Mike2112
Well-known member
I think it does, I have to looke more and how to set up the drivers. I need to speak with Neptune to see if the Apex Jr comes with the VDM or do I have to get the add-on. You said the Typhoon already has it?
-Mike
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I think it does, I have to looke more and how to set up the drivers. I need to speak with Neptune to see if the Apex Jr comes with the VDM or do I have to get the add-on. You said the Typhoon already has it?
-Mike
The typhoon is a controller and only a controller. The Apex Jr does not come with a dimming feature and I am not sure if it is expandable to add a VDM module.
Most all controllers and Drivers that have dimming will operate at either 0-10 volts or 0 to 5 volts, The Apex is 0 to 10 and the Typhoon has bot 0 - 10 and 0-5v capability. So on the Aapex we wire it the same way and then give the understanding that the numbers are double, so if the Apex is reading 10% its actually 20%. On the Typhoon we use the 0-5v wiring option and thus the number are the same.
Now with all that aside all drivers have a minimum percentage of power requirements before the turn on. This is usually between 1 and 25% ours are around 15%. So in the case of Aquanaut and her Apex it means that anything below 6-7% (which in Apex terms is 12-14%) the drivers dont turn on until it reaches that percentage. Not usually an issue but Aquanaut has 264 leds over her tank and it is putting out a ton of Par/Pur (with out the glass covers and at around 14% she is getting par reading in the 1400 range) so she has to acclimate her corals thus she has raised the canopy and added to screens for this acclimation process. Once complete she will be able to set the start % at the minimum (14/15%) and then ramp up from thier.
MIke
Most all controllers and Drivers that have dimming will operate at either 0-10 volts or 0 to 5 volts, The Apex is 0 to 10 and the Typhoon has bot 0 - 10 and 0-5v capability. So on the Aapex we wire it the same way and then give the understanding that the numbers are double, so if the Apex is reading 10% its actually 20%. On the Typhoon we use the 0-5v wiring option and thus the number are the same.
Now with all that aside all drivers have a minimum percentage of power requirements before the turn on. This is usually between 1 and 25% ours are around 15%. So in the case of Aquanaut and her Apex it means that anything below 6-7% (which in Apex terms is 12-14%) the drivers dont turn on until it reaches that percentage. Not usually an issue but Aquanaut has 264 leds over her tank and it is putting out a ton of Par/Pur (with out the glass covers and at around 14% she is getting par reading in the 1400 range) so she has to acclimate her corals thus she has raised the canopy and added to screens for this acclimation process. Once complete she will be able to set the start % at the minimum (14/15%) and then ramp up from thier.
MIke
Hawks12
Member
Picked up the 180W unit yesterday. Was easy to hang from ceiling above tank using included hardware and a few items from the hardware store. Fired it up and it is nice! I started it off on very low settings (replacing T5) and love, love, love the shimmer!
This is a sturdy, well built and classy looking fixture. I hooked up the two separate channels to my Reefkeeper, using two outlets so blues come on first and go off last. I placed it 12" above the waterline and will ramp up power slowly over a month or so. This is my first LED fixture and I am very excited about the prospects. Tank is only about 6 months old so full stocking will be with the LEDs.
And the store looks beautiful. Can't wait for full opening!
This is a sturdy, well built and classy looking fixture. I hooked up the two separate channels to my Reefkeeper, using two outlets so blues come on first and go off last. I placed it 12" above the waterline and will ramp up power slowly over a month or so. This is my first LED fixture and I am very excited about the prospects. Tank is only about 6 months old so full stocking will be with the LEDs.
And the store looks beautiful. Can't wait for full opening!
kpiotrowski
Kevin
possible future customer tagging along.
kpiotrowski
Kevin
boy, this is going to be a long answer!
lets hear it mike! ALL the details! ( i'm too tired)
sedrostyle
Well-known member
haha I was going to say the same thing... I've had many long talks on their spectrum.Long story short..
These are the most bad&** Leds around. Bang for your buck.
Near PERFECT spectrum. everything is perfectly thought out.
good luck. Im sure someone will explain if I find the link I'll point you to the thred I got swamped on
Moto their are no such things as a full spectrum led fixture. Full spectrum would mean that all light waves between 400nm and 700mn would have to be represented and that my friend would be a whole hell of a lot of led's. I will give you the quick and dirty explanation.
So here is a spectral chart for a few metal halides (MH are full spectrum bulbs)
So all the area below the wave lines make up par on this bulb and as you can see every point of light between 400 and 700 is represented. So now lets take a peek at a led.
So now you can see here the Led has a very narrow wave line, almost straight up and down when you compare it to a MH. So when we designed this unit we added 6 different type of led's which boils down to us creating our own spectral chart.
Mike
kpiotrowski
Kevin
MH are not true "full" spectum also they have thier highs and lows, its phrase the industy coined. with a combintion of LED's you may as well say they are "full spectrum LED's too. and here is a plus on the LED side. with seperate drivers on a white and blue channel you can adjust the par of that spectrum unlike MH where you choose the bulb that you belive in and you get what you get.
First off I do love someone that spells worse then me, lol I have been carring that belt for way to long hehehe. Kev in our terms it is full spectrum, it represents all the color waves with in the par range, how much and how strong doesnt really matter.
I guess you could if you could find all the different colored bulbs but to be honest you really dont want to. The corals zoox which provide the growth mechanism for them use light in the spectral range of 400 to 499, most all whites, blues, violets all fall under range with leds. For coral growth that is all you would need to provide, other colors in the spectral range of say 500 to 700 dont really provide anything to zoox, but some accessory pigments will pick upon these other colors by absorbing and then reflorescing. and yes the ability to dail in the color you like is a big bonus.
Moto you would want a different kind of light with a different light spectrum. Most plants/algae like light in the green/yellow and red range
kpiotrowski
Kevin
moto, I have two practically new 250w single ended, iwasaki EYE 65k if you are looking and not just possing a hypothetical.
kpiotrowski
Kevin
Mohjoe, u r wellcum 2 feyenally b reeleeved uv tytl uv wurst spellr heer onn reeffrunteers!
kpiotrowski
Kevin
Yeh some of the cheaper non adjustable LED are garbage. also seen some that the white's way overpower the blue's too. when I get led's my plan is to start the light cycle ramping up the blues over a few hours, then whites will ramp to highest safe level to simulate high noon ( at which point the tank will not look as blue as I would like, but I won't be home at that time) then white transition to fully off over the next few hours, then blue down to moonlight, then off. pretty basic stuff that most are wanting to do.
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