Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK LOOK

[ZAPCOnj]

So as some of you have been following along I have decided to take the plunge and bought two of the Coral Dynamics HQI LED replacement bulbs. If you don't know what they are you can find out by visiting their website Welcome to Coral Dynamics, Inc. the quick and dirty is they have developed a Mogule socket (e40) based LED alternative for a 175watt HQI bulb.

• View angle: 120 degree
• Voltage: AC 110-260V
• LED QTY: 24 LED
• Power Consumption: 42w
• Base: E40
• Weight: 1593g or 3 lbs 9 oz
• Length: 28.7cm or 11.3 inches
• Diameter: 11cm or 4.3 inches

since i was in the market for a new light I enlisted the services of Catalina Aquariums to make me a custom fixture to house the Coral Dynamics LED bulbs as well as a pair of 96 watt Actinic 03 bulbs. We built my fixture on their ULTRA REEF light. All together my new fixture houses the following:

• TWO Coral Dynamics HQI Replacement LED bulbs (equivalent of 175 watts each).. only got one right now hope to have the 2nd by the end of the week.
• TWO 96 Watt Actinic 03 bulbs
• 14 Adjustable LED Moon Lights
• Separate Plugs for each light in the fixture.

I don't want to get to far in to a "review" of what i got because i haven't gotten the second LED bulb but i did want to share some photos of everything so far. sorry for the crappy shots. I'm using my nieces' 1.3mp point and shoot since i left my camera at the gf's...

36" aluminum housing gun metal in color - light on tank

Side fans and switches:

Reflectors (only one Actinic bulb and one LED bulb installed)

Light on the tank - Only one LED bulb on and one Actinic. the LED is on the right side of the tank.

under the hood

Only one actinic on:

only one LED on:

MOON lights at 100%

Moon lights at 50%

​

I'll do a full review of the Catalina Aquariums fixture and the Coral Dynamics Bulb when i get both in and installed.

in case you were wondering... the second LED bulb is on the way. and the other actinic was shattered in shipping.... er.. drop off.. i heard it shatter when the Fedex guy "aggressively" dropped.. er.. placed the box on the floor.

So far i'm pretty happy with both the light and fixture... i almost think i may have too much light now...

anyway i was pretty pshyched to get the fixture and wanted to share a few photos... plus steve at coral dynamics is anxious to see the pics!

oh yeah.. by the way.. that's my new tank I'm liking the tank better than my biocube too!

 

[jski711]

Re: Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK L

wow thats pretty awesome. i'll be following this thread for sure. I use t5's and would love a good LED alternative. sweet photos BTW.

Jake

 

[coraldynamics]

Re: Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK L

Great photos Ryan! I really like that housing fixture! It looks like the entire inside of the Catalina fixture is reflector, sweet!

Thanks for posting!

 

[lcstorc]

Re: Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK L

Very interresting.
Can't wait to see the finished product. I would be nice to be able to have one of these on my 90 and do somewhat of a comparison with my Solaris.

 

[ZAPCOnj]

Re: Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK L

how wide is your 90?

Sent from my iPhone

 

[jski711]

Re: Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK L

what color temp are these bulbs? 10k? i also noticed a 2 year full replacement on the bulb if 1 LED doesn't fire. if thats not a SWEET GUARANTEE then i don't know what is!!!

Jake

 

[ZAPCOnj]

Re: Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK L

So.... this light will give me roughly 192 watts of actinic lighting and 350 watts of 10K "HQI" equivalent lighting.... based on these numbers... am i lacking in light? what do you think i will be able to keep in the 40 gal breeder you see in the photos?

 

[jski711]

Re: Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK L

Well theoretically you should be able to keep anything and everything. i have 324w of T5 over my 75 so i think in a 40 breeder that should be MORE than enough light.

Jake

 

[ZAPCOnj]

Re: Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK L

do you think i have TOO much light?

 

[BigAl07]

Re: Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK L

Honestly this is SUCH new technology I don't think anyone is really capable of accurately saying if you have enough, too much or just the RIGHT amount of light on your tank. This is VERY new technology and hopefully this will give you GREAT results. LED is the way to go and incorporating it into a hood is a great idea. I'm tagging along

 

[mordibv]

Re: Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK L

NICE .

I can't wait to see what you grow in it .

 

[ZAPCOnj]

Re: Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK L

I'm anxious to get some more corals in my tank with these lights. I've switched out the 03 actinics for a set of dual 50/50 actinics 420nm/460nm they have add nice color to the tank and seem to be brighter than just the standard Actinic 03 bulbs.

anyone have any experience with these dual actinic bulbs?

 

[ZAPCOnj]

Re: Catalina Aquarium Custom Light and Coral Dynamics HALIDE LED REPLACEMENT! QUICK L

just a quick update. it's been about 2 weeks since i set up the light and i have to say.. I'm loving it. VERY little heat coming off the light. i can walk up to the light at the end of its 10 hour cycle and put my hand on the top, sides, and bottom (glass side) of the light and it's cool to the touch. The fans are doing a great job of dissipating any heat being produced by the bulbs (led or pc).

the output of the LED's are great very very bright and white. the Dual Actinics are very nice.. if i keep the GF's light for her tank i will be upgrading from her Actinic 03's to these Dual Actinic bulbs. I'm liking them.

anyway just thought i would share.