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Evergrow Group Buy Configuration Questions


DaveS

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I've seen it stated that the D120 can provide a 24" x 24" area sufficient for SPS. What I don't understand is how this is possible for a fixture that measures 16"x8.5". Wouldn't a 24" x 16.5" are be more accurate (figuring that it can project 4" from each edge of the light)?

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Does anyone have one of these fixtures on a 36"x18" footprint (i.e. 65g, 40b, 30b) tank? If so, did you get the 24" or 32" fixture? I've heard the 24" will work if you hang it 6-8" above the tank; however, I plan to hang it in a canopy only 3-4" above the tank, so maybe I need to go with the 32"? If anyone has any firsthand insight or pictures, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

I had spoken to reefbreeders awhile back on R2R about a fixture for my 36"x18"x8" frag tank and they said that the D120 would provide coverage with 120dg optics. Of course my tank is probably shallower than yours. Most of my SPS frags are kept in the center of the frag tank and it's mostly zoa's and chalices at the outer reaches. Right now I have one 250w MH over the tank.

 

What do you on here that know about these lights say to 120dg optics and one light for my tank?

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I've seen it stated that the D120 can provide a 24" x 24" area sufficient for SPS. What I don't understand is how this is possible for a fixture that measures 16"x8.5". Wouldn't a 24" x 16.5" are be more accurate (figuring that it can project 4" from each edge of the light)?

 

I measured the performance of the D120 and you are right, 24"x16" or 24"x18" is probably more accurate. Having said that, most tanks are 18" wide or less, so a couple inch difference is not an issue. As I have said in other posts, my tank is 72"x36" and six D120s are needed for wall-to-wall PAR of 200 on the sand bed.

 

If you have a 24"x24" cube, one D120 will provide ample PAR. Could two D120s cover the same cube, yes, but will be overkill.

For a 36"x24" tank, I would use two D120s.

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I had spoken to reefbreeders awhile back on R2R about a fixture for my 36"x18"x8" frag tank and they said that the D120 would provide coverage with 120dg optics. Of course my tank is probably shallower than yours. Most of my SPS frags are kept in the center of the frag tank and it's mostly zoa's and chalices at the outer reaches. Right now I have one 250w MH over the tank.

 

What do you on here that know about these lights say to 120dg optics and one light for my tank?

 

I have not measured the PAR with 120 optics, but based on the raw PAR numbers I am confident one D120 will work for you. Visually, the brightness looks like a 250w MH, but the PAR rivals a 400w MH. I will go one step further and say that I am very close to selling my 400w MH setup. I strongly urge everyone who purchases any LED setup invest in a PAR meter, you will be pleasantly surprised.

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I want to try one of these on my frag tank to see how I like it, and how my corals like it, after that maybe I'll replace all three of the 250w MH's on my 180. We will see.

 

The only thing that I don't really like so far is that these lights are going to double the number of outlets which I will have to use up on my DC8's, guess I'll have to move some of the always on stuff onto power strips where it should be anyway.

 

Which par meter would you recommend Tony? It's such a pain to try and borrow the par meter from the clubs since so many members want to use it would be nice to have my own if they're not too expensive.

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I want to try one of these on my frag tank to see how I like it, and how my corals like it, after that maybe I'll replace all three of the 250w MH's on my 180. We will see.

 

The only thing that I don't really like so far is that these lights are going to double the number of outlets which I will have to use up on my DC8's, guess I'll have to move some of the always on stuff onto power strips where it should be anyway.

 

Which par meter would you recommend Tony? It's such a pain to try and borrow the par meter from the clubs since so many members want to use it would be nice to have my own if they're not too expensive.

 

Run the D120 power cords to a power strip and connect the power strip to your DC8. I am doing this with my EB8. One outlet controls two D120s.

 

DIY method: Get the Apogee Quantum SQ-110 sensor ($140) and connect it to a digital multi-meter ($25).

 

Non-DIY method: The Quantum hand held with sensor MQ-200 is $380.

Edited by ridetheducati
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Pardon a newbie question:

 

On post 26: Am I correct in seeing that the fixtures are side by side but with different layouts?

 

If not, what is the layout that most of the SPS users are using to simulate radiums best?

