I just got done with a huge move from MN to FL. Part of the move involved selling my 210 gallon tank and purchasing a new (to me) SCA 120 with stand. That was driven by losing my massive sump room which was directly behind the 210 in the family room. This new tank fits everything nicely underneath and I've got a crash course in working with limited space for my sump / electronics. On to the real subject, I purchased a 32" SB Reef Black Box for the new tank. It has three adjustable channels, blue, white, and UV. As soon as it gets here I'm going to hack it to be controllable from my apex (reason I went with the BB instead of ultra). Does anyone have a sample program for a hacked SB Reef BB? If not what is everyone running for percentages and times on their SB Reef or similar lights? The white and blue are easy to find information on but there is very little on that 3rd UV channel other than it can be used as a lunar channel at night.
SB Reef Light Black Box Apex Program Sample
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P-Dub
The ocean is open to all, merciful to none.
My recommendation is run your UV at 100%. The program that you run will be dependant on the corals you have, their placement and depth/ dimensions of the tank. I run three 16' basics with the white & blue channels as follows;
just4plaay
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That was exactly what I was looking for. If UV can be on 100% alongside the blue channel I think I'm going to daisy chain it with the blue variable outlet on my apex. That will allow me to turn the blue off from the EB8 at night and adjust the blue output to get UV to act as lunar lights. I have the apex lunar module but really don't want 5 extra boxes hanging if I can avoid it.
As for coral, I have a zoas, duncan, frogspawn, and anemone that will come down from MN. Most of the SPS and LPS I had did not fair well with the tank move up there so I really doubt they will make it to Florida. Once everything is established I'm going to stick with mostly LPS and SPS going forward. Going to use the stand legs that come with the SB Reef light for awhile so height will be predetermined by how tall those legs are. My aquascape at it's highest is 14" from the bottom and total tank depth is 24". In my 210 at 7' long I struggled with flow and hot spotting with the mars aqua lights. Hopefully with the 48" tank my two MP40's will cover flow and this new SB Reef will have better light qualities than the mars aqua. In a few months when I've paid off the move I may decide to upgrade to a better light but want to see how this performs first.
As for coral, I have a zoas, duncan, frogspawn, and anemone that will come down from MN. Most of the SPS and LPS I had did not fair well with the tank move up there so I really doubt they will make it to Florida. Once everything is established I'm going to stick with mostly LPS and SPS going forward. Going to use the stand legs that come with the SB Reef light for awhile so height will be predetermined by how tall those legs are. My aquascape at it's highest is 14" from the bottom and total tank depth is 24". In my 210 at 7' long I struggled with flow and hot spotting with the mars aqua lights. Hopefully with the 48" tank my two MP40's will cover flow and this new SB Reef will have better light qualities than the mars aqua. In a few months when I've paid off the move I may decide to upgrade to a better light but want to see how this performs first.
P-Dub
The ocean is open to all, merciful to none.
Just curious, what are the dimensions of the new tank? AND, is the SB light the newer one?
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just4plaay
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The tank is 24" x 24" x 48" and I ordered the 32" Basic (3 channel) last Thursday so my assumption would be that it's the newest version.
P-Dub
The ocean is open to all, merciful to none.
I think that you would be better off having gotten two 16 basics and mounted them perpendicularly and use the LSM and remove two or three of the leds from the string. The caveat is you would not have the 3rd channel controllability. I'm not certain that you will get the coverage needed so coral placement will be more critical.
Keep us posted.
P-Dub
The ocean is open to all, merciful to none.
What reefbreeders did you get?
scardall
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just4plaay
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The standard black box have a bunch of YoutTube tutorials explaining how to hack. I'm not sure the ReefBreeders are the same though. There are a lot of people who don't even consider them Black Boxes because they aren't in the same style housing as Mars, SB, etc.
P-Dub
The ocean is open to all, merciful to none.
I believe he purchased the 32 basics so I am not certain of the applicability of the chart...
P-Dub
The ocean is open to all, merciful to none.
You cannot hack the Photons and the Lumen bar comes with an optional 0-10v compatible power supply...
scardall
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It does have a UV channel , so I am assuming it may still apply. I have the 45 ultra(4 channel).
just4plaay
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I thought about doing this but at that point would probably have gone to the 45" Ultra. Due to how expensive moving across the country and buying a new tank, stand, sump, etc our cash was a little tight for lighting. This should get the tank going albeit there may be some shaded spots on the outside edges. For now that may be a good place to grow Acans or other lower light corals. In a few months I'll either upgrade the light or build a rack to stick some t5's on the outside of the SB.
just4plaay
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The 32" basic states that it has 121 x 3 watt diodes which is exactly what the extreme says it has. My assumption is that they are running the exact same light setup but the extreme has wifi / ramping capability. By hacking the basic to allow for apex control I gain that capability and I believe that chart becomes relevant. Guess we'll find out. I will definitely post my results for anyone interested.
P-Dub
The ocean is open to all, merciful to none.
I have had great success with my predominately SPS tank using the SB ReefLights. I wish I could get better color saturation with my camera but you can check out any of my posts on my tank. Cost/benefit analysis did not justify and has not supported the need for the IHO, more expensive lighting options.
Reboot Standard 125. Nothing special here.
Reboot with LEDs after many, many years out
Reboot Standard 125. Nothing special here.
Reboot with LEDs after many, many years out
