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Reefmack

Reefmack

NaClH2O Addicted
PREMIUM
I really like the CoralVue. There are a couple things I don't like about it - I had to bend the inner lip of the mount to get it to fit over the hood hinges on the side of my 130, and I wish it sat lower to the tank. But, having the hood tilt has really made getting into the tank for maintenance much easier than the Orbit hood was. To work on the inside of the tank with a typical raised hood on legs, meant removing the hood, and when I did that I had no good lighting to see what I was doing. Plus I like having 6 T5s, and not having a metal halide overwhelm the color effect of my T5s. The tank runs cooler too. I had to make a new light shield for the front but that was no big deal - just had to cut a new piece of black ABS plastic and use black duct tape to put it on. The duct tape lets me flip up the DIY shield for feeding. The dimmable moonlights are great too - if I turn them up all the way the corals look fantastic. But I run them on low during the night. Plus each set of two T5s And the moonlights) can be controlled separately for a dawn to dusk type lighting, One cord on the light that goes to a junction box with 4 shorter cords, so I'm still stuck with 4 cords at the end, but since I run it on a Reef Keeper Lite controller no problem. Here was my install:

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/red-sea-max-owners-club/42209-reefmacks-rsm-130-a-195.html

And the price was right!
 
clownfishheaven

clownfishheaven

Member
I have this to offer from my LED research. Unlike an incadescent bulb which is driven by voltage, an LED is driven by current. With LEDs you get more light if they are given more current. The diodes used in most of the available lower-end fixtures/strips produce much lower output. In fact, they are not designed to handle more current or risk damage.

For example the diodes inside the Marineland fixture produces an average of 80 lumens where as the high output diodes average between 109 (on the blues) and as high as 180 on the whites.

You should also consider the quality and the type of optics these fixtures use or do not use. With lower output manufactures use optics to create spotlights to aid penetration, which limits coverage.

And my lamp is smoking. I better go to bed now.
 
clownfishheaven

clownfishheaven

Member
I didn't get to finish because a bug flew into my lamp and it was smoking.

Anyhow, judging by the numbers given by the manufacturer, i think it would work okay for a FOWLR tank and excellent for a refugium.
 
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