Vertex Illumina Club

[Tesla]

Hi guys,

I live on the US and we dont really have access to these awesome lights due to some patent issues. I would like to come up with an temporary alternative until it gets figured out. There are so many options with DIY drivers. Do any of you guys know what driver chip the Illumina uses, or better yet a high res picture of the chip would be great?

Thanks
Phillip

 

[Kolognekoral]

Hi guys,

I live on the US and we dont really have access to these awesome lights due to some patent issues. I would like to come up with an temporary alternative until it gets figured out. There are so many options with DIY drivers. Do any of you guys know what driver chip the Illumina uses, or better yet a high res picture of the chip would be great?

Thanks
Phillip

Phillip,

that won't help you. The drivers are simply Meanwell. Commercially available worldwide. The rest of the Illumina is custom made and copying it would be against an international patent.

Many are importing the units from Canada. Just goolge for a source.

 

[Tesla]

Canada eh!

Sounds like a good idea. Thanks.

 

[x19]

Ordering my Illumina 200 tomorrow (hopefully they are in stock). I went through a long debate between these and AI but the computer interface did it for me.

 

[x19]

Placed my order for the Illumina, should be shipping today! Now, my tank is only 16" deep and I'm replacing power compacts.. Any suggestions for what to start at for acclimation? I figure I will never get to more than 30% or so, but where should I start? 10%?

Thanks.

 

[aufo8mycat]

Ok so PAR results are in, i have the vertex set at 60% for these readings and will take further readings as i boost the light up of the coming weeks.

RED - ATI 8x54w
WHITE - Vertex Illumina 1200-200 @ 60%

can i ask what you used to mesure the par, as i tried mine and was a little dissapointed, but i think was maybe a cheap par meter

 

[dnf]

Illumina vertex?

Illumina vertex?

Hello everyone*

I'm from Portugal and this is my first time in Reef Central.

I have a 420 litters (112 gallons) reef tank with 112 litters (30 gallons) sump. The tank dimensions are 120x70x60 *("48 x "28 x "24).

At the moment this is my equipment:

- skimmer: bubble king super marine 200
- return pump: red dragon 3.500
- circulation: 2 x tunze 6105 with multi controller 6095 and 2 x tunze 6045
- chiller: aqua medic
- lighting: 10 x T5 54 wats (540 wats)

I will start the balling method next week.

I heard and read very good reviews of vertex illumina and because of that I'm thinking to change my tank lighting, but I have some doubts:

- what is the best model for my tank, sr 200 or sr 260?
- is the 90 ("36) enough or is better the 120 ("48)?

Thanks in advance

Regards*
Dnf

 

[Kolognekoral]

Dnf,

I take it the tank is 70cm deep. Although the SR200 would be enough for most corals, the SR260 would allow more choice on the sand. Also, with the SR260 you should be able to use the 900 length without a problem. I have the 120 length over my 136 cm wide tank, which is a few centimeters deeper than yours (about 78cm deep) and it is plenty of light.

 

[dnf]

Tank you Jamie

My tank is bare bottom and is 60 cm deep.*

Is 240w enough? At the moment I have 540 wats T5!

What is the main difference between sr 200 and sr 260?

Tanks

Dnf

 

[AGYDAL]

Tank you Jamie

My tank is bare bottom and is 60 cm deep.*

Is 240w enough? At the moment I have 540 wats T5!

What is the main difference between sr 200 and sr 260?

Tanks

Dnf

Dnf -
LEDs don't go by Watts, they use a different term for the watts synonym on LED but I can't remember it(Jamie mentions it in a previous post i think) you want to be concerned with looking at PAR.

The difference in the 200 vs. 260:
-a larger portion of your paycheck gets "invested" in your tank
-I have the 200 I bought it before the switch too Cree, so mine has the Rebels...as of November '10 the 200's also use Cree but are not as strong as the 260 Cree's. (Look a few pages back at Aufo8mycat's picture taken looking at the front window of his residence...)


Jamie-
I like your answer to your stairwell! As a kid my Mom and I always wanted a freshwater tank in the loft of their entry way like that lol! My Dad gave us some excuse why we couldn't...we had 2 skylights in the loft that would have taken care of any lighting and directly below was a large closet we could have plumbed it all through...it was perfect, but Dads love was for cars so the tank had to go in the kitchen...though Dads love for cars trumping Moms and my tanks was forgiven when I turned 16 haha!

Gotta love where fish people find an excuse to get/put a tank...I have a 3gallon corner eclipse with some guppies in it as a bathroom night light, haven't stubbed my toe on the door since! But it's not so bright it wakes me up like the lightswitch controlled lights do

Thank you for the pictures.

 

[Kolognekoral]

Tank you Jamie

My tank is bare bottom and is 60 cm deep.*

Is 240w enough? At the moment I have 540 wats T5!

What is the main difference between sr 200 and sr 260?

Tanks

Dnf

Dnf,

as AGYDAL wrote, Watts are not what one counts with LEDs, except for the electricity consumption. This is why LEDs are taking over, so to say, their energy efficiency. What you want to look at is lumens per Watt and spectra.

The numbers attached to the two model series, SR200 and SR260, is the PAR rating done in the lab. At 50 cm under the water surface, with the lamp about 30cm/12" above the tank, the PAR is 200 or 260 respectively. Now, as most of us are hanging the lamp a meer 6" above the water surface (which is perfect, by the way), the PAR ratings are much higher. Vertex recommends the SR200 series for tanks up to 24" deep and the SR260 series for tanks up to 40" deep, when keeping high light corals. A bit of this is ball park, as a great deal will depend on what one is keeping , as well as how high one hangs the fixture.

Hope this helps,

 

[dnf]

Thanks

Ok. I think I will go to the sr 200 120 length. The difference €€ between sr 200 vs 260 is huge!!

Regards

 

[Kolognekoral]

Thanks

Ok. I think I will go to the sr 200 120 length. The difference €€ between sr 200 vs 260 is huge!!

Regards

I would probably recommend you take a 900 instead of the 1200, as it is a bit longer than 120cm and would hang a bit over the edge due to the end caps.

 

[dnf]

I don't have any experience with led's but I'm afraid that 900 will be shorter for my tank!

 

[rodneyri]

So a friend of mine came over with a cool little gadget called a CIE Chromaticity Meter to measure the light spectrum and intensity of my new Vertex LED. here are some pretty graphs the unit puts out

im thinking the Violet and Red parts of the spectrum need some boosting, so Vertex if your listening these are the color pads

 

[boxer385]

i have the marineland 250 gal tank 60x36x27 would the 260 work for me with a depth of 36, i have sps dominate system?

 

[Kolognekoral]

i have the marineland 250 gal tank 60x36x27 would the 260 work for me with a depth of 36, i have sps dominate system?

Boxer,

if hung about 6" over the water you will be fine to about 40" depth, so you have a bit of room to play

 

[Kolognekoral]

Rodney,

very cool! Thanks for posting these. Based on the graphs, I would certainly like to see violet LEDs available, as well as the coming red.

 

[x19]

Very interesting graphs, thanks for posting. I'm having a bit of a bubble algae problem, so the lack of red spectrum is great at least in the short term.

 

[Kolognekoral]

Very interesting graphs, thanks for posting. I'm having a bit of a bubble algae problem, so the lack of red spectrum is great at least in the short term.

And long term, as the Illumina is missing their main funtional spectrum.

I've noted some new types of alga(?) showing on my rocks. Sort of a bright olive, encrusting type. Very discrete and makes a nice combination with the various red-purple kalkalga. I suspect deeper water forms I finding a niche without the strong red spectrum.