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Lumia 5.2 - usable for 375 gal tank?


GlassReef

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Hi all. I'm brand new on the forum. I'd like to start off with a question:

 

I'm trying to decide whether or not to switch from Halides/T5 to LEDs. I find the control possibilities available with the Lumia 5.2 very interesting. Question is, would it make sense to use the Lumia 5.2s for a really large tank. My tank is 96" X 36" X 22" (width X depth X height). The 36" depth (front to back) is what concerns me the most. Would the Lumias be, at all, usable for a tank this size? If so, what number of units and what arrangement would you suggest?

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

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jedimasterben

You definitely can, but it would take quite a few of them, and I would also suggest running four T5HO along with them (5' lamps, staggered). Does the tank have any bracing?

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Euro bracing along all four sides. Otherwise it's wide open. My thinking on this is; if I can get it done with 8 Lumias and a StormX (is it considered the best?), I'd be way ahead cost wise as opposed to the typical "professional" high end units selling for big dollars.

 

Thanks for your thoughts

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If I were to do it, I would be running 18 in 3 rows of 6 with a pair of T5HO bulbs between the LED rows. This will get you the intensity and coverage that you would need for a tank of this size.

 

As for the controller, the StormX works, but I personally prefer the Bluefish Mini. It's 6 channel and Wifi compatible, working with both Android and iOS platforms.

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If I were to do it, I would be running 18 in 3 rows of 6 with a pair of T5HO bulbs between the LED rows. This will get you the intensity and coverage that you would need for a tank of this size.

 

Ouch! 18 units? Well, that kills the project for me. It would be much cheaper to buy 4 Kessil AP700s. Looks like I had a lousy idea.

 

Thanks.

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jedimasterben

Well, at least with the Lumia you'd get better color, unless you like the Windex look :)

 

What kind of corals do you keep? Got any pics of your tank currently? What all is the lighting you have now?

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jedimasterben

Yeah, eight Lumia isn't going to cut it if that's what you're coming from lol. You'll want at least a dozen of them, and still will probably want the T5 there.

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If I were to do it, I would be running 18 in 3 rows of 6 with a pair of T5HO bulbs between the LED rows. This will get you the intensity and coverage that you would need for a tank of this size.

 

Ouch! 18 units? Well, that kills the project for me. It would be much cheaper to buy 4 Kessil AP700s. Looks like I had a lousy idea.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Big tanks need big lights, and those don't come cheap. Once you factor in the bulb replacement costs, energy cost reduction, and heat reduction, it's actually not all that bad.

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Looking at it from the pocket book, I could manage 12 Lumias. If I added the 320 W of T5s I already have, that would seem reasonable.

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  • 1 year later...
On 6/23/2016 at 10:21 AM, GlassReef said:

Looking at it from the pocket book, I could manage 12 Lumias. If I added the 320 W of T5s I already have, that would seem reasonable.

How did you end up?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I decided to go ahead with 12 Lumias Vers 2.0

 

I purchased 6 - 24 inch sinks from LED Group Buy and mounted 2 Lumias on each sink. I'm using 6 of O2Surplus' driver PCBs - each board driving 2 chips.

 

Sorry for the size of the first pic. Something weird is going on with the jpg and to be honest, I'm just too lazy to try to fix it.B)

 

LumiaComplete.jpg

 

This is the mounting plan (not to scale) - sinks are 15 inches apart and the chips are also 15 inches apart on the sinks. 

LEDplan.jpg

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Very nice, I doubt you'll need to supplement with t5's. Which controller are you planning? myself I'm using a diy version of the storm x as I don't live in the U.S. The code does have some quirks though, you can't fully control ramp up/down for individual channels, for its price it's ok, definitely could have evolved better, just my thoughts...if you don't need or want clouds and lightning there are plenty of diy options. 

 

From what I've read on this forum, the Bluefish mini might be a good option, along with the storm x/hurricane x.

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I'm using the Bluefish Mini. The lights are finished and everything works fine - I just haven't installed the rack yet. There's no water in the tank yet. The Bluefish has a lot of cool features.

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It was around $1950 - give or take a hundred. 

 

3X  Mean Well NES-350-48V 350W power supplies = $109.00 

12X  Lumia 5.2 V2 LED chips = $770.00

6X  MakersLED heat sinks = $600.00

30X Mean Well LDD drivers = $150.00 

Bluefish mini Controller = 100.00

6X Driver PCBs from O2Surplus = $180.00

Misc. parts = around $40.00

 

I saved some money by making my own wiring harnesses, etc. I also carefully sourced parts for the best price. If I had to do it again, I'd go with the slim version of the MakersLED sinks. I went with the more expensive version. They weigh a ton and are total overkill!

 

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That sounds like a good savings. If you were to buy 12 XR15pro lights it would be more than twice that.

Did you get all the lumia's for $770? They are listed at $108 each right now.

Where do you go to buy the o2surplus driver board? Were you happy with that?

Are you going to build a light rack with steel or aluminum stock or are they going in a canopy? 

Thanks for the help!

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I got a special price on the Lumias from a friend. I purchased the driver boards from O2Surplus - I think he's a member here at Nano-Reef. If not you can find him on a couple of the other reef sites. I was extremely happy with the boards! Each board drives 2 Lumias and controls the fans. The boards also have a "socket" for the Bluefish controller. You can daisy chain the boards so you only need the Bluefish on the first board. As for the rack, I used square aluminum tubing from eztube.com - really great stuff and very strong!

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