The plan is to install a pre-milled heatsink in the stock hood and do some minor re-wiring so that I can use the stock cabling that normally transmits power from the Oceanic ballasts to the Power Compacts that came with my tank. These cables each have six 18 gauge stranded copper wires; this is just about right for what I need (two circuits for LED channels and one circuit to carry DC voltage for the fans).
The other end of the cable leading out of my hood will plug into a custom extruded aluminum enclosure that contains all of the electronics and controls for the lights. The enclosure will live in the tank stand. On the front will be two knobs to adjust brightness of the White and Blue channels so that I can dial in any combination, resulting in a very wide range of available color temperatures. Two switches will control power to the two channels.
The back of the enclosure has two IEC C14 inlets for power; I could have used one, but this solution allows me to power the two drivers independently so that I can use them with timers; I'd like to experiment with having the blue go on in the morning before the white, and stay on after the whites go out as a sort of sunset/moonlight effect. The Cree Royal Blue LEDs have a strong fluorescent effect on a lot of colors in the coral tissue and result in a totally different look in the tank. Pictures, let alone words, do not do it justice.
The amount of light penetrating the tank will increase several times; in fact it's good that I am going with dimmable drivers because they will likely be set to their minimum brightness for a while so that the corals can adapt. The symbiotic Zooxanthellae that live within the coral tissue may be overwhelmed by the amount of light and the coral actually expel them under some conditions... this is sometimes known as bleaching, or at least one of the causes of bleached coloration.
In any case this has not only increased my interest in the hobby but I have learned a tremendous deal about simple circuits (some of which I knew from school and forgot), and has been a really fun exercise in design, patience, research, and filled with many thought experiments. What if so and so happens? How could this go wrong? What's the best way to do that? Will I have enough room here to do whatever? It's an engineer's dream. While the initial price tag is heavy, my power consumption will actually go down a bit and I won't have to buy new bulbs for a very long time; LEDs have a long life if kept cool. And in the end... it's just plain fun. Soldering, crimping, high voltage electricity, retrofitting, modifying, and precise machining.... oh yes.
The increased lighting will, should my coral survive it, bring out colors I've never seen before and allow me to keep far more demanding species and animals (including clams). I've held off on acquiring new animals to see how the ones I am keeping react to this lighting. In some cases it may prove to be too much and I'll have to sell off or trade in and replace them. This is going to be a fascinating few months!
