 16" more inches of light ($449 vs. $499).
I'm still torn on which way to go. There are just too many complaints about the 32" not spreading the light well enough to the edges of a 48" tank unless you go with the 48" optics setup. But, if you go with that setup, people say that you can't grow SPS on the edges of the tank. I definitely need lighting that will grow SPS on the edges, so I'm still thinking 2 16s (110 total LEDs, $638) might be best. I just hate the idea of paying for 2 controllers. I wish they would come out with a 40" fixture!
Density...
16 ( 55 LEDs) = .430 LEDs / sq.in.
24 ( 51 LEDs) = .266 LEDs / sq.in.
32 ( 99 LEDs) = .387 LEDs / sq.in.
48 (102 LEDs) = .271 LEDs / sq.in.
So, for the 48 to be on par (no pun intended) with the 16 or 32, it would need to have 144-165 LEDs. Or, better yet... let's see a 40" fixture with 124-135 LEDs!
The 48s will defenitly wirk on an sps dominant tank. The idea behind a 48" unit, just like the 24, is that you can spread the intensity out over more area. I had the same opinion as Ron, until I saw a 48" tank with 2 24s on it, setup just like one photon48 would be. Light spillage was not that bad- at about 6" with 90s.
Ron Reefman
Active member
Height above the water isn't critical. My IT series are about 6"-8" and my D120 & Arctic S026 are much higher. Standard 90 degree optics are fine for 24" deep. I built a canopy for my 180g and I hung all the rest off the wall with 'L' brackets from Home Depot.
The IT2080 will work great, maybe even a bit of overkill. The IT2060 (half as many leds) will light the whole tank, and should work OK. Maybe a bit iffy for sps at the bottom 1/3 of the tank.
Tougher call. Two 32's is way over the top. Two 24's is a good fit length wise, but maybe a bit lite on on leds. It kind of depends on what you have in the tank and where you are going in the future. Also, since your tank is 20" deep, you don't need as many leds to get a good PAR value. Three 16's gets a great spread end to end and 50 more leds than 2 of the 24's. That would be my first choice if you are doing sps corals and what to be positive you get enough light.
I have another idea, but I'll PM it to you as it involves proprietary info that I shouldn't share here just yet.
Ron Reefman
Active member
I'm 99% sure they can't. They can be turned on and off, but light intensity can't be run by a reef controller. It's part of the reason they are cheaper as a controllable drive is more expensive than the on-board controller they build into each fixture. But then I put mine up the end of December and they have been on 24/7 for 5 months now. Power outages don't affect the clock or the programming. It's been tested several times by me and Mother Nature. :thumbsup:
Hi
Thanks for that,but I'm still not sure which one to go for,i don't keep sps at all so maybe the smaller one might work on a 37" tank.
.
King Nine
New member
I posted this earlier but I think it got lost so here it goes again: I noticed that my orange rics and my red blastomussa do not have near the coloration under these LEDs than they did under the T5s. I thought it was the 4500k LEDs but Logan has suggested covering up the Red LEDs first to see if that does it. In his oppinion he has seen red lights turn red corals gray before. So I covered the red LEDs and the only thing I noticed was the carnation frag went from a very pretty orange red to a dull color. It didn't seem to make my orange rics or my blastomussa any better. I then put tape over the 4500k LEDs and the color started coming back in those two. Before I only blame the 4500k light, covering them almost amounts to an all Blue, Violet and Red fixture. Some white was getting past the tape but Id say only about 25%.
If I were to change out LEDs what would you change out to. The new stock Photon 16s have 14 4500k LEDs on them. Logan also sells 7500k, 10,000k, 14,000k and 20,000k LEDs. I ultimately want a Phoenix 14k MH look or as close as I can get but more importantly I would like all the corals and livestock to have great color.
If I were to change out LEDs what would you change out to. The new stock Photon 16s have 14 4500k LEDs on them. Logan also sells 7500k, 10,000k, 14,000k and 20,000k LEDs. I ultimately want a Phoenix 14k MH look or as close as I can get but more importantly I would like all the corals and livestock to have great color.
D
Deleted member 286866
One other thing to consider is the tanks braces, if any, and since the Photon 48 is basically two Photon 24's in one case it has an LED gap in the middle (maybe two rows of LEDs). If you have a center brace it should be fine but measure and understand how you will hang which ever fixture(s) you get. Same goes with the 32" know if it will cover any braces before you buy as the 48" might be a better fit allowing more of its light into the tank.
I like having the yellows. It fills in the spectrum. I know that most people say that all you need is uv, blue, some green, and red but I think full spectrum is needed. Just my opinion.
King Nine
New member
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