 

Also, from what I understand (please correct me), the D120s are dimmable but do not have a dimmer, so you'd need to use something like a VDM for the Apex to dim these? If I just wanted to do on/off, I could connect to a timer?

 

I'd like to try a couple of these over the frag tank and see what the growth/color is versus my t5s. The tank is 48 x 22 x 16 tall so I'd imagine I'd want to use a variable dimmer to avoid frying everything.

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DIY method: Get the Apogee Quantum SQ-110 sensor ($140) and connect it to a digital multi-meter ($25).

 

Would we want the SQ-110 or the SQ-120?

 

I took a look at the Apogee site (LINK) and they talk about a chart showing the spectral errors under electronic lights and further mention that the chart is specifically for the meter factory calibrated for "electronic light."

 

I only skimmer that page pretty quickly - I'll look into it further but wanted to know if you had any thoughts.

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The D120 seems very popular, but I was under the impression that these are manually dimmable but are not controllable?

 

The D120 has manual dial dimmers, I think monkiboy is trying to work out a deal on a 1-10v dimmer to install on these that will allow the Apex to control the dimming.

Run the D120 power cords to a power strip and connect the power strip to your DC8. I am doing this with my EB8. One outlet controls two D120s.

 

DIY method: Get the Apogee Quantum SQ-110 sensor ($140) and connect it to a digital multi-meter ($25).

 

Non-DIY method: The Quantum hand held with sensor MQ-200 is $380.

 

I'd like to turn on all the blues for a time before I turn on the whites, and off a little later, so I guess I'll have to wire them seperately but if I get more than one eventually I could put all the blues on one power strip and all the whites on another.

 

I'll look at the Apogee sensor and multi-meter. Do you have a link that explains/shows how this works?

Edited by Big Country
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Would we want the SQ-110 or the SQ-120?

 

I took a look at the Apogee site (LINK) and they talk about a chart showing the spectral errors under electronic lights and further mention that the chart is specifically for the meter factory calibrated for "electronic light."

 

I only skimmer that page pretty quickly - I'll look into it further but wanted to know if you had any thoughts.

 

Most say the 110 is more accurate, but I would factor in a 10% +/- error factor, which is good enough for me.

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The D120 has manual dial dimmers, I think monkiboy is trying to work out a deal on a 1-10v dimmer to install on these that will allow the Apex to control the dimming.

 

 

I'd like to turn on all the blues for a time before I turn on the whites, and off a little later, so I guess I'll have to wire them seperately but if I get more than one eventually I could put all the blues on one power strip and all the whites on another.

 

I'll look at the Apogee sensor and multi-meter. Do you have a link that explains/shows how this works?

 

 

To measure PAR in PPF:

1. Insert the Black banana plug into the multimeter's port labeled "COM" (port typically color coded Black)

2. Insert the Red banana plug into themultimeter's port labeled "VohmA" (port typically color coded Red)

3. Put the meter into 200 Milli-Volt (200mV) reading range

4. Place sensor under the light source to take reading. Make sure to keep the sensor as perpendicular to the light source as possible while recording the reading.

5. Use the simple equation below to convert the above mV reading into PAR value.

PAR reading is converted from sensor output as followed (assuming reading from multimeter is 60mV):

Sensor Output (in mili-volt) x conversion factor (5) = PPF (photosynthetic photon flux)

60mV x 5 = 300PPF

Edited by ridetheducati
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Hi all

Have a couple of question on how many d120s I would need to get good coverage over my display and frag tank. My display is a 150 60x24x24, I am currently running 3 250 watt de 14k phonix bulbs and two 60" overdriven t-5s so 100 watts each plus two 12" blue stunner strips leds. Total about 950 watts, I would really like to reduce that if I can. I like the look of 14k, 20ks Always looked to blue to me. My tank is mostly sps a few Lps, so I was thinking 3 units end to end or 4 units running perpendicular to the length of the tank? What would you guys that have them suggest?

My frag tank is a 36x36x11 lite buy one 250 watt SE 14k phonix bulb. I was thinking 2 units above the tank?

Also I see that people are including red and green LEDs, is this just for color balance or to make those colors pop? Red and green light are part of the white light spectrum so why are you trying to I crease the spectrum color in this range? I seen a lot of tanks with just blues and whites grow extremely well with out them?

