My BioCube 14's LED upgrade!

quikcolin

Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Location
London Ontario
I wanted to share with forum how things went with my Ecoxotic Panorama Pro LED upgrade.

I received the package in the mail this afternoon and didn't waste anytime!  I tore my hood down and installed the LEDs right away.  The whole process from opening the box to finish took about 1.5 hours.  I took things super slow and made sure it was done properly.  If I had to do it again, I could polish the job off in an hour no problem.

So, what I'll do is give everyone a step by step (missing a few pictures as I forgot to take a few pictures while working lol).

Here is my tank with the PC lighting... before the LED install.

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Step One:
Open the box!  It's kinda like Christmas all over again  ;)

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Step Two:
Dig a little deeper, check out the goods!
1 x Panorama Pro LED Module 24V- 19 Watt 12K White/445nm Blue
1 x Panorama Pro LED Module 24V- 19 Watt 445nm/Magenta
1 x Ecoxotic 2-Way Splitter
1 x Ecoxotic Power supply for Panorama (60W)
1 x Ecoxotic dimmer

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Step Three:
Remove hood, and begin tear down

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I removed the PC lighting entirely, and all wires associated with them.  I also removed the moon lights (as I never used them anyways).

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I also completely removed the second main power supply that feed the PC lighting - you can see in this pictures that it's gone.  This took a little cutting to allow it to be fed out the way it came in (the holes are small)

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Step four:
This is where I got lazy, and didn't take any pictures, but I used the reflective shield.  I flattened the front of it and fit it in place.  I moved the whole shield back, as I wanted it there to protect the underlying wiring from any heat the LEDs might create.  You'll be able to see what I did in the following photos of the finished product.

Step Five:
Fasten the LEDs to the reflective shield.  I used the bolt holes that the PC lighting used for the left side, and drilled holes in the shield on the right side so I could feed a zip tie thru and fasten it down.  Worked perfectly.  I also used this little plastic nubs (came with the LEDs) to create a gap.  I stuck them on the reflective shield to raise the LEDs so their not directly on the shield.  Sorry I don't have a pic... but the LEDs aren't laying right on the shield, their raised for breathing room.

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Step Six:
Next I fired them up!  You're looking at the lowest possible setting on the dimmer.  I would say 10% of total output... 100% is insane lol

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Step Seven:

Reinstall the protective cover inside the hood, and test everything to make sure it works... mine did  B) and you're laughing.  Here is a photo of the tank just after I put it back together.  The corals went to "sleep" as they were in the dark for 1.5 hours while I was working on the hood... so they're not out yet... but you get the picture.  NOTE: this is the power at 20%ish using the dimmer... it appears very magenta here, but when I turn the power up, the whites dull the magenta a bit - making it perfect!... FYI.

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FINALLY - THE BEFORE AND AFTER SIDE BY SIDE (remember, the LED is only set to 20% using the dimmer)

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Hope this helps anyone who's on the fence.... or that is about to tackle the job.

Colin
 

quikcolin

Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Location
London Ontario
Thanks!

Another Panorama LED would be overkill I think... but I could add a Stunner LED, which I would say is about all I could fit in there (considering that I kept the reflective shield in place).  The Stunner strips are much thinner than the Panorama's. 
 
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