Nuvo 16 lighting

Ad900

Ad900

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Hey all,

Just wondering if anybody has any idea what the stock lighting of nuvo 16's are capable of growing.

I have 2 skyye 8w 14000k LED lamps.

I'm positive all soft corals will be okay under these... But what about stone corals??

Let me know what you think :):)


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Those lights just keep the softies alive ..
The coloration under these suck and only very beginner zoas do ok under them.

Chuck those lights and get nicer ones. Id say but yea if you are planning on mushroom only tank they will be fine
 
Ad900 said:
Hey all,

Just wondering if anybody has any idea what the stock lighting of nuvo 16's are capable of growing.

I have 2 skyye 8w 14000k LED lamps.

I'm positive all soft corals will be okay under these... But what about stone corals??

Let me know what you think :):)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Its possible to mod the Stock Nuvo lights to keep more than softies & lps, seemingly simple mod with the look of (mostly) stock nuvo lighting at about $60 per light. i have a NUVO 16 with 2 skkye 8w 14k LED's and i will be adding/changing blue LED's to them to get closer to a 20k look and attempting to get closer to triple the wattage of them. Ill also be documenting this modification. Here is a thread where the guy modded his LED's, i will probably mod mine in a way that will allow me to keep the stock look completely while getting a blue-er spectrum w/ higher wattage.
http://www.chicagoreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?18165-Super-8&p=232697#post232697
 
Any way I could just add another strip of LEDs? These ones are pretty cheap....
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They are cheap because they are worthless for coral. I had one of the reef capable Marineland lights and the only thing happy 3-6" underneath was pulsing Xenia. The MAX par I measured at 3" under the light, right above the water line was 140. The color sucks too. Unfortunately with lighting cheap LED usually means useless LED for reef tanks.
 
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tinman said:
Those lights just keep the softies alive ..
The coloration under these suck and only very beginner zoas do ok under them.

Chuck those lights and get nicer ones. Id say but yea if you are planning on mushroom only tank they will be fine
Click to expand...

They seem to be keeping my GSP , Xenia, and zoas very happy...


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I've only got about 60$ to spend on lights. Whether that means upgrading or modifying. Any recommendations?


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Depends on how define happy i guess :)

i had them before i got them modded exatly like the thread shown by Smackers ..

is this your only tank or is this an additional tank ?

Ad900 said:
They seem to be keeping my GSP , Xenia, and zoas very happy...


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Click to expand...
 
tinman said:
Depends on how define happy i guess :)

i had them before i got them modded exatly like the thread shown by Smackers ..

is this your only tank or is this an additional tank ?
Click to expand...

This is my only (and first) tank. So I really have no idea about lighting lol.


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This is how much you need to get the stock ligts modded.

and then you need to find someone with good wiring/soldering skills.

and not sure but i think those drivers might need 3 leds minimum to run.. in which case it will cost a tad bit more..

View attachment 1003

Ad900 said:
This is my only (and first) tank. So I really have no idea about lighting lol.


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Click to expand...
 
You could keep the original skkye 6 watt led plate in place, and add no more than four 3 watt leds to it, but you would have to solder them, because solderless will not fit. The splash cover would also have to be eliminated. That will put you into the $70 range, with a dimmable A/C driver and thermal adhesive. I would say that'll provide enough light for anything but the most demanding sps corals. I got my stuff from rapidled.com.
 
Joe Lydon said:
You could keep the original skkye 6 watt led plate in place, and add no more than four 3 watt leds to it, but you would have to solder them, because solderless will not fit. The splash cover would also have to be eliminated. That will put you into the $70 range, with a dimmable A/C driver and thermal adhesive. I would say that'll provide enough light for anything but the most demanding sps corals. I got my stuff from rapidled.com.
Click to expand...

Add four 3 watt LEDs to each plate?


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I think instead of modifying, I would rather add another clip on fixture. I've seen a couple on ebay for around 65$ that seem decent...


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Ad900 said:
Add four 3 watt LEDs to each plate?


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Click to expand...

Yes, they would fit between the stock leds. It's really very simple. Only 2 wires to work with, and the package will come with a diagram.

Adding another skkye light will net you an extra 8 watts, but not more PAR (light penatration). For the same price, you would add 24 watts, much more PAR, and controllability, by upgrading.
 
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Ad900 said:
I think instead of modifying, I would rather add another clip on fixture. I've seen a couple on ebay for around 65$ that seem decent...


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Click to expand...

Link? I don't think you are getting that most (all) of the cheap fixtures aren't going to get you to where you need to be. You might contact Coral compulsion about a par 30 though to put between the fixtures. That's around the same price.
 
Joe Lydon said:
Yes, they would fit between the stock leds. It's really very simple. Only 2 wires to work with, and the package will come with a diagram.

Adding another skkye light will net you an extra 8 watts, but not more PAR (light penatration). For the same price, you would add 24 watts, much more PAR, and controllability, by upgrading.
Click to expand...

This package is on rapid LEDs? Do you have a link?


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