ecotech xr30w pro 3.5" from water line ?

lodestone · Mar 12, 2017

I am giving up on biocube 32 led lighting. I really want to keep the lid, so planning on cut out or drilling to get xr30w pro to fit. I could have got xr15 pro, but figured with about a 3" from top of water it would have a bad spread. Namely upgrading because the biocube led is not working out for me. Also like xr30w radion has more options.

My questions are 3" what intensity should I run this at. I am figuring .35 to .50. Also what kind of light settings should I use, like display setting, night, growth setting. I have shrinking candy cane coral, and recently pick up a fading starburst polyp coral. Namely shooting for LPS, Soft, and maybe SPS.

I am mostly trying to figure out the best all around setting. Hopefully there is ecotech gen 4 pro user that can help me out here.

Reefing Madness · Mar 16, 2017

lodestone · Mar 16, 2017

After reading more on it, seems they have settings using the reef link that are pre made. I am namely concern about how close it will be, and heat generation but planning on addressing that with some extra venting. They will be delivering the light tomorrow evening. I will set it up as soon as I can with pictures. Ill start low on intensity then work up from there to see what works.

ReefNo0ob · Mar 16, 2017

lodestone said:
After reading more on it, seems they have settings using the reef link that are pre made. I am namely concern about how close it will be, and heat generation but planning on addressing that with some extra venting. They will be delivering the light tomorrow evening. I will set it up as soon as I can with pictures. Ill start low on intensity then work up from there to see what works.

I use the coral radiance preset program at 35% at 10" above water line and have been getting awesome growth on my corals. At 3.5" you could probably set it at 20% and acclimate your tank to 30 or 35% and watch them for signa of stress. I'm sure theyll do fine. I just added a couple sps frags so im acclimating my lps to 50% on coral radiance program and see how that does

lodestone · Mar 17, 2017

Worked out pretty good, I made the cuts wider then needed to help with venting but the vents where actually above the cut. So awesome. It surprisingly had a real good fit with minimal modding needed on the hood other then a big cut out. It stays in place and still using the clear splash guard to protect it underneath it is sealed and no moisture can enter it. Glad I went with XR30 vs 15, one for upgrade ability when getting a larger tank, and two there is sharp contrast to the far left and right of the tank due to how close it is. XR15 would have made most of the top of the tank dark being this close. So happy I was able to keep the lid well. Loving the difference might do a video with everything in it. at the moment got it set to 25% for acclamation for 1 week and will work up to 40% if it seems too much will cut it back. It also closes and opens without removing the XR30, because its wedged in there.

Salty1962 · Mar 17, 2017

I would go over 20-30% myself. I don't see how you light is going to cool well without @4" of clearance from any obstacles. That's a lot of light for a tank that size. Be sure to acclimate very slowly! JMO

lodestone · Mar 18, 2017

Salty1962 said:
I would go over 20-30% myself. I don't see how you light is going to cool well without @4" of clearance from any obstacles. That's a lot of light for a tank that size. Be sure to acclimate very slowly! JMO

The heat sink and baffles is above the cut so it is just venting to the outside. Will monitor though but with the amount of air movement I feel coming up I hope it will not generate enough heat to be an issue. You are right I may not go 50% but it is higher then I expected too be estimate about 4-5 inches since wedged on top, something in the middle would be receiving twice as much light. Will be using the candy coral moved to the middle to adjust, it seems to be practically sensitive to closing up and opening if too much or too little light.