Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc_Polit
While I fully trust Grizz's opinion, does anyone else have thoughts to share?
Other lighting possibilities to share?
I would love to go with Kessil A150w LED's but I would need 4 which is out of my wage bracket.  |
You mention the tank is well built as is with the current glass bracing. I'd hesitate to mess with that & think you're on the right track with the Kessil LEDs, even if they aren't within your budgetary constraints. The cool thing about them is they are aimable with the gooseneck bracket, so you'd be able to aim them beneath the glass brace if required. I'm fairly certain the LED inside the Kessil is a multi chip array in the 30 watt range similar to the 10 watt LEDs I've used for my DIY lighting. I have 3 aluminum angle rails with a bunch of the 10 watt LEDs on heatsinks with fans over my tank. The outer rails have a 10 degree inward tilt to aim them away from the sides of the tank & into the center. You could do something similar to aim them beneath the center brace as well. Instead of having the LED rails longitudinally along the tank, you could orient them horizontally & tilt the ones close to the glass center brace to aim underneath it. This way it wouldn't be that much of an issue when the center brace gets messed up with salt spray.
The other alternative is to go with your MH over the open area idea & simply work your aquascape so the corals will be primarily located there. You could have an open swimming space beneath the center brace that doesn't really require intense lighting. Pretty much the simplest, quickest solution. Or even a combo, with MH & two Kessils aimed under the center brace if that fits the budget.
Here's an earlier photo of my LED DIY rails to show the inward tilt of the two outer rails. I've almost completed the fixture now & it's been over my tank for several days. Instead of the screw/wingnut mounting to adjust the tilt, I've simply cut 10 degree wedges to mount the outer rails into the frame, so not exactly like the photos, but should give you an idea.
If your interested, there are plenty more photos & info in my LED DIY build thread, here's the link.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=82206
Finally, another solution similar to the Kessil idea would be to use PAR 38 spotlights. There are a number of folks that have used these successfully and although not cheap, they aren't quite as costly as the Kessils. All you'll need are the spotlights and a bunch of standard light sockets.