Vertex Illumina Club
- Thread starter deangelr
- Start date
Kolognekoral
New member
Welcome back into the hobby!
You do not need a PC to run them, however, with a PC one can do much more elaborate programming, but this is then transfered to the control module and the lamp runs with the new programm.
I'm impressed with the lightness of the lamp, compared to my HQI, about half the weight, although the heatsink is massive aluminium. Looks a lot better, too. It gets warm to the touch, but not so hot that you cannot touch it, as with HQI. I used to burn myself constantly with my old lamp, just reaching to arrange something.
After 10 years of HQI and tubes, this is really a revolutionary lamp. It will only get better.
scram42
New member
I'm looking for something to replace the Solaris I5 on my 30 gal. 30" by 12' and 18" deep. I love being able to program sunrise and sunset and so I want something comparable. I'm finally at a stable place where I'm actually starting to get some colour from my acros but I need a little more punch from the lights. I've been looking around alot and the Vertex looks pretty amazing but the 24" is slightly out of my price range. Would the 12" work on a tank my size? Any thoughts anyone? Thanks in advance.
deangelr
Clown Whisperererer
It would work... But I do not think you would get a full 30" spread across with the 12" fixture. Spread the other direction (front to back) is very wide. I have my light over a tank that is roughly 30x23x20. If I don't put the fixture 2" away from the water there is a lot of spill over from front to back as you can see in the first picture in the thread.. My tank splashes a lot so I moved the fixture much higher up... As someone else in this thread said, "all your neighbors will know you got a new light"..
....Your tank dimensions may not be best suited for this light. It could easily light a tank 30" front to back.
....Your tank dimensions may not be best suited for this light. It could easily light a tank 30" front to back.
Sorry if this has been asked before, but can US residents order from Canada with the patent issues? If I am going to drop 3k on a fixture, 48 inch 260 Vertex, would it be reasonable to assume that I can grow/keep anything I want, proper placement programming etc., with an aquarium 48 inches long and 15-20 inches deep? Width would not be greater than 16 inches. Thanks again for your time!
deangelr
Clown Whisperererer
Yes, US residents can order from Canada, I did with no problems.
Yes, with the Vertex 260 it is brighter than any light I have seen and you can easily adjust the setting lower for any coral.
As I said in the last post. It will work for your tank, But it is hard for me to say this light would be good on a tank less then 20" front to back. So if you put this light over a tank only 16" (front to back) the spread over will be excessive.
Maybe some other will chime in though....
Kolognekoral
New member
I'm one to think of the future. Even if my tank was only 16" wide....now, I wouldn't worry about a bit of light spill into the room, as I know my next tank would be wider. From my experience, the lighting is the single most expensive part of an aquarium setup and should be able to handle other projects I may plan. Mind you, that said, my tank is the same size since 11 years, I've just added more tanks! By the way, the 260 can light a tank 100cm deep, that's about 40". I run the whites between 50-70% on a 70cm deep tank.
AGYDAL
New member
1. Dumb Luck
2. The latest and greatest technology in powerheads: Maxi-jet 1200's plugged into Christmas timers on a powerstrip timed on a Round Robin type powering.
The tanks a 30x30x18" *cough cough I have a 12" 200 model on it I've posted picture around here somewhere, no complaints...cough cough** since it's a cube style it's sort of the nature of the beast to have flow issues...I found that if I angle the the powerheads off the glass I get the most turbulence to the flow and the dents in the sand are where the jets bank.
Also my power went out at my residence for at least 6 hours the other night...and the battery backup for my big tank is MIA at the moment...long story short...alarm clock and microwave did not re-set like they claimed they would, but the Vertex did...
I bet if Chuck Norris has a reef tank he's running Vertex lighting...
Kolognekoral
New member
There ya go. Mine is just 6" above the water, which is considered optimum. Much less light spill than with halides and, for some reason, the light is much better distributed in the tank. Probably the reflection caused by the wide angle of the LEDs.
deangelr
Clown Whisperererer
On a 20'' tank I have to lower it about 4 inches above the water to get rid of the spill. But there is quite a bit of turbulence at the surface of my water and so it scares me to put it so close.
You would also then end up dimming it more due to the brightness, But I do think the light will work and it is an awesome unit.. Always leaves room for an upgrade..:spin3:
alin2
New member
There's a post on RC with a Vertex Illumina owner turning off his end modules because of excessive light spillage.
