which Aquarays

Shazbah

Shazbah

Member
Hi all
I have a rsm 130 which i am thinking of modding the front of the hood to add some extra lighting (aquarays from TMC). My question is which ones do i buy? I was thinking of adding 2 1 marine white and 1 reef blue but if i'm totally honest i have'nt got a clue which ones to use as i don't really understand the difference between them
cheers shaz
 
T

thomshap

Member
All strips have 5 LEDs,

Marine white = 5 white
Marine blue = 3 blue and 2 white
Reef white = 3 white and 2 blue
Reef blue = 5 blue

I bought a pack containing 1 x 'reef blue' and 1 x 'marine white' but I dont think there is enough white light so I've ordered another 'marine white' and I will put the blue one in the middle.

If you are just planning to use 2 units then I'd go for 2 x 'Reef White'.

These lights are expensive but are simple to fit and make the tank look incredible, keep the temperature lower and less noise as you don't need all the fans running, however I only have soft corals and they seem very happy, not sure they are up to supporting hard corals.
 
Shazbah

Shazbah

Member
Thanks for that
I took the plunge and bought a marine white and a reef white as i kinda like the little blue tinge. Do you have all those in your rsm? How did you install them?
cheers shaz
 
T

thomshap

Member
They'll look good.

Take the lid off, underneath you'll see 6 round plastic bungs use a littele screwdriver to take them out and you'll find 6 screws, undo them to take the lid apart.

Remove T5 lamps, I then disconnected the power to them from the relay. There are 4 screws the go into the reflective foil, 2 hold the clips on and the other two just hold the other side of the foil, I used these to mount the plastic Aquaray mount, just drill 2 holes closer together in the mount. Then it's just a question of just putting it all back together, the screws that hold the Aquaray to their mount can be easily got to by bending the foil back a little.

I left the existing night lights and fans connected in case I need to cool things down, not used them yet though.

The whole job takes about 15mins, you'll be pleased with the results, let us know how you get on.
 
V

VP Clown

Member
thomshap said:
They'll look good.

Take the lid off, underneath you'll see 6 round plastic bungs use a littele screwdriver to take them out and you'll find 6 screws, undo them to take the lid apart.

Remove T5 lamps, I then disconnected the power to them from the relay. There are 4 screws the go into the reflective foil, 2 hold the clips on and the other two just hold the other side of the foil, I used these to mount the plastic Aquaray mount, just drill 2 holes closer together in the mount. Then it's just a question of just putting it all back together, the screws that hold the Aquaray to their mount can be easily got to by bending the foil back a little.

I left the existing night lights and fans connected in case I need to cool things down, not used them yet though.

The whole job takes about 15mins, you'll be pleased with the results, let us know how you get on.
Click to expand...

So just to understand a little better, you have 3 aquarays instead of the original tubes and all 3 fit in the tube housing, if so did you still use the plastic cover??

Andy
 
T

thomshap

Member
No, at the moment I have 2 Aquarays that sit where the tubes were, but I have ordered a third which I will fit either on the flap or on the back of the hood - I think if had bought a combination with more white LEDs then I could have got away with just two strips, but I quite like the ability to have a just blue evening light running.

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Shazbah

Shazbah

Member
Thanks for that Thom
I intend keeping the stock lights and putting in the Aquarays as extra lighting.
I'm gonna try to remove the front lid (where the test tube holders are) and install them there. I really don,t think the aquarays are good enough to do away with the T5s, but i could be wrong
cheers shaz
 
B

Bites

New Member
Ya, the Aquarays are expensive. I was looking at them for a while but I came across the Ecoxotic Panorama LED Modules which are a lot cheaper. They don't use CREEs but they have 12 x 1w LEDs so you wont get a spotlight effect as the Aquarays do. They finally released a full actinic one, so I am planning on using 2 of them, a full actinic one and a regular one for supplimental lighting. This should give me the full shimmer effect and also make things go pop.

Ecoxotic Panorama LED Module
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Bites they are much cheaper because they are much LESS light. If you're just wanting expensive moonlights those are fine. The problem with less intense lights as "supplemental" is they are greatly over-powered by your other lights which negates a lot of the effects you're getting the LED's for. I've got supplemental LEDs on my other 2 tanks and when all lights are ON the LEDS are totally not noticeable. There is a WORLD of difference between High quality Cree LEDs and 1w off the shelf LED. Not even in the same ball-park IMHO.
 
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