Upgrading my lights with Ecoxotic LED's

[lilmonster]

I Have a 10 gl tank that i've been wanting to add some bulbs to,

right now I have just a 2 bulb homemade T5 fixture on the tank,

 

I was planing on adding fixtures for 2 more T5's, as well as replacing the other 2 bulbs,

This would give me a total of 4 bulbs running at 4x24watts = 96watts,

and would end up costing me around $150 to upgrade with T5's.

 

I was visiting Mystic Reef here in Riverside and they had just gotten in the Ecoxotic Stunners and Panarama LED modules.

After seing their tank that's outfitted with these LEd's, I had to have some.

 

So I Got 1 12w 8k/453 blue panarama module,

 

1 6w actinic stunner, and 1 6w UV stunner

 

And I'm going to put them together like this

 

I'll be installing these into plastic rain guttering you can get at HD. (cut to 15")

 

I put in some pieces of acrilic(makin frag racks) to strengthen where the panarama mounts,

and to have a air gap inside the unit for a fan to be added later.

 

I also wanted the stunners to be level with the top of the panarama module

so I cut small pieces of acrilic and glued them on both sides at both ends of the module.

 

The panarama mounted by screws, and the stunners already had double sided tape on it.

After adding 3 pieces of acrilic, it was at the right height, and zip tied the ends.

 

It's kinda hard to see but I also put a piece of acrilic for a splash gaurd,

there's a slight gap on each end for air flow, (actually I ran out acrilic)

I also had to notch the end a little for the wires to come out,

LED wires are so much smaller, easier to work with.

After I figure out the power source, and how hot it runs,

I left enough room to add a fan like this if needed.

 

 

And here's the final product

 

Stunners only

 

Panarama only

 

both together

 

 

so far it looks great and much better then what i had,

 

and here's the math

this new fixture is smaller and only uses 24 watts total, and should last 5 years

that's half of the 48 I was using, and 1/4 of the 96 I was planning on using.

And I won't have to replace the bulbs every 9 months.

[enigma70x7]

Nice job!

[Weetabix7]

Looks great!

Now you won't need to add an extra 2 T5HO bulbs.

I want to add 2 blue Stunner Strips to my current T5HO setup myself, just keep feeling like I need a little extra blue.

If you can remember, try to update this thread with how well your corals do under this light combo, I'm sure many ppl would be interested in hearing.

[lilmonster]

Here's some daytime comparisions

 

These are the T5's atinic and 10k

 

and here's with the new LED's

 

 

It's kinda hard to tell in the pictures but to me the T5 setup was way more yellow, and the leds are crisp and more blue/white

 

This is going to be my main test subject.

[Reefmonster]

Question...I have a stock BC14g with 2x PC24W. Would it make a difference to add a Panarama Module in White/Blue? Or would it be better to replace the PC's with 2 Panarama Modules? I'm kicking around ideas and wonder what would give me the most bang for the $200 I have to spend...I'm also thinking about heat...The less the better...I's also like to keep some Monti or other SPS...

 

I'm not really keen on building a light as I suck at electronics in general... Ideas for me?

[lilmonster]

Question...I have a stock BC14g with 2x PC24W. Would it make a difference to add a Panarama Module in White/Blue? Or would it be better to replace the PC's with 2 Panarama Modules? I'm kicking around ideas and wonder what would give me the most bang for the $200 I have to spend...I'm also thinking about heat...The less the better...I's also like to keep some Monti or other SPS...

 

I'm not really keen on building a light as I suck at electronics in general... Ideas for me?

The store I bought mine at, Mystic Reef in Riverside, did a retrofit on tank just like yours,

they had removed the PC bulbs completly, and wired the new LEDs to the switches.

It was this tank that made me decide to change.

 

The one i built would probably work on a 14gl, and it costs about $200, LED wiring is pretty easy compared to florescent lighting, just 2 wires and a transformer.

 

I'm already figuring out how to upgrade my coralife hood for my 55 to LED's, which I just retrofitted to T5 last year.

[Reefmonster]

The store I bought mine at, Mystic Reef in Riverside, did a retrofit on tank just like yours,

they had removed the PC bulbs completly, and wired the new LEDs to the switches.

It was this tank that made me decide to change.

 

The one i built would probably work on a 14gl, and it costs about $200, LED wiring is pretty easy compared to florescent lighting, just 2 wires and a transformer.

 

I'm already figuring out how to upgrade my coralife hood for my 55 to LED's, which I just retrofitted to T5 last year.

Your tank looks awesome! I hope that monti colors up nice and Orange...I think I'll get a couple of those modules and see if I can stick them into the stock hood because it fits so well, plus I have little kids who like to drop cars and crackers into the aqaurium... Maybe I should add a couple of SlienX fans to it just to be sure that there is enough airflow...Sounds like a worthy project!

 

Thanks for the push!

[Zo0k365]

Very interested in the outcome.

[Soleil SW]

hey how is this build working out?

[lilmonster]

It has been 3 months hasn't it, thanks for reminding me.

 

1st off, nothing died, actually most everything is doing fine.

the Zoas like it, they grew like normal, no explosions or anything.

I added some mushrooms and they like it ok.

 

Some of the items that love light did so-so, they didn't puff up liike they did before.

in fact I moved my candy canes because they weren't looking very good.

also had to moved my acan.

 

here's the test subject, before and after, and it's kinda mixed here,

it has changed to a darker blue and got a bit fuller around the edges,

but it looks like in some spots at the top, it's gone white like it's skeleton

(and It can grow hair alge just fine too)

Before on 5/18/10

After on 8/15/10

 

Pros: it's compact, uses a lot less power, lots of shimmer(almost to much). I think it's perfect for 10gl or smaller,

 

Cons: just not enough for some light loving corals.

also i was using the actinic and uv stunner for dawn/dusk lighting and to me it was just too blue, like a black light blue.

(it was neat for a week, but I wanted more light at that time of day.)

 

My conclusion is that it works, but it's not enough for what i want,

so i'm making another light fixture and going to add 1 24" T5 figi purple to the dawn dusk side of the system.

[mrg02d]

Im willing to bet the corals got too much light rather than too little light. Acans especially dont like high light! Did you acclimate the corals to this new lighting? Led light is very intense. I went DIY and have to shade the whole tank from my leds. Colors immediately left when I started, but now is slowly coming back. Im willing to bet in a few months time of reduced light that the corals will look great!

 

Matt