Ecoxotic LED lighting retrofit for Oceanic Biocube 14

We just received a couple of Panorama Pro Modules (one 12k white/445 nm blue and one 445 nm blue) with a dimmer and all the associated cables and I am about to undertake a retrofit on a 14 gal Oceanic Biocube that had previously been running stock lighting.

Current inhabitants of the tank are few, a yellow tail damsel, emerald crab, two zoa colonies, a sort of blue/purple mushroom family, some other variety of softy (I think Xenia perhaps) as well as the usual hitchhikers (small snails, brittle stars). I'm hoping these lights will perk up the otherwise very slow growing critters.

Pics to follow.

 

While I wait for the other lights to fully cool, here are some pics.

The boxes, packaging; lights on (and now I'm blind); side shot of the tank (looks dirtier than it actually is); and a front shot.

 

Here's the mushroom, a pic of the zoas and company, and a better shot of Daphne.

 

Sorry for the lapse in posts. I have been busy over the last week (had some relatives over from out of town).


The gutting of the tank was relatively easy. All in all the installation took around 4-5 hours (I am by no means a lighting or wiring expert).


The little polyp was seeming to love the new lighting and adapting well to the environment...until our emerald crab decided that he was hungry. >.<

 

Sweet, looks good.

How hot do the panoramas get?

 

Here are a couple of shots of the tank with the new lighting. After I put the scraper to good use I will take more.

1. quick overview
2. zoas reaching for the light!
3. the polyp
4. another overview

 

Forgot to mention above...I had to attach the LEDs to the reflectors on an angle so that they would fit within the confines of that clear plastic cover. Since the strips are waterproof I suppose that cover is unnecessary and they could have been straight.

I opted to use the stock reflectors to save some $$. With those you could further gut the hood and attach maybe 3 or 4 Panorama Pros.

Pics:

1. our prime suspect in the Case of the Missing Polyp (this time with a krill)
2. the crab again...feasting on some sort of algae
3. another colony of zoas that I moved to this tank from our DT
4. our green shroomish

 

Thanks. When they have been on all day they are appreciably warm, but considerably less than the stock CF lighting. The evaporation has decreased significantly.

 

i love my panorama they do not get really hot at all and need nearly no ventilation to not overheat.