Austin goes Rimless - Dudester's 203g mixed reef

[Bax]

Dude

You've been waiting for the ten lamp fixture, right? So you'll be all T-5? Very nice! Can't wait so see how it does for you. I already have a small mountain of MH stuff for my 220, but maybe on the next new tank at the house ... hmmmmm?

"But, I need this new ATI Power Module light fixture! Think of the electrical savings Honey!!!"

[Dudester]

I see a lot of advantages to going all-T5. If I were to use MH lighting I'd probably have two 400W bulbs along with actinic supplementation, totaling around 1000W. With my 10-lamp Powermodule I'll use 540W. This doesn't even account for the diminished time my chiller will have to run using T5's, as less heat will be produced. In addition to the electrical savings, I'll have the flexibility to change bulb colors and spectra to meet the needs of the corals beneath each lamp of the pendant. T5 lamps are also generally changed annually, which is less often than MH bulbs, particularly when MH's are overdriven. So, for me, the decision was quite clear.

[jnarowe]

well, there is a lot of info. pointing to the corals getting more light just because of the shape and dispersion of T5 lamps. As far as heat goes, I am not sure I buy that. The reason why is that unless they are properly cooled as the ATI is, they actually transfer a LOT of heat to the water. I find this IME because the T5 array is designed to be much closer to the water, and while this promotes better lighting efficiency, the closeness does transfer the heat, and over a much larger area. With MH lamps, they are place higher above the water to get better dispersion, and the heat has more room to dissipate.

Anyway, that's how I look at it. WIth the PowerModule, I would guess it's a mute point since they seem to be well cooled.

[Dudester]

jnarowe - While I can definitely see your point, there was a very recent and rather lengthy discussion of heat production in MH vs. T5 bulbs in pages 15-18 of this thread. A lot of data was presented, but I think the conclusion was summarized best by this statement:

"All this arguing, Anyone who's ran both knows halides heat the water more, why fight about it"-- The Grim Reefer

[GMFett]

For the love of god- show me a picture!!!

[Dudester]

Originally posted by GMFett
For the love of god- show me a picture!!!

Sorry bro, but I don't plan on taking any photos of it until installation time. It's so pretty I don't want to scratch it up, and I've got it tucked away in a safe place for now. It truly looks just like the pics in the thread I linked a few posts ago, only a little bit wider. Why don't you come over next week for the light-hanging party? I already know what kind of beer you like.

[jnarowe]

no, and I don't mean to say that T5s put out more heat, but I have been surprised by how much they actually do produce. My QT tank got quite overheated by the Aqua-Medic array when I first set it up. I have measured the glass at over 180F which is nowhere near what a MH measures at, but just the same, we still have to be careful with any heat source. The ATI unit goes one step further IMO, in really managing heat not just for the sake of water temp. but to allow the lamps to produce as much light as possible. That is really cool.

[Chrisrush]

Dude,
Did you decide on lamp choice for your 10 lamp setup?

[Dudester]

Hey Chris, I sure did, and your question will be answered below.

So I couldn't stand it having my new light in the closet, wondering how I was going to be able to mount it. With the help of other Powermodule owners I got the assistance I needed to get started, and I didn't need 2 other dudes, just my father in law, as it only weighs in the neighborhood of 50 pounds. Here it is, in all it's glory. It's a 10-lamp x 54 watt unit, measuring approximately 46" x 22" x 2.5". On the far left of the 1st image is the gray power supply. This splits further out to 2 separate power cords, which I'll explain more about later.





Here are the fans, each cooling 2 lamps.



For my lamp selection, I went with 90% of the recommendation made by The Grim Reefer, a well-established guru of T5 lighting. Grim, if you're out there, thanks a lot for all that you do! I wanted to add a lamp that would bring out a little more of the reds, so I substituted a super actinic for an ATI Pro Color. Here is the fixture with all lamps aglow.



The lamps are situated as follows:

front
Blue plus
Aquablue
Super actinic
Aquasun
ProColor
Super actinic
Aquasun
Blue plus
Aquablue
Blue plus
rear



Notice how shiny the reflectors are? You can read the lamp names very clearly, and there's an acrylic shield covering the entire fixture that slides out quite easily.

