Thinking about upgrading...again

[LiveRock27]

Good afternoon,

I am currently running 2 Ecoxotic Panoramas over my 14g Biocube, but I am thinking about ditching them for a different LED setup and wanted to see if I could get some recommendations?

I am looking to mainly keep SPS in my tank and I am just wondering if the 2 Panoramas are going to cut it for both growth and color.

Thanks.

 

[gqjeff]

DIY one....

 

[Captain Nemo]

Personally I would think they would be enough, but I am no LED expert. Just keep them close to the top and good water parameters.......

 

[Just Clownin Around]

i dont think they have the punch. there are alot of options out there. i diyed mine by in the future would of just bought a ai

 

[LiveRock27]

i dont think they have the punch. there are alot of options out there. i diyed mine by in the future would of just bought a ai

I like the AI units, but I want to keep the stock hood for the BC.

DIY is doable, but I have no experience with wiring.

 

[akabryanhall]

What you should do is borrow a PAR meter from someone and get the reading from your tank. Post them here. If it turns out the light is sufficient, Take the $300 you were going to spend on different LED's and buy yourself a BPC flamethrower or My Miami chalice.

 

[akabryanhall]

then what you should do is grow it out and then frag me an eye and send it to me

 

[gqjeff]

for $150-175 in a DIY you could blow that 14g away.

 

[akabryanhall]

My point is...does he need to spend any money at all? He already has 2 nice LED strips above his tank that should be more than sufficient.

 

[LiveRock27]

What you should do is borrow a PAR meter from someone and get the reading from your tank. Post them here. If it turns out the light is sufficient, Take the $300 you were going to spend on different LED's and buy yourself a BPC flamethrower or My Miami chalice.

Good idea. I think one of the LFS near me rents one, so I will check tomorrow.

then what you should do is grow it out and then frag me an eye and send it to me

Another Good idea.

 

[gqjeff]

The beauty of DIY is your choice of what colors you want and also dimmable features. It would be nice to hit it with some cool and warm white and then some blue and royal blue. If your worried about a couple hundred in this hobby its time to look into another. Plus you r not taking into account the money he could get for selling these. Very likely he would make money on the deal and get EXACTLY what he wanted. Good luck no matter what you do.

 

[LiveRock27]

I borrowed a PAR Meter this morning and was able to get some readings in my tank.

All of these readings were taken directly in the middle of the tank under both sets of lights

Just below the water surface in the middle of the tank
Center 422
Left 380
Right 391

6 inches under the surface in the middle of the tank
Center 216
Left 177
Right 168

12 inches(top of sandbed)
Center 122
Left 84
Right 90

As you can see these LEDs lose PAR very quickly. I took some other measures in the front and back of the tank and they were 30-40 less than in the center of the tank in the same area.

Now the questions is...Should I upgrade my lights?

 

[m and m]

That is on the lower side. If that was my par i would not be happy with it, i would suggest changing it up.

 

[Captain Nemo]

I agree, little too low for my liking, I would go with something other than the LED's or pick a different brand..... just my .02

 

[m and m]

Do you have a price point you would like to be at?

 

[LiveRock27]

Do you have a price point you would like to be at?

I would like to stay around $400, but I would also like to be able to keep the stock hood.

How is the Nanotuners 3.6 LED retrofit kit? I see that you can upgrade it to the Cree XRE LEDs. At $450 that would be the top of my budget.

 

[Captain Nemo]

I don't have experience per say with this hood/retro, but have heard other say they love them however.....

 

[akabryanhall]

I would like to stay around $400, but I would also like to be able to keep the stock hood.

How is the Nanotuners 3.6 LED retrofit kit? I see that you can upgrade it to the Cree XRE LEDs. At $450 that would be the top of my budget.

This would be the best choice for your tank, especially if you are wanting to keep your hood! It does seem as if your par readings were a bit low, sucks, i started looking forward to a frag of the my miami

 

[aalvarado87]

I think a 24 xre set up with two dimmable drivers would do you jsut fine with some 80 degree optics. I have a fixture on set up for my 20x20x16 28 gallon cube for my nephew we were getting 250 par at the bottom of this tank when we filled it with water.

 

[LiveRock27]

Ordered the 3.6 LED retrofit kit with the Cree XRE LEDs from Nanotuners yesterday. They said because of demand it would probably be about 3 weeks before I get them, but once I get them installed I will borrow the PAR Metter again and get new readings to compare them to the Ecoxotics.