Awesome Omera!
Questions,questions question Omega.How many modules,cost and why did you choose those over the AI's.
OK - so I don't know how specific you want me to be, and I don't want to bore y'all, so feel free to skip over anypart.
I had been researching LED's for about a year. I was surprised by how complex the technology, overall, was and how different it is from your regular 'household' LEDs in electronics, etc.
My major concern, aside from PAR measurements and general spectrum concerns you see floating around, was the lack of research on the longterm effects of no UV with LED's. Even though we think of UV light as bad, in general, there are some benefits or roles it has to lighting overall, especially when you start looking at UV-A and the effect it has on humans - not to mention I wouldn't mind a nice tan from my tank since I sit next to it...
So that was my bigger issue with aquatic lighting in general.
My first endeavor I chose to upgrade my BioCube canopy to the 150w MH. I had to buy a chiller as well and the light nearly melted my tank. It yellowed the plastic facing the tank and made the top of the tank almost unbearable to touch. The chiller was running constantly but my corals looked fantastic. I had an Apogee PAR meter and all over the tank par was fantastic! However, as the bulbs age you run into additional issues and, again, the heat was ridiculous. I ran a Kill-a-Watt powerstrip on the entire tank setup and it was basically costing me $172/month in electricity. Chiller/Light during day - heater at night (I like to keep the house at about 60), pumps & PH 24/7 - I was getting pissed.
That led to the DIY LED's, basically, and I installed the Philips 1W bulbs, (6 to a row, 32 in total) to see what would happen. Cost to upgrade was around $480 from Nano-Tuners.com, so pretty high for a few strips of light, but monthly electricity cost dropped to $48/month.
Now to the Tech Tank Upgrade...
Obviously lighting was going to be the issue. I reconsidered going to MH but realized I was going to need to a) get a much more powerful build due to depth and b) obviously get more than one for light spread across the 48". Plus the cost of bulb replacements, etc. I knew I had to go LED again.
When I saw Dennis' build I actually ordered the AI units right then and there from a supplier - EVERYONE was backordered so as I waited I saw a lot of talk about the Pacific Sun units and started to look into them. I read a lot about the Pacific Sun units on ReefBuilders and they were listed as best choice in last years survey. Aesthetically I really like the square simple and aluminum design of the AI - but when I decided on the tech tank, especially with the black euro-bracing I realized it would actually blend much better.
I wanted to go with AI because it was compatible with my RKE system and I had actually seen one block setup at the LFS in town.
At the time, Pacific Sun was the only one that was offering the CREE type lights as standard. I had no idea what the difference was so I started reading. (AI offered a $250 upgrade [either DIY or send to manufacturer]).
When I saw the AI in the store, I noticed that if you keep a water column with a higher level of macro-granular particulate matter, the spotlighting effect really stood out. The upgrade kit I got from nanotuners had the lenses removed so I had never really seen the effect before. (Lenses can have a really positive effect on depth penetration and should be something considered if you have a deep tank). Pacific sun allows you to add 'strips' of focused lens-lights with their 'X-Plore' chip - it makes the overall panel a little more versatile and customizable than I saw with the AIs.
Pacific Sun also has a two year warranty on their units vs. the AI's one year AND they also have three different bulb types other than CREE in their units which is important because CREE is going through a lawsuit from the physicist 'inventor' of the bulb type (and the conductor chip it sits on). Their warranty would cover the replacement of a different LED type with no issues in case it turns out to be another ugly situation like PFO was - AI doesn't have this option.
The PS units were all completely bluetooth wireless and had controllers with LCD built in. Additionally the core temperature and fan control on the Pacific Sun seems more advanced. Additionally PS is coming out with a full 7" touch-screen controller to compete with the RKE (controls their lights and additional peripherals) that I'm really interested in so that was kind of the final seal.
So basically, $2000 (well, around there) for lights that'll last ten years or so that'll cost me a fraction of what MH or T5's cost to run and better simulate moon, weather/cloud and sunrise/set than MH does. What's better is they can be controlled from my laptop or phone wirelessly.
Hopefully that doesn't drive you crazy and kinda explains why I went the way I did.
