Kyles blood, sweet and TEARS!!! :)

[kyle4201]

I have the blues at 90% and the colors are at about 45%. Any more than that they just kind of white out everything. I asked if I took the 60's off if they would go back to 90,, they said no, they would just be LED's on a board,, so I have to get the 90's shipped. Heres my problem,,,,, They come stock with 90's, I paid to get the 60's,,,,, I thought the 90's cover would come also. so,,, If I ordered the stock 90's then later ordered the 60's it would have been $20,, but now I paid the $20, then I have to pay another $20 for the stock 90's???? sucks

 

[slfcaptain]

The ends do look a little dim. Hope the 90's work out.

steve

 

[Ratpack]

Have a question, I noticed that you have 4 moonlights mounted and I had the same ones at one time. I remember them being quite bright, how does your fish respond when they come on? The reason I ask is I have some blue LED's I plan to use and they seem bright to me, I can see into the tank fairly easy.

 

[Reef Commando]

Dim ends are perfect for lower light loving corals.

 

[kyle4201]

My blue moon lights r very dim. if there is a light on in the kitchen or the living room you can't even see them. Everything has to be off in order for you to notice the mood lights. But they are beautiful when is pitch black in the house. Lol

 

[Ratpack]

Kyle, now that you have had the new LED's for a week or so, what do you think of them? Mine have finally shipped and I will have them this weekend. Any advice on setting them up?

 

[kyle4201]

I am not entirley happy with them as of yet,, the blues are unreal!!! but I ordered them with the 60 degree lenses and they are to focused,, I have ordered the 90's and Im hoping ill get better coverage after I install those. Other than that they are pretty much plug and play. let me know how they look,, better yet,, post lots of pix,

 

[mikecc]

the 60 degree lenses and they are to focused,,

Does it help if you hang them higher?

 

[kyle4201]

they are as hi as I can get them,, about 1 foot off the surface

 

[Willie McDaries]

Kyle, if you remove the lenses altogether, it will be about like 120 degree with just the diode, try just removing a few of the lenses toward the outer ends of each light and it will help to fill in the darker spots...

the 60 degree lenses are for tanks that are really tall, so to punch more PAR through the water column....

I would totally remove all but the blue lenses myself and since you've already ordered the 90 degree lenses, I'd probably use a combination of the 60s and 90s on just the blues with the 60s being over where SPS will reside in the tank

if you didn't use a PAR meter to match your old lights PAR, I would suggest backing the LEDs down to about 40% to 50% and gradually increase over a span of a few weeks and watch your coral very closely for signs of stress and bleaching...LEDs are very deceiving, they actually produce more PAR than what it looks like with the human eye and you can easily burn your coral, think of them as somewhat like a laser, especially with the lower degree lenses, they are very focused even without the lenses...and the lenses just push on, there may be a tiny bit of glue holding them but they are still easily removed...

the DM155e (all the reef radiance lights) have Ricks own choice of LED colors and they seem to work really well with both coral growth and aesthetics for our eyes, I use the DM132e lights and love the color, I do run the white channel a bit lower than the blue but I'm extremely pleased with my lights overall look, and more importantly, my coral are happy with 'em

love the retro fitted hood too, very nice job on that, looks awesome

 

[kyle4201]

Thx Willie, I love retrofitting. but my understanding is that the angles are just big covers, not individual led covers, but they go over the whole assembly. They are coming in on friday so friday night ill know if I like them or not.

 

[Ratpack]

Kyle, the lens are for each LED, so you will have to replace each one. I won't stake my life on it, but they look just like the individual lenses I have seen on LED's before.

On a side note, have you noticed any effects from your corals since putting them in? I should have mine in by Monday. I am also retro fitting mine into my T5 light. Any advice in regards to mounting them in the fixture?

 

[kyle4201]

Kyle, the lens are for each LED, so you will have to replace each one. I won't stake my life on it, but they look just like the individual lenses I have seen on LED's before.

On a side note, have you noticed any effects from your corals since putting them in? I should have mine in by Monday. I am also retro fitting mine into my T5 light. Any advice in regards to mounting them in the fixture?

Ill let every1 know about the lenses friday night while changing them. As for the retrofit,, just make sure there is plenty of room for the fans to cool. They get HOT and thats why I flush mounted them to the top of the canopy and cut holes as to give them unrestricted air flow.

 

[Ratpack]

Thanks for the advice. I have already made a pattern to cut in the light. Looks very similar to yours. Definitely made sure the fans have a clear path. Do you have any rattling from it being mounted while the fans are running?

 

[kyle4201]

No,, but if you do,, you could always put foam pieces or that foam tape strips on the lights so when they are mounted they are not actually touching the hood at all... Actually,, dam!! Im gonna do that when I replace the optix,, . Good Idea Kyle,, Well thank you Kyle, lollol

 

[Ratpack]

I actually anticipated the gap based on your photos as it looked like you had something wedged in there. I bought some of the stickyback chair pads, you know the little circle ones that have a carpet like material on them. I plan to stick those to the hood so the light can rest on them, if I need them.

 

[Willie McDaries]

the LED lenses are the things that look similar to these

you can see these through the glass shield, you'll need to remove the outer cover and then the heatsink so you can get to where these are

the actual LED diode looks like this

 

[DianaKay]

I have my waste R/o water topping off my pool now. So much better than wasting it and then having to fill the pool with the hose.

Thought I'd let you know I thought about You today when I drew up my change water & used ALL the waste water to Top Off my hot tub.

 

[Ratpack]

Hey Kyle, how is the LED's doing? Did you get the lenses changed? I got mine in and I love them. I think I still need to go higher off the water though to get just a little more spread but the corals are loving them and they are only at 45% blue and 35% white right now. Trying to ramp up at 5% each week. And you were right, when the blues are on, it is like a neon garden.

 

[Oxylebius]

Thought I'd let you know I thought about You today when I drew up my change water & used ALL the waste water to Top Off my hot tub.

Nice!

I capture all my waste water and use it to water the yard.