Making the Plunge to Led Lighting

The wave point looks adequate indeed. I doubt it will be under $800. I like it though.

 

Even if he's got SPS in that tank the T5's are a very valid option. But don't let anyone tell you that they are not hot. I run an 8x54 watt bulb system on my 75 gallon reef tank and if you read on you will see that I have to use fans in the summer to keep it cool.....

800 plus the cost of running on which sometimes can be considerable....

I Run 4, 12volt 120MM computer fans down on my sump to keep my reef tank temp down and they drop it by 4 to 6 degrees depending on what the room temp is.

The are several reasons I use the 12v computer fans. Cost is one because I can get them cheap, I just bought 12 of them for $12.99. An noise is another reason, they are super quiet.

 

If heat is your problem, lights are not the only solution. A mag 18 is a lot of pump. Lowering flow lowers energy use. You do not need a "high return rate", just enough flow to supply your skimmer and fuge. Cut out other necessary pumps. I found my Mag 7 for my chiller actually caused the need for my chiller. A Ehiem 1262 uses a lot less power than a Mag 18 and would be enough for a 120g.

If you have multiple pumps look at combining by using one. Heck tee off your Mag 18 if you are using other pumps for reactors or what not. It sounds like you tee off your return to supply your fuge.... that recirculates a lot of water. Split your return and supply your fuge with what drains from your tank. Then all the water you send up supplies the fuge and the skimmer.

I have 250x2 MH on my 90g and a fan was all I needed to keep it cool. I put it on a controller and it didn't even run all the time. Just now and then on the hottest days.

Take tops off, move lights up a bit, make sure your heater is not running. Get a controller and have a much better temperature management scheme.

If you do nothing, a fan is all that is needed and 83 is not the end of the world for softies.

 

I know nothing about the unit, but I built my own LEDs. So far it has helped the room stay cool and the tank is at a steady 80
My electric bill is no different.
The savings was in the ability to be in the same room as the tank!

 

I read a few thing in that thread....

1) Solution to heat problem doesn't necessarily mean new lights. There are several fan options that can help. On that note, yes, cooling the refugium WILL cool the tank. The water column is circulated between the tank and the fuge. Thus, cool water from the fuge will be pumped into the tank and cool it. Warmer water from the tank wil return into the fuge. Another solution to your heat problem is using an external pump. That is another heat source in your water column.

2) You were discussing noise from hearing the water drain. You ought be able to silence that. I hear absolutely no water drain noise in my tank. My skimmer pump is the problem.... Going to be working on that!

M

 

All good points everyone. My current return pump is plumbed in externally as I thought it would cause to much heat if it was in my fuge.

I have both my overflows draining into my fuge and on the last chamber of the fuge I drilled a hole to return back to DT which tee's off since I have dual megaflows in my 120 aga aquarium. I am currently on working on raising my lights up about 2 inches and I just bought a small fan to cool the fuge.

will keep you updated.

I still might just buy the wavepoint led fixture just because I do want to go to led's eventyually, I just need to get a little more brownie points with the wifey....lol.........

 

I got a Kill A Watt P3 for about $20 from Amazon, it plugs into the electrical socket and then you plug into it. They also make a power strip but that is expensive. Very informative, it will tell actual voltage, amps, watts at a point in time and it will monitor your appliance for KWHs used. This part is very handy as it has a clock on at the same time to keep track of the total time and KWHs for that time period. I learned that most electrical components use less watts then they are rated.
For instance my iMac uses 110 watts when running but when it goes to sleep only 1.2 watts.
My 65 watt Power Compact on the fuge uses just 28 watts, the 10 watt lamp over my mangrove uses 9.1 watts.
I developed a excel spreadsheet that tracks the watts/amps used and calculates the cost of each device according to the rates in my area.
If anyone wants a copy of the sheet, pm me your email and I will send it to you.

 

With only adding the fan it lowered the temp from 83 to 80 when the mh are on and when the actinic lights it is around 79 I am happy with that until I order the new leds.

what an easy fix for now.

I am keeping my lights on for my cycling period, shouldnt this help witht he live rock getting its coraline???????