[richkor]

Plumbing, Electric, and DIY are not my strong points. My DIY VHO set up (I bought it second hand with the used tank, didn't build on my own) is about dead...I have already had one small fire and another almost started yesterday with an arc fire. One of the blue bulbs works fine, but the caps won't connect properly and it starts to smoke if I try and match it up...translation: time for new lighting system. Challenge is I am on a tight budget (say under $1000, preferrably well under $1000. I was thinking of going to an LED based setup, but the ones I like all seem to start at about $2500 and I am getting lost quickly.

Today, I have a 72" long tank with a canopy. I am looking for a setup that doesn't take two people to do maintenance, meaning I want to lose the canopy and either go with hanging lights or something that can sit on the edges of the tank. I am having a hard time finding setups for LED's due to the fact that most seem to be maxing out at 48", which brings up the question..."Do you get a fixture and then attach modules to a fixture?" I am really confused on how to hook these things up. I am going to visit my LFS tomorrow and see about getting a used fixture from a tank he tore down and maybe replace some bulbs, but no idea what he has in stock, if anything. Plan B is to order something on-line without getting ripped off. I'd like to be able to grow SPS moving forward, but worst case, can get away with LPS for now.

 

[richkor]

Minion, I liked Helens answer better

Luke and Future, when I said I can't do wiring, I mean I really don't get electric and DIY...I think I could figure it out, but the biggest issue is the time. With my job, two kids, and the house, I am having trouble keeping up with basic water changes and cutting the grass...now that the drought is over...

I tried my LFS today for anything used, but no luck, so I'll check out that ebay link Minion sent over (thanks for providing) and check on the rapid LED's...maybe I can get a friend to help out for a few frosty beverages of the adult variety.

 

[richkor]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120-Watt-Aq...ultDomain_0&hash=item20be3e51a1#ht_3543wt_912

That may work...three quick questions:

1. Can I put them on timers so the blues come on and go off separate from the whites?
2. Do I need new ballasts? I have two ballasts today for my 4 VHO bulbs, but may need three if I get three of them?
3. Can I hang these so they will sit within the canopy I have (tops of the canopy come off) to eliminate some of the glow?

 

[richkor]

They come with two plugs to independently control whites and blues on a timer. The transformers are built into these units so you need nothing from your old lights. The ballasts for fluorescent lights are totally different than the transformers for LED anyway as they use A/C rather than DC voltage to light the bulbs. Hanging these in the canopy is fine. LED bulbs have lenses to project the light only in the direction which you want rather than radiating it 360 degrees. I do not use a canopy with my lights and there is no light projected on the floor and very little on the wall behind the tank (the light is closer to the wall than it is the floor).

This is a 90 gallon tank local to me which is lit by two of those fixtures:

I use a Chinese fixture but it is a different one. I also built 15w PAR38 LED accent lights which you can find a link to the DIY for in my signature. The white and blue LEDs look really good but after a while I personally missed the purple light from the actinic bulbs.

Awesome. Thanks Minion.

 

[richkor]

Ok, so measuring these, they will fit inside the hood/canopy if I remove the tops so my wife won't complain about the look. Using Luke's formula, I should need about 108 LED bulbs to do SPS? (175g bowfront, so about 72x24 on average). Based on 25 blue and 30 white per unit, three of them would be plenty for the tank. Ballasts, or what would replace them, are built in so I don't need to worry about that at all. Am I missing anything, or could I really be doing SPS corals for just three of these units? Will that much light fry my zoa's, toadstools, mushrooms, fox, and ephyllia? Will they penetrate to the bottom as is in a 30" deep tank? I think we may have a winner here...