Steves LEDs Biocube32 light upgrade

[chrislynn]

I cut the louvres out per the instructions but now I’m thinking about making some sort of baffle that still allows airflow but can cut down on the noise

We are thinking the same thing.

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

What are you channel settings?

I bumped them up slowly over time until I got to the following. The whites are pretty strong imo. Everything (Softies, LPS, SPS, and an Anemone) seems to be happy and growing, so I haven't increased them in a while.

Channel 1 (Blue) - 3220(3220/4095 = .786)
Channel 2 (White) - 700 (700/4095 = .1709)

Channel 1 - 78.6%
Channel 2 - 17.1%
Total - 47.85%

 

[PTVinnyMac]

Can someone in this thread help me out. I'm trying to install mine now... The gif links aren't working no response from the company yet...

Here is where I'm at...

The original fan does not stay, correct?

How about the original chip with LCD display? Does that stay or go?

 

[jskoms]

I gutted all of the original equipment.

 

[Mike H2020]

I bumped them up slowly over time until I got to the following. The whites are pretty strong imo. Everything (Softies, LPS, SPS, and an Anemone) seems to be happy and growing, so I haven't increased them in a while.

Channel 1 (Blue) - 3220(3220/4095 = .786)
Channel 2 (White) - 700 (700/4095 = .1709)

Channel 1 - 78.6%
Channel 2 - 17.1%
Total - 47.85%

How overpowering is the blue with that setting ? I’m at 2600 ch1 and 2425 ch2 and it’s still somewhat blue

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

How overpowering is the blue with that setting ? I’m at 2600 ch1 and 2425 ch2 and it’s still somewhat blue

Oh yeah, there is certainly a blueish tint. I personally like how the fish, coral, and rock look under stronger blues. Being able to adjust the daytime spectrum was definitely an advantage to upgrading the BioCube lights for me.

 

[jskoms]

+1. Did you get the iridescent booster?

 

[PTVinnyMac]

Jskoms, I don't know if you were asking me, but yes, I did get the iridescence booster.

i got it all working...

Now I have to figure out how to get the lights off during the night. It's seems like there is no actual moonlight cycle? It's sunset, but then I can either have moonlight on or off?

can anyone confirm?

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

Jskoms, I don't know if you were asking me, but yes, I did get the iridescence booster.

i got it all working...

Now I have to figure out how to get the lights off during the night. It's seems like there is no actual moonlight cycle? It's sunset, but then I can either have moonlight on or off?

can anyone confirm?

Hurricane controller, correct? The lights ramp down over time based on what you set in the controller. The final result will be what you have set under - Set PWM (Night) option. There you can set the Channel 1 (Blue) and Channel 2 (White). If you want 0 lights on during the night set both channels to 0. I leave the blues set to 30, and whites 0. The controller does have something called a Moon Phase that does some automatic adjustments based on geolocation. I turned it off in favor of manual settings.

Not sure if you've looked over this link. Page 8 of the PDF has an example setup.

Steves LED Controller Setup

 

[jskoms]

Hurricane controller, correct? The lights ramp down over time based on what you set in the controller. The final result will be what you have set under - Set PWM (Night) option. There you can set the Channel 1 (Blue) and Channel 2 (White). If you want 0 lights on during the night set both channels to 0. I leave the blues set to 30, and whites 0. The controller does have something called a Moon Phase that does some automatic adjustments based on geolocation. I turned it off in favor of manual settings.

Not sure if you've looked over this link. Page 8 of the PDF has an example setup.

Steves LED Controller Setup

Ditto, I have both channels set at 0 for night mode. Do you use the cloud function at all? I have yet to play around with that.

 

[jskoms]

What is everyone’s thought on the fan? Mine is extremely loud, thinking about contacting Steve to see if I have a bad one.

 

[PTVinnyMac]

Hurricane controller, correct? The lights ramp down over time based on what you set in the controller. The final result will be what you have set under - Set PWM (Night) option. There you can set the Channel 1 (Blue) and Channel 2 (White). If you want 0 lights on during the night set both channels to 0. I leave the blues set to 30, and whites 0. The controller does have something called a Moon Phase that does some automatic adjustments based on geolocation. I turned it off in favor of manual settings.

Not sure if you've looked over this link. Page 8 of the PDF has an example setup.

Steves LED Controller Setup

I did yes. Just didn't totally get it. Thanks for explaining. I'll try the the blue light at thirty with no white. But I'm thinking there needs to be darkness at some point in the tank?

 

[PTVinnyMac]

Ditto, I have both channels set at 0 for night mode. Do you use the cloud function at all? I have yet to play around with that.

Yes. I'm testing it along with the lightning. To be honest, I just saw the lightning in action, my first thought was that my lights were faulting out or something lol. Then I remembered the lightning effect.

The clouds work pretty cool as well. I guess the bigger discussion about this is, are they effects that help the animals feel more comfortable at all? Or is it just pretty to look at?

 

[PTVinnyMac]

What is everyone’s thought on the fan? Mine is extremely loud, thinking about contacting Steve to see if I have a bad one.

I can't really hear my fan unless I'm close to the tank.

My tank is in the next room from where my tv is and I have a small open concept house.

My skimmer on my small tank is probably louder lol.

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

What is everyone’s thought on the fan? Mine is extremely loud, thinking about contacting Steve to see if I have a bad one.

I didn't think the fan was all that much louder than the original.

 

[MySonWantedAHamster]

I did yes. Just didn't totally get it. Thanks for explaining. I'll try the the blue light at thirty with no white. But I'm thinking there needs to be darkness at some point in the tank?

I was thinking the little bit of blue would simulate moon light.