TheKleinReef Posted December 15, 2013 Author Share Posted December 15, 2013 <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="mpsti05" data-cid="4574535" data-time="1387147654"><p> Nano box!</p></blockquote> I have to be honest. As a nano fixture they look amazing. But I saw some of the 48" units and they look really weird to me. If I went nano box I'd have to have it wider, maybe with t5 supplements. I wonder if I could have a retrofit kit made and use the sunpod housing. I actually like the look of the sunpod... Haha I dk what I'll do. Link to comment
mpsti05 Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 I'm sure he could do some retrofit for you Link to comment
Spencer7 Posted December 15, 2013 Share Posted December 15, 2013 If u got de monies... http://www.atinorthamerica.com/powermodule.php?tabbedtabs=0 Link to comment
TheKleinReef Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 If u got de monies... http://www.atinorthamerica.com/powermodule.php?tabbedtabs=0 meh, i'm not a big hater of "over priced" but that fixtures is stupid OP... i like the fixture, but i saw the interface and it looks like a nightmare to use ( i dk if it really is or not though) I'm sure he could do some retrofit for you would i have to send him the fixture? or could he build it and i install it.... this may be the route i go. i'll contact him Link to comment
Spencer7 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 meh, i'm not a big hater of "over priced" but that fixtures is stupid OP... i like the fixture, but i saw the interface and it looks like a nightmare to use ( i dk if it really is or not though) Yea, I just checked out the price ($1500) It's over priced, but at the same time, I would rather have that than 2 radions or possibly even 2 Mitras. Link to comment
TheKleinReef Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 Yea, I just checked out the price ($1500) It's over priced, but at the same time, I would rather have that than 2 radions or possibly even 2 Mitras. i'd take 2 radion pros strictly cause i'm a ecotech fanboy. Link to comment
Spencer7 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 i'd take 2 radion pros strictly cause i'm a ecotech fanboy. I like the pumps, not much else. I have a friend that calls them "ecotrash", lol. I think I would rather do 3 Aqua Illumination lights (vega's maybe?), if I had to. Link to comment
TheKleinReef Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 I like the pumps, not much else. I have a friend that calls them "ecotrash", lol. I think I would rather do 3 Aqua Illumination lights (vega's maybe?), if I had to. i'd never touch a vega or anything AI. my LFS has them over their coral tanks and they look horrible. but this isn't an LED war i may stick with halides for a while, i'm still very undecided. Link to comment
4x5 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I lust for these - http://www.pacific-sun.eu/new/ The T5 / LED combo looks beyond sexy. Link to comment
glennr1978 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 i may stick with halides for a while, i'm still very undecided. If it ain't broke.... Link to comment
Spencer7 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I lust for these - http://www.pacific-sun.eu/new/ The T5 / LED combo looks beyond sexy. Yea, Pacific Sun is getting back into it IMO I got a cheap fixture (Tek light) that I could take apart and modify to fit my own DIY LED setup. When I stopped that I was left with a mediocre fixture with holes in it and a bunch of DIY LED supplies that was $$$. I regret not getting an ATI or Giesamann fixture from the start... Whatev, it's all part of the learning process. Link to comment
TheKleinReef Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="glennr1978" data-cid="4575029" data-time="1387177058"><p> If it ain't broke....</p></blockquote> It is broke... Lol Link to comment
metrokat Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 My T5/LED hybrid is a retrofit by nano box. Click the nano box logo in my signature for the details. Link to comment
glennr1978 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Halides are tried and true... Whatever problem you're having most likely has nothing to do with your lights. IMHO, and I really want to be a fan of LED considering there is over 1k watts of metal halides running in my house everyday, LED's still can't touch mh for SPS. Are they good? Sure, but not as good as halides... I'll be a believer in LED's when the day comes that you can't find 10 threads in the RC classifieds selling the latest, greatest, LED fixture because the owner is switching back to mh or T5, lol. Link to comment
TheKleinReef Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="glennr1978" data-cid="4575091" data-time="1387199970"><p>Halides are tried and true... Whatever problem you're having most likely has nothing to do with your lights. IMHO, and I really want to be a fan of LED considering there is over 1k watts of metal halides running in my house everyday, LED's still can't touch mh for SPS. Are they good? Sure, but not as good as halides...<br /> <br />I'll be a believer in LED's when the day comes that you can't find 10 threads in the RC classifieds selling the latest, greatest, LED fixture because the owner is switching back to mh or T5, lol.</p></blockquote>I believe you. But I just can't get anything to have color. Specifically reds and pinks. They just brown out. I do 10g water changes weekly and run 8 tbsb GFO so the water is pretty clean from what I can tell. edit: wtf is happening when i quote people? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Halides are tried and true... Whatever problem you're having most likely has nothing to do with your lights. IMHO, and I really want to be a fan of LED considering there is over 1k watts of metal halides running in my house everyday, LED's still can't touch mh for SPS. Are they good? Sure, but not as good as halides... I'll be a believer in LED's when the day comes that you can't find 10 threads in the RC classifieds selling the latest, greatest, LED fixture because the owner is switching back to mh or T5, lol. Nothing is going to replace T5 or halides to you because you have your mind made up, as does just about everyone that has been in the hobby before LEDs caught on. LEDs can grow and color corals better than any previous lighting while using half the energy (or less) if the right spectral coverage is achieved and a specific output (PAR) is reached. There are drawbacks, such as extreme point-source lighting from a small number of high-powered diodes (causing shading to a degree not seen with halides due to very wide reflectors), and the fact that most people don't understand anything about the technology (including the people behind the design of 'big name' fixtures) to know what is necessary and what is not. A slew of diodes of dozens of colors can be helpful in adding the needed spectra, but can cause wicked color disco if tight lenses are used and are wholly unnecessary if the base white diodes are high-CRI, which will cover the entire spectrum from 500-680nm, almost into IR territory. Add some 400-430nm, 440-450nm, 460-470nm and a little bit of 490nm and that's it. The fixtures you see for sale commercially are simply going to continue to add more colors to confuse people and convince them that more colors means better, and to be frank most are dumb enough to not do any research and will just hand over their wallet. /rant Link to comment