Thanks for your input.

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Hi all

Have a couple of question on how many d120s I would need to get good coverage over my display and frag tank. My display is a 150 60x24x24, I am currently running 3 250 watt de 14k phonix bulbs and two 60" overdriven t-5s so 100 watts each plus two 12" blue stunner strips leds. Total about 950 watts, I would really like to reduce that if I can. I like the look of 14k, 20ks Always looked to blue to me. My tank is mostly sps a few Lps, so I was thinking 3 units end to end or 4 units running perpendicular to the length of the tank? What would you guys that have them suggest?

My frag tank is a 36x36x11 lite buy one 250 watt SE 14k phonix bulb. I was thinking 2 units above the tank?

 

 

See post number 29.

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The only thing that I don't really like so far is that these lights are going to double the number of outlets which I will have to use up on my DC8's, guess I'll have to move some of the always on stuff onto power strips where it should be anyway.

if it's a huge concern for you, then you can go with the IT series which allow the units to daisy-chain from one to the other leaving one power cord to be plugged in.

 

The D120 has manual dial dimmers, I think monkiboy is trying to work out a deal on a 1-10v dimmer to install on these that will allow the Apex to control the dimming.

yes, the d120 has two potentiometers, one for each channel. when we are able to work out the deal for the 1-10v drivers for the d120s for apex/rkl/etc control, there will be no potentiometers and everything will be handled by your aquarium controller.
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newd120_zpse4eacf75.png

 

Thanks for the layout Smallreef. From the first layout I can see how the LEDs are split between the 2 channels. From the 2nd layout, I'm assuming the color coding there is just for your use and the channel layout is still the same. Is there a way to change the channel layout locations?

 

Also, I'm trying to get a similar mix as my current Cree DIY fixture. Can someone help verify how the Evergrow LED color options map to the Cree naming convention? Here's my best guess:

 

B1=480nm- Blue?

B2=450nm- Royal Blue

V=420nm- Violet/UV

G=520nm- Green

R1=630nm- Red/Orange

R2=660nm- Red

W1=3500k- Neutral White?

W2=4500k- ?

W3=7500k- ?

W4=10000k- ?

W5=14000k- ?

W6=20000k- ?

 

Which ones would be warm white and cool white?

 

Thanks.

Edited by DaveS
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Is there a way to change the channel layout locations?

 

Also, I'm trying to get a similar mix as my current Cree DIY fixture. Can someone help verify how the Evergrow LED color options map to the Cree naming convention?

 

Which ones would be warm white and cool white?

 

take a look through the group buy thread. per the instructions and attachments, you have two ways to do the channel layout on a D120. either 28+27 (grid style) or 30+25 (columnar).

 

to best match up the CREE LEDs to the bridgelux simply match up color temperature or wavelength. there aren't as many CREE offerings as bridgelux so some will not have an exact match.

 

the available LEDs are listed as "warm white" or "cool white" in the group buy thread.

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Does anyone have one of these fixtures on a 36"x18" footprint (i.e. 65g, 40b, 30b) tank? If so, did you get the 24" or 32" fixture? I've heard the 24" will work if you hang it 6-8" above the tank; however, I plan to hang it in a canopy only 3-4" above the tank, so maybe I need to go with the 32"? If anyone has any firsthand insight or pictures, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

tried one d120 6-8" off over a 30" wide 65gallon, standard optics, was not spread enough. I hung 2 in a "T" shape (worked ok with the overflow and rockwork) as I was not able to get 2 end to end in my canopy.

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Please confirm which

tried one 6" off over a 30" wide 65gallon, standard optics, was not spread enough. I hung 2 in a "T" shape (worked ok with the overflow and rockwork) as I was not able to get 2 end to end in my canopy.

 

Please confirm which model you are referring to. Thanks

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Temp Layout





What do you guys think of this layout? I added 2 violets on each channel so as to avoid too much violet. I wasn't sure which spectrum of LEDs was the way to go (450 vs 480). I'm shooting for a bit of a blue tint, but not quite a full 20k. I do want decent growth as well, is this too blue to achieve that? If so, what would get me the most blue tint while retaining good growth?
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