Bill Gibbs Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 I am upgrading my 29g to a 55g and my Sunpod finally came. Popped in some XM 20K bulbs and AMAZING!!!!!!!! I just have about some cured live rock (and one from my existing tank to seed) and 2 powerheads and the sparkling and cool light is simply gorgeous. I am sold. I am never ever going to go PC again...it's worth the extra money! Makes my actinic blue PC and 10K PC looks like crap. I can't wait to move everything over this weekend! Bill Link to comment
Charlie97L Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 I am upgrading my 29g to a 55g and my Sunpod finally came. Popped in some XM 20K bulbs and AMAZING!!!!!!!! I just have about some cured live rock (and one from my existing tank to seed) and 2 powerheads and the sparkling and cool light is simply gorgeous. I am sold. I am never ever going to go PC again...it's worth the extra money! Makes my actinic blue PC and 10K PC looks like crap. I can't wait to move everything over this weekend! Bill watch out for high light corals with that 20K... that's got a lower PAR output than a 14K or 10K, so you may have some difficulty with really high light needing coral... but i'm glad it's working out for you! that's awesome! post pics. Link to comment
NYReef Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 I got the 150 watt Sunpod for my 30 gal cube and I'm loving it too. I left the 14K bulb in there for the reasons mentioned above, and it certainly has enough blue cast to it. Lights every time, no problems even when I manually shut it off and turn it back on, comes on in about 30 seconds to a minute. Link to comment
cmador Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Are you guys hanging your sunpods from the ceiling? Link to comment
NYReef Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 I am using the plastic "feet" that come with it to sit it on top of the Oceanic cube, its a perfect fit. To protect the light from salt spray and potential fire, I use the glass that came with the tank as its thick enough to resist cracking from heat. I have it set under the light which, with the recessed bulb, must be about 5 to 6 inches from the glass, and its covered with its own protective glass too. The light runs very cool actually, and the gap betweem light and glass allows heat to vent. My water has been holding at 78 or less degrees, although its not summer yet. The glass has kept evaporation low and the fixture clean. I'll keep running it this way as long as temps remain stable. Link to comment
cmador Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 NYReef - thanks for the info. I am considering buying a used 30g oceanic and this helps to answer my lighting question. May I ask what types of coral your keeping? BTW, love Captain America (really all Marvel comics) Brubaker is doing an unbelievable job with him. Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Hey NYR I just order the 30" for my 29gal. So can I just keep the glass top on the tank and put the fixture using the legs right on top of the glass? Of course then keeping an eye on the temp. I can't wait I have taken forever to pick a new light. Link to comment
pico1 Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 I just ordered 2, 20in. 150 watt sunpods for my 55. They come thursday. I will post pics when I get everything set-up. Link to comment
Klaunphish Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 I am upgrading my 29g to a 55g and my Sunpod finally came. Popped in some XM 20K bulbs and AMAZING!!!!!!!! I just have about some cured live rock (and one from my existing tank to seed) and 2 powerheads and the sparkling and cool light is simply gorgeous. I am sold. I am never ever going to go PC again...it's worth the extra money! Makes my actinic blue PC and 10K PC looks like crap. I can't wait to move everything over this weekend! Bill Nice, post some photos when you can. Link to comment
Bill Gibbs Posted April 12, 2006 Author Share Posted April 12, 2006 I have the 14K bulbs on hand in case the 20K really crap out the coral growth. I have some shrooms, star polyps and some zoa frags. I am still aquascaping. The middle area is going to be for my existing LR (which right now is basically in a straight line and sucks) I am not happy w/ the far right. Camera makes everything look really blue but I might throw in the 14K to see which I like better... I am also using the plastic feet for mounting. I had 2 planes of glass cut to fit tank so it's not an open top, which has really helped w/ the evap. So far temp has not been a problem, in fact I had to add a heater to get over 70. Bill Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 29 to 55 pretty close to double the pleasure. Link to comment
NYReef Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 Thats what I do Deb, the legs slide in the fixture housing so it'll sit nice and tight on the tank rim. Cmador, I am keeping SPS's, a crocea clam, a couple of acan's and some ricordia and zoanthids. I keeep the zoanthids and ricordia on the lower part of the tank, the SPS and clam up top, all seem to be doing very well so far. By the way, the 14K bulb that came with the sunpod fixture seems brighter and and more blue then a Phoenix 14 K I am testing. Just FYI, the Phoenix is new so maybe over the next week it will break in. Link to comment
Donovan Posted May 2, 2006 Share Posted May 2, 2006 At first the 14k bulb that the sunpod came with seemed to need more blue but sure enough after it burned in the coloration improved vastly. Give it a try and be patient with the Sunpod 14k bulb. Link to comment
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