Reef Discussion

[Adam_w]

Hey Guys,

Anyone had any experience with this light? Or know anything about it

http://www.aquastyleonline.com/products/14-Cree-LEDs-Controller-DIY-kit.html

Basically my LFS told me to get the AI prime for my 3 foot tank - I listened and now i can only have coral in the middle of my tank..

Looking to somewhat replicate my AI prime and just have the 2 of them rather than buy one of the Hydras or something?

I can move all my more light hungry corals to the AI prime side if this would be worse and just keep some little stuff on the other end?

Thoughts???

Thanks

 

[Sam Parker]

Ouch, a LFS said a single prime would do a three foot tank?

Personally I'd keep an eye out for a used second prime to complement the one you already have.

 

[slin1977]

I would have gone the hydras.
Agree with Sams post above.
You need minimum three prime units.
With LED you need more units to blanket the tank like T5 lighting does.

 

[Adam_w]

Yea interesting i wonder what his thoughts were.. I had no idea at the time, everything is still fine in the middle. Ill keep my eye out for another prime

 

[MagicJ]

What are your DIY skills like? Do you like filling in a few hours soldering, hooking up wires etc? The kit linked to above doesn't include a heat sink which will increase the cost significantly - it is also in US dollars and doesn't include postage. I don't really think that this would be a good option.

I suspect that having 2 different lights over your tank will look strange as they will both put out different colour spectrums.

Ideally, you could pick up another Prime.

 

[Adam_w]

DIY skills are pretty good so far havent really worked with electricals too much but rewired car stereo if thats anything to go by.. I thought it might just that the kit above, i spoke to the guy at the shop and he can change the LED diodes to be the same makeup as the Prime. Just uses different brand LED's on some of the parts, i guess the problem then would be that all the DIY lights I've seen here are heaps more spread out than my little prime

I've seen you're the master on this stuff magic from other posts, is it viable to cluster the diodes closer than what ive seen in some other posts?

Said he can send out with these leds:
we recommend the LED color combination can have 4 Cree XTE white 6500K,
3 Cree XTE royal blue, 3 Cree XPE Blue, 1 Epiled red, 1 Cree XPE Green,
1 Epiled violet and 1 UV.
They are exacly same as the spectrum(color) of the AI prime.

I figure i could time my light schedule to be the same? I figure this would end up around half the price of the AI Prime

 

[Adam_w]

Alright! Nevermind this didn't realise AUD was so poor at the moment... this would end up costing $200+ may as well fork out the extra hundred for another prime

Maybe I can do a big DIY for my next tank

 

[MagicJ]

Probably a good idea :)

It is also difficult to make small DIY lights look presentable, especially when they are located next to a commercial fixture.

Maybe something like the lights being discussed in This Thread might suffice for a while.

I do have some Meanwell LDD drivers, driver boards and an Arduino based controller if you ever want to build your own - but be prepared to spend a lot more time on it than you originally expected :rolleyes

 

[Adam_w]

Haha thanks, but yea look doesn't matter tank is built into the wall at home so you cant see them

Time isn't a big deal for me at the moment i spend most of my time tinkering on stuff anyway

Will give that a read :)

 

[Adam_w]

Okay update on my light situation - I was looking at another AI Prime before like I said which would set me back maybe $350 with the hanging kit

Alternatively I could buy this for $400? http://www.masa.asn.au/phpBB3/buysell/single_ad.php?ad_id=36305

Looks like it would have a much bigger footprint than 2 primes? Tank is 3 foot long so just trying to see what people think about this one? If i bought this for $400 i could sell my current prime for maybe 200 and could work out cheaper?

Still researching this light a bit more on this light it looks like each of the 3 modules has a 23 square inch footprint so could be overkill for my tank

Tank 3 foot (92cm long 46cm tall and 36 cm front to back)

 

[ReeferRob]

You could get 2 of these for less probably and keep the Prime in the middle and have excellent coverage.

http://www.fish-street.com/coral_box_moon_led_lighting_au_delivery