TheKleinReef Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 oh no i didn't mean to start a halide/t5 vs. led debate. Link to comment
gqlmao Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 I think your light setup is perfect, I wouldn't try changing it Klein. The 14k bulbs should be a bonus to color up your corals with the led supplementation it will be even better. It think browning happens to the best of us, its just a course the corals take when they switch environments with new parameters. They will bounce back if your parameters are steady it may take weeks or even months but when they do... man does it feel good. Sorry I don't want to make this a debate, heres what I think LEDs are still quite new to this hobby, the more recongnized brands are only on the 3rd or 4th iteration for their LED fixtures. After using all three, as of currently I can't agree with LEDs growing corals better than T-5s or MHs. Like you said there is stil a lot to learn and understand about combining the proper LEDs due to their narrow spectrums. For this reason alone I am unwilling to go back to LEDs. The other flaws such as: point source lighting can be offset with multiple fixtures, bleaching due to high intensity can be avoided by acclimitization/ lower intensity. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of benefits of LEDs, and I will agree they are the future of our hobby regardless of how much of us die hards strive to promote T-5s and MHs. It is only a matter of time till they come close to perfecting this technology and when they do I think a lot of us will give LEDs a shot again. Nothing is going to replace T5 or halides to you because you have your mind made up, as does just about everyone that has been in the hobby before LEDs caught on. LEDs can grow and color corals better than any previous lighting while using half the energy (or less) if the right spectral coverage is achieved and a specific output (PAR) is reached. There are drawbacks, such as extreme point-source lighting from a small number of high-powered diodes (causing shading to a degree not seen with halides due to very wide reflectors), and the fact that most people don't understand anything about the technology (including the people behind the design of 'big name' fixtures) to know what is necessary and what is not. A slew of diodes of dozens of colors can be helpful in adding the needed spectra, but can cause wicked color disco if tight lenses are used and are wholly unnecessary if the base white diodes are high-CRI, which will cover the entire spectrum from 500-680nm, almost into IR territory. Add some 400-430nm, 440-450nm, 460-470nm and a little bit of 490nm and that's it. The fixtures you see for sale commercially are simply going to continue to add more colors to confuse people and convince them that more colors means better, and to be frank most are dumb enough to not do any research and will just hand over their wallet. /rant Link to comment
TheKleinReef Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 I think your light setup is perfect, I wouldn't try changing it Klein. The 14k bulbs should be a bonus to color up your corals with the led supplementation it will be even better. It think browning happens to the best of us, its just a course the corals take when they switch environments with new parameters. They will bounce back if your parameters are steady it may take weeks or even months but when they do... man does it feel good. it'd be smart to keep the halides running since i don't have to pay for another fixture. but i need new bulbs. i have nothing to supplement with, which is why i wanted to go 20K rather than 14K. but i'm not sure how much of a difference it would really make. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 It is only a matter of time till they come close to perfecting this technology and when they do I think a lot of us will give LEDs a shot again. The only problem with 'perfecting' this technology is that it is not and never will be a technology for aquariums. It is made for overhead lighting, lighting parking lots, and filling very specific, big-business needs such as the treatment of jaundice using actinic light (which is what the Philips Actinic 03 phosphor set was designed for back in the 1960s). Aquarium lighting is an abysmally minuscule subset of the total sales of LEDs, and by the time that something may actually be designed specifically for its use (besides small, extremely expensive runs of a few hundred special remote phosphor sets), there will be new technology that will surpass it in luminous efficiency and probably spectral output (see LEP). Link to comment
4x5 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 oh no i didn't mean to start a halide/t5 vs. led debate. Hahaha. Seems it's impossible to avoid. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 it'd be smart to keep the halides running since i don't have to pay for another fixture. but i need new bulbs. i have nothing to supplement with, which is why i wanted to go 20K rather than 14K. but i'm not sure how much of a difference it would really make. You'd get more fluorescence and less PAR. Fluorescence is a 'right now' effect and has no correlation to color. Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 oh no i didn't mean to start a halide/t5 vs. led debate. You did it now......LOL Link to comment
TheKleinReef Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 You'd get more fluorescence and less PAR. Fluorescence is a 'right now' effect and has no correlation to color. yeah but 2x250W in a 12" deep tank... they'll be strong enough won't they? You did it now......LOL Hahaha. Seems it's impossible to avoid. whoops Link to comment
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