Additional lighting

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Doug

I need to increase my lighting on my 28 by 18 by 18 tank. I currently run my SWC LED fixture that I have been running for the last year plus on both this tank and my 20g. Its not just enough spread or punch for this tank, which is all sps.

which light from SWC are you running doug? have you thought about getting a second light of the same type?

Steve

[Doug]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

which light from SWC are you running doug? have you thought about getting a second light of the same type?

Steve

This one Steve. I think its a good unit for $400. Served me well so far but just not enough for my tank.

[tang daddy]

Looks identical to the eshine I ran on my 15g nano, definitely go with a sol blue, you'll love being able to slowly ramp up/down and it should he enough to keep your sps, you may also want to change the lenses to 70* so you can get greater spread!

[sphelps]

I believe the SWC LED light you have is 60W of cree, the sol is 72W of cree. You may not gain very much by switching them unless you bought two sols. A better option would probably be something along the lines of Panorama Pro LED Modules. Adding four of these to your existing light would bring you up to 136W and cost less than a sol.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by sphelps

I believe the SWC LED light you have is 60W of cree, the sol is 72W of cree. You may not gain very much by switching them unless you bought two sols. A better option would probably be something along the lines of Panorama Pro LED Modules. Adding four of these to your existing light would bring you up to 136W and cost less than a sol.

Yes thats the unit Steve. If I purchased an sol, it would be to run with it perhaps, as an additional unit. Should have plenty of light then. Three Pros and power supply is around $325 and four as you suggest would be more than the sol cost which is at $399. Plus the controller, unless my RK2 would work.

[sphelps]

I don't really know how running a sol with the light you have on your tank will work to be honest. I think you might end up with two very different looking sides if you run it the way I image you would, especially the sol blue having a much different ratio of white to blue.

Three Pro's can run on one of the power supplies, in addition you can use any 24V power supply so you could easily power four of them with a single power supply that will run for $20 or less. I figured the more module design of these would be a better addition and more easily blended with the existing light.

You could also probably rig up some kind of DIY kit to work similar to the Pros, my guess that a decent 24 x 3W LED kit would run you around $250 unless you wanted something controllable.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Doug

This one Steve. I think its a good unit for $400. Served me well so far but just not enough for my tank.

yup, thats what I thought, so why not buy a second one and run two over the tank?

Steve