How much spillage have folks had with Illumina fixtures that are as long as their tanks? I'm thinking of the 900 or 1200 Illumina 260 for a 48x31.5x24 tank.
Thanks!
How much spillage have folks had with Illumina fixtures that are as long as their tanks? I'm thinking of the 900 or 1200 Illumina 260 for a 48x31.5x24 tank.
Thanks!
Kolognekoral
New member
I have the 1200/260 over my 136cm wide tank. The light spillage is much less than I had with two 250W HQI at the same height (6") over the water. Also, due to the reflection of the light on the glass having changed with the Vertex Illumina, my achilles doctor doesn't attack his reflection nearly as much, actually almost no more. This was always a stress factor for this fish as he matured.
Generally, the reflection of light within the tank is much greater than before and, despite my massive rock formation in the axis of the tank (it is viewable from 3 sides) the light penetrates much deeper than before. This has to do with some basics on light refration through air, water and glass. A subject I have planned for my blog.
The issue of water surface turbulance became obvious after a few days. I have rearranged my current to minimize the turbulance and I am happy with the result. One still has lots of shimmer without visible surface turbulance.
Pacificcoast
New member
Vertex obsessed
Vertex obsessed
Hi everyone,
Just joined RC, i love this thread and am totally into and completely switching over to led. I am running 4-39w t5ho on my 26 gallon reef. I want that illumina, obsessed!!! The only problem are the dimensions of my tank, imagine a flat back hexagon but instead of a flat back it comes in on the back side too. It is 36" long, 15" deep and 13" front to back, but only for 24" in the middle before it starts to point inward. Making sense so far?lol What a pain in the ***.
Having read this entire thread, it seems my dreams of illumina are crushed. I was thinking either a 12", or 24" fixture. But i really want to thank all of you, seriously! Without proper and acurate information, people make the wrong choices, and this is a big choice. Do you all think i might be better off waiting for 2 sol blue nano from ai? I know this is the vertex club, but can someone help me?
Thanks everyone
Vertex obsessed
Hi everyone,
Just joined RC, i love this thread and am totally into and completely switching over to led. I am running 4-39w t5ho on my 26 gallon reef. I want that illumina, obsessed!!! The only problem are the dimensions of my tank, imagine a flat back hexagon but instead of a flat back it comes in on the back side too. It is 36" long, 15" deep and 13" front to back, but only for 24" in the middle before it starts to point inward. Making sense so far?lol What a pain in the ***.
Having read this entire thread, it seems my dreams of illumina are crushed. I was thinking either a 12", or 24" fixture. But i really want to thank all of you, seriously! Without proper and acurate information, people make the wrong choices, and this is a big choice. Do you all think i might be better off waiting for 2 sol blue nano from ai? I know this is the vertex club, but can someone help me?
Thanks everyone
AGYDAL
New member
Random Thought:
Has anyone increased their photoperiod by figuring in the amount of cloud cover programmed?
Random Thought Gets More Random:
If I had a 10 hour lighting with 20% cloud cover minimum that would be 2 hours minimum of darkness due to cloud cover...so my photo period would only be 8 hours in actuality?
Am I thinking correctly, or have I been looking at tax forms too long and gone number crazy? My conscious is starting to sound like The Count from Sesame Street...ONE! ha. ha.. haaaaa...TWO!
Has anyone increased their photoperiod by figuring in the amount of cloud cover programmed?
Random Thought Gets More Random:
If I had a 10 hour lighting with 20% cloud cover minimum that would be 2 hours minimum of darkness due to cloud cover...so my photo period would only be 8 hours in actuality?
Am I thinking correctly, or have I been looking at tax forms too long and gone number crazy? My conscious is starting to sound like The Count from Sesame Street...ONE! ha. ha.. haaaaa...TWO!
Kolognekoral
New member
The cloud program doesn't turn off the lights, it reduces the output. In nature clouds don't make it really dark, they soften the light. You still have the same photoperiod, just not the same intensity throughout.
I would experiement a bit and see what I like.
Kolognekoral
New member
Welcome aboard,
a possible solution is the modular Illumilux from Vertex. Do a netsearch to find a vendor with the various models shown.
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