Lighting help needed

[jrnannery]

The time has come to replace all four of the 36w lamps in my BC 29 hood, and one of my ballasts has burned out, as well. Total bill would be around $150. I am wanting to upgrade to LEDs, and am willing to do it in segments. Any ideas on an LED upgrade that is dimmable by a controller (future), but usable now, with no controller? It has to fit into a BC29 hood, and needs to be able to grow acros, and it has to come in at the $150 mark.

[bfoleyiii]

I just finished my DYI set and I use a 10v wall wart to handle the dimming untill/if I upgrade my RKL to a standard and want to run multiple ALC units to handle the dimming. As far as finding a unit under or at your price point are you lookgint to build it or pull it out of the box?

[jrnannery]

Well, I was actually eyeing the Current USA TrueLumen strips to retrofit into a stock BioCube hood. I'm not set on these, but they were intriguing for the price and scalability. I suppose out of the box is what I am looking at, but ultimately I am looking for a quality, high output system that is dimmable. Beyond that set of requirements, I am open to suggestions. I just can't handle a large initial cost.

[bfoleyiii]

I started picking up stuff for my DYI and spread it out of 9 months or so. I wasn't willing to drop the upfront cost on the prebuilt units so not sure I have anything to offer on the out of the box stuff.

[jrnannery]

Thanks for replying.

[350gt]

I did the ecoxotic panoramas in my aquapod 24, a bit smaller than your cube. I fit 3 in there and everything is growing fine. I would definitely recommend then over the TRU LUMEN strips. Ecoxotic has a dimmable switch as well... I started off with one, then quickly wanted to gut everything out, which I eventually did including the cooling fans.

[350gt]

Im planning on selling this tank soon after my frag tank is up. If I dont sell the tank whole I will be parting it out. I dont know how quickly you plan to do this but look for my thread in the future.

[jrnannery]

Ok, well, I really like the Panorama Pro strips. Ecoxtic said that reflectors would be overkill in my situation. Any ideas on a good mix? I don't mind incorporating a magenta/blue strip. What about the other two strips? 50/50? If I am going from four 36w PCs to three Panorama Pros, I should have plenty of room to install a really good moonlight system. Also, should I go for more than three for more even coverage?

Thanks for all the help guys.

[350gt]

If you have the room for four that would be even better, I didn't in my aquapod or else I would have.


Asfar as colors, it's up to you..... Or you could do a RGB and set it exactly where you want it. I like the magenta/blue strip but liked the all blu a little more. If I have room for four I would do 1 magenta, 1 blue and 2 12k. Might be a but blue with that setup.... Go check out Louis's tank at elegant. He has a setup with a bunch of panoramas and you can ask him to display each, which I'm sure he will.....

At the price of 4 strips your at what a AI sol costs but you would have to really mod the hood or do away with it, something I didn't want to do....

[jrnannery]

Well, as luck would have it, I am going to be in the market for a new hood as well. Mine has cracked from the extra heat. I think I can make do in the meantime. Yeah, I want to have a really nice coral growing machine by the end of it, but it has to maintain stock appearance to appease the wife. I think I am just going to go with all new panoramas, so that they are all dimmable, new power source, the whole bit. Still going to have to do one at a time because of the cost.