Another lighting upgrade post

[shanet1975]

I am looking to upgrade my lighting on my 125 from a 4 96 watt pc bulb fixture to something else. I am almost positive I can't swing leds, so it looks like mh and t5's. I would be looking to put 3 18 inch mh/t5 combo fixtures. My question is should I go 150 watt mh or 250 for each?
Thanks

 

[Reef_Wizard]

150 each should be enough but my personal preference is 250 because it has better bulb choice. It shouldn't matter because you can supplement color with t5.

What corals are you keeping?

 

[shanet1975]

Thanks so much for the reply. Not many right now as I just moved from a 56 tall. I have 2 anenome, a few zoos, leather, pom pom xenia and I think that's it. Would the 150's be enough to just keep softies? Will it penetrate all the way down? It's not much more for 250's for one fixture, but times 3 it is. But if it is worth it....,.

 

[Ray]

do you have a canopy or is it open? If you have a canopy and want to check out LEDs here they are a cheap solution, they are not dimable but wires directly to 110v

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=267432&st=0

I am going to build a little fixture and play around with the different bulbs to see the different colors I can get. I run the blue/actinics on my cube and they look amazing!

 

[shanet1975]

No canopy, but I will be building one. But it will be open and only have sides and front. Pretty much just for looks. I'll check out that thread on led's. I have absolutely no knowledge of that kind of electrical wring though ....

 

[Reef_Wizard]

Thanks so much for the reply. Not many right now as I just moved from a 56 tall. I have 2 anenome, a few zoos, leather, pom pom xenia and I think that's it. Would the 150's be enough to just keep softies? Will it penetrate all the way down? It's not much more for 250's for one fixture, but times 3 it is. But if it is worth it....,.

Or you could do 3 individual MHs (2 x 150 on sides and 250 in the middle). Put them on 3 different timers to create sunrise/sunset effect.

do you have a canopy or is it open? If you have a canopy and want to check out LEDs here they are a cheap solution, they are not dimable but wires directly to 110v

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=267432&st=0

I am going to build a little fixture and play around with the different bulbs to see the different colors I can get. I run the blue/actinics on my cube and they look amazing!

I have this one built for my nano if you want to check it out.

 

[shanet1975]

Very cool post. I am at work and can't read in too much detail, maybe you guys can help.....
Any clue how many leds would be needed for a 125? 72x18? Also, Can all of these be wired to the same 2 plugs? 1 for white, one for blue?
Seems like you just wire right to a power cord and it's set...

 

[Ray]

I have only run 4 on one plug but I think the guy in that thread ran 11 on one plug, not sure the max but maybe it says in the thread, I have not read new posts in it for about 3-4 weeks

 

[Reef_Wizard]

I'm running 6 (3 white and 3 blue) in one plug now.

One of the problems with these LEDs is that the lenses create blue and white spotlights. I ended up removing the optics to create more blended color. I'm not sure removing optics is a good idea for bigger tanks like yours because par reading is horrible without optics.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?100431-10-gallon-low-tech-softie-tank-build

 

[shanet1975]

I hate to sound ignorant, but what do you mean by 'removed the optics'? Any thoughts on how many of each I would need to cover a 125? 72x18x24 I think.

 

[Reef_Wizard]

I have no clue since I have only done LED on my 8g nano.

Pics show gu10 LEDs without optics.

 

[Ray]

I was also thinking about soldering in different color LEDs from other bulbs, like put 1 cool white in a blue bulb or 1 blue, 1 cool white and 1 warm white to see how that would look

 

[shanet1975]

reef Wizard..Or anyone This is seems like a really cool inexpensive easy diy light....Couple questions.
I see ebay auctions for the sockets and lights. Anyone here recommend any ones in particular?
What are you guys mounting the sockets to?
Do they need any kind of fan to keep them cool? Would I just wire the sockets directly to an extension cord?
I guess I could always add more, but anyone have a good starting place for number of bulbs? Would you do, 2 rows or 4?
Thanks again

 

[DoctaQ]

fans would probably help a lot, one thing to consider though is that ive had a couple of these where the optic provided the force to hold the leds to the base, so when you get the optic off, tug on the board a little to see if they used glue or thermal paste, if it comes right off, you can use a thermal glue or tape to hold it on

 

[Ray]

I would say start off with 2 rows and go from there. If I was going to lite a 125 I would do 12 bulbs over each section with maybe 1 or 2 warm whites mixed in each section. As for how many blue to cool white, that would depend on what you want it to look like. I like a 14K look and am going to do 2 blue for every 1 cool white. In the thread I posted the guy who started it was doing a 50/50 mix.

Also if you can mount them a little higher you will get a better mix of the light and less of a spot light/beam through the water. You will also get less intensity the higher you go so keep that in mind.

 

[shanet1975]

Thank you. What are people mounting the sockets to? Wood, or aluminum, or something else?

 

[Reef_Wizard]

I bought the bulbs and sockets from ebay (from seller in China).
The sockets are mounted to drilled aluminum sheet from H depot. Yes, the sockets are wired directed to a cord with water proof wire nuts.
I use 12V PC fan, enough to keep it cool.

How about this arrangement?
W B W B W | B W B W B | W B W B W
B W B W B | W B W B W| B W B W B
W B W B W | B W B W B | W B W B W
-----24"----|-----24"-----|-----24"-----

 

[shanet1975]

Good idea with the aluminum sheet. Now folks are saying 24 lights and 45. Huge difference. Maybe split the difference. 2 rows or 3? I can always add more leds but hard if I start with 2 and need 3/

 

[DoctaQ]

the standard reccomendation for a 125 gal with diy leds would probably be well over 100 leds and you should definateley use optics..

i would probably get like 20 bulbs and see what they look like first, get an idea of how much area they cover in your tank, you can even retro them into your PC fixture..probably put all 20 on one half of the fixture/tank

 

[Reef_Wizard]

Humm.. i think Ray is suggesting 12 bulbs per section (36 total).