Two of Eight

psykobowler

psykobowler

New member
My goal: to eliminate the VHO actinics by adding modular LED lighting in between the lumenmax elite reflectors in my display. Doing so, i will only need to purchase 400 watt radium bulbs periodically. There was a time when I had halides, t5s and vhos in my display. Too costly in bulb replacement. I purchased and tried the brand new kessil a360w e series but it is way dim to my liking so I ordered the apex AWM module and 2 Aquaillumination Hydra 52s last week.

My 300gallon sps display will have this configuration after the switch:
400watt radium/Hydra 52/400watt radium/Hydra 52/400watt radium/Hydra 52/400watt radium/Hydra 52/400watt radium

My 150gallon lps display will have this configuration after the switch:
400watt radium/Hydra 52/400watt radium/Hydra 52/400watt radium

My 6 foot frag tank will have this configuration:
400watt radium/Hydra 52/400watt radium/Hydra 52/400watt radium

The 2 hydras arrived today but the controller won't get to me until next week. I am receiving 4 more hydras in January and the last 2 in february.







 
CLeadfootS said:
Nice! You are gonna have $35, 000 in lighting plus $25,000 a month to run it. Post some pics. Would love to see it.
Click to expand...

I am suppose to save money on bulb replacements and cutting down on halide use Casey. By the way, the best news isn't my lighting. It's reefinsomnia. He stopped by my place yesterday to check out my tank. He's been shopping for a new system - a 6 foot peninsula. He's been to the local fish stores lately. :rollface:
 
psykobowler said:
I am suppose to save money on bulb replacements and cutting down on halide use Casey. By the way, the best news isn't my lighting. It's reefinsomnia. He stopped by my place yesterday to check out my tank. He's been shopping for a new system - a 6 foot peninsula. He's been to the local fish stores lately. :rollface:
Click to expand...

Yes sir, talked to him yesterday. I'm glad he is getting back in. It wasn't the same without him.
 
powderhound said:
Nice looking lights. Let us know how you like them and how they help the tank
Click to expand...

Sure thing. I am just waiting on the controller to adjust it. It is currently on full blast. My 150 does not have much in a way of corals right now so I am not worried about frying corals. The spread is way better than the kessils for sure.
 
Hey Glen I'm looking for lighting for my new tank..Lil Brother cube. I'll take a donation of a Kessil.
 
Borchers said:
Hey Glen I'm looking for lighting for my new tank..Lil Brother cube. I'll take a donation of a Kessil.
Click to expand...

Oh if there are donations going on here I have a certain tank at a certain school with a need of some better lighting!:bounce2:

On a different note, are you only using these as actinics, as in no whites, or are you using all colors?
 
Borchers said:
Hey Glen I'm looking for lighting for my new tank..Lil Brother cube. I'll take a donation of a Kessil.
Click to expand...

Haha. I am using the kessil A360w e series for my refugium to grow grape caulerpa during the summer. I really wanted my money back on that one. Unfortunately I can't return it to the store any more since I have used it for a couple of weeks now. Don't you have a radion? :spin2:
 
Jet Black said:
Oh if there are donations going on here I have a certain tank at a certain school with a need of some better lighting!:bounce2:

On a different note, are you only using these as actinics, as in no whites, or are you using all colors?
Click to expand...

I will get rid of the vho actinics as soon as I receive 4 hydras in January. I have 5 of them.

I am definitely using the hydra 52s on full spectrum for sure. Since you and jeff/anne purchased most of my boulder pukani rocks in my 150 gallon cryptic, I just turned that tank into my lps display with 1 vortech mp60 providing all the flow. Got 3 lps in there so far. The halides on the 150 gallon tank turns on at 8am and turns off at 3pm. The hydras on the 150 turns on from 3pm to 12midnight. From 8am to 3pm the vho actinics (will be replaced with hydras) in my 300 gallon sps tank is on. At 3pm, the vho actinics shuts down and the halides turn on in the 300 gallon display which run until midnight. Basically, I am running halides in one display and LEDs in the other, vice versa from 8 in the morning until midnight. I don't dare to run all 8 halides at the same time. My breakers will surely trip. I am already using 3 circuits to run this system. The LEDs are great because they do not use up too much wattage so I can have them on at the same time as the halides. I will probably not run them at full intensity. We'll see.

By the way, I rotate bulbs too. I run brand new 400watt radium bulbs for 6 months on the 300 gallon sps display. After 6 months I replace those bulbs and put the 6 month old bulb in the lps display. I also plan to use the 6 month old bulbs in the frag tank.

During the summer I will only run the radiums 4 hours per display per day and rely on the hydras to cover the rest of the photo period.

I hope that makes sense.
 
One thing for sure... Jeffery is no Vanah White. Very nice lights. Please keep us updated as I am still not impresed with my radions. I spend morw time watching the frag tank under radiums...
 
greenhead said:
One thing for sure... Jeffery is no Vanah White. Very nice lights. Please keep us updated as I am still not impresed with my radions. I spend morw time watching the frag tank under radiums...
Click to expand...

I still prefer the radium bulbs, absolutely no shadows when using metal halides. I won't have the controller until the end of next week so I have the LEDs on full blast. I was able to use spare chains that I had kept in the garage. I did not have to go to the hardware store to get something to work.

 
I am still working on cleaning the tank. Two of these can actually cover 5 ft without shadows. I just happened to position the LEDs front to back rather than sideways so you see 2 beams of light.


 
Yes. I finally got the apex ai controller module today. I installed it already. Basically, it works the same as the vortech wxm for the vortech pumps where you have to create profile settings such as ramping up, down, daylight, actinic, etc. I just have it programmed to turn on/off for now until my lighting setup is complete. I am receiving 1 hydra52 module next Friday and 4 more by the end of January.
 
I have 3 so far in the main tank. Need 2 more. Everything on backorder. Here is what it looks like. Cleaned the display too.




 
The title should now say 9 of 12. It has been since December that I started using the AI hydra 52s. Based on my observation, this fixture can handle acropora without any problem. If you are still not convinced that LEDs cannot handle sps this light most likely will change your opinion. Side by side with a 400 watt radium, the brightness and intensity is at least the same if not even more from the led. I had reduced my halide photoperiod from 10 hours per day to 3 hours and my colors and growth rate was not affected. I finally made use of the controller last night and I was able to match the look of the 400 watt radium. I am still following the same formula. The LEDs are all 100 percent full blast for 7hours, 4hours of vho super actinic look then 3 hours of radium halide. What I like about it is that the lens is frosted so the light is blended with no disco ball. My utility bill dropped from $560 to $430 in recent months. I expect it to drop even more because I gradually lowered my halide photoperiod from 10 hours to 3, not all at once. Less heat and happy corals. I have to admit though that I still prefer the look of the halides. I am able to replicate the look close enough and still run full spectrum without costing me an arm and a leg. I still have no opinion about durability since the fixtures are new and never had any problems. More pictures to come.
 
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