Positions 3 and 8 are on a separate power cord from the other lamps, and these will be used for dusk/dawn. I originally had both of these as super actinics, but Grim suggested I include a blue plus in the mix, as it's supposed to look great combined with an actinic.

Here are the 2 super actinics.



And here's how it looks with a super actinic and a blue plus.

[jnarowe]

gulp.

[melev]

So you got my phone call this evening, Mike?

[Dudester]

Now that you've seen the light, it was time to mount it to the ceiling over the tank. I got a great tutorial from "landragon" here on RC on how to hang this monster, and here's what I did. First I covered the tank with a tarp to protect it from drywall chips off the ceiling, and to keep the power cords out of the water (this actually came in handy). Next I laid some wood planks over the tank upon which to center the fixture.



Notice in this close up the ventilation slots on the side of the fixture to assist with cooling - nice!



Once the unit was centered over the tank I used a plum bob to locate the spots on the ceiling that correspond to the place where the hanging wire joins the hardware on both sides of the fixture. The Powermodule comes with hardware for mounting to strong material, like wood, but unfortunately those places on my ceiling have no extra support other than the sheet rock material, and there's no attic above for me to install any extra support. I considered using toggle bolts but fortunately I found studs approximately 1 and 1/2 inches closer to the front of the marks. I stopped at that point to think it over, and I've finally decided that I'll mount the fixture about 2" front of center. Unfortunately, however, that will have to wait for a few days, as I'm leaving town tomorrow morning. When I return mid-week I'll have it hung and update everyone.

[Dudester]

Yeah Marc, I was out to dinner with the fam when you called, then I had to watch the Gator game when I got home. Woe is me. I'll give you a ring tomorrow, if that's okay.

[melev]

Darn, just as it was getting interesting, you pull a Ryan Seacrest:

"You'll find out, after this short break...."

[melev]

Originally posted by Dudester
Yeah Marc, I was out to dinner with the fam when you called, then I had to watch the Gator game when I got home. Woe is me. I'll give you a ring tomorrow, if that's okay.

Sure thing, if you like. I did what I intended to do, and it worked.

[Dudester]

Actually I had finished all of the above before we went out. It's uncanny how you called me a mere 3 hours after I completed it. You must be psychotic ... er uh, I mean psychic .

[chris wright]

Those lights are going to be awesome. can't wait to see them in action.

Cheers

Chris

[invincible569]

Turn that baby on! Cant wait for the the pics either.

[Chrisrush]

That's about the same lamp combo that I'll be running with 8 bulbs. Grim suggested the following:

Front
ATI Blue Plus
UVL Super Actinic
UVL Aquasun
ATI Aquablue
ATI Aquablue
UVL Aquasun
UVL Super Actinic
ATI Blue Plus

And he also said that I could use the procolor instead of the Aquasun or just add one in place of an aquablue.

I'll probably add the procolor instead of the aquasun since I like the tank to be a little more blue.

Have you seen any pictures of the Fiji Purple lamps? I'm undecided about those as well.

If you don't mind, where did you order you bulbs from?

[robster]

Can you post a link to the plumb bob you used?

[Dudester]

Responding via Treo, hope this works.

Chris wright and Edward - Thanks, and I can't wait to get home and see it lit over the tank either.

Chrisrush - I like your lamp combination. I've seen the KZ Fiji Purple on line & it's an awesome lamp, but quite expensive. I got my lamps from ReefGeek, for free actually, as it was part of the deal for anyone ordering the Powermodule before May. I got the Pro Color since the Geek told me it was similar to the Fiji Purple. Time will tell.

robster - No link, I just tied a heavy object to a string for my plumb bob.

[KMP]

never seen a light set up like that before. do you have a liink where i could check some out. pretty cool.

[GSMguy]

Originally posted by KMP
never seen a light set up like that before. do you have a liink where i could check some out. pretty cool.

you need the 8x36 inch fixture for your tech tank....



Dudester that light is sick of course, i bet your glad you waited for 10 bulb.

if you check out that ati suncolor thread in the equipment forum fijiblue has posted some pics of his t5 array and i must say he has the ultimate bulb combo suggested by Grim of course.

More pics please.

[bleedingthought]

NICE!

[Bax]

That fixture is awesome Dude!