Lighting Question

[GoodKarma19]

Hi cham fam! Got a question for those of you among us who have a reasonable grasp on plant lighting.

I have a pair of HLG 65 LED boards, and they're extremely bright (pictures dont really do it justice!). They also put out a fair bit of heat, and were cooking my canopy plants (and my cham!) when placed directly on the screen. I rigged up a PVC frame to suspend them from, and the temps are no longer a concern. My worry now is that there may not be enough light penetration for plants toward the bottom of the enclosure. I chose low-moderate light plants for my groundcover, but I want to make sure everything's squared away!

The boards are suspended just shy of 8 inches off of the screen, and the distance from the light to the very lowest plant is about 34 inches.

TL;DR - should I lower my plant lights, or will this work?

Currently no UVB; I'll be picking it up within the next few days.

 

[JacksJill]

It's amazing what you can do with PVC and tip ties. Sorry I don't have an answer on the lighting.

 

[GoodKarma19]

It's amazing what you can do with PVC and tip ties. Sorry I don't have an answer on the lighting.

PVC and zip ties are my go to, haha! I have so many zip ties, rolls of duct tape, and bits of PVC.

I almost forgot about this post! I talked to a few people with strong lighting knowledge, and I was advised that everything should be fine at this height. @dshuld mentioned that I incorrectly mounted the drivers directly on the boards, which was likely causing heat transference from the drivers to the boards and overheating them. I still need to mount the drivers to the sides of the PVC (today' side project!), but the temps are much better now and the plants that were unhappy are already beginning to rebound.

 

[dshuld]

PVC and zip ties are my go to, haha! I have so many zip ties, rolls of duct tape, and bits of PVC.

I almost forgot about this post! I talked to a few people with strong lighting knowledge, and I was advised that everything should be fine at this height. @dshuld mentioned that I incorrectly mounted the drivers directly on the boards, which was likely causing heat transference from the drivers to the boards and overheating them. I still need to mount the drivers to the sides of the PVC (today' side project!), but the temps are much better now and the plants that were unhappy are already beginning to rebound.

I don't think I said incorrectly mounted did I? I was half asleep on the one pm though lol. Btw, I need to hit up that grp chat that has gone silent lol.

 

[GoodKarma19]

I don't think I said incorrectly mounted did I? I was half asleep on the one pm though lol. Btw, I need to hit up that grp chat that has gone silent lol.

I think I interpreted as incorrectly mounted because I, too, was half asleep lol! Let me go and reread that

Edit: ahah! Move the drivers and mount them on the PVC if they continue to transfer a bunch of heat - somehow I got "incorrectly mounted" out of that.

 

[dshuld]

I think I interpreted as incorrectly mounted because I, too, was half asleep lol! Let me go and reread that

Edit: ahah! Move the drivers and mount them on the PVC if they continue to transfer a bunch of heat - somehow I got "incorrectly mounted" out of that.

Lol, no, they're mounted as designed for that particular version of them. The diy version with "remote" mounted driver is supposed to be pretty cool running though.

 

[GoodKarma19]

Ahah - move them if they continue to transfer a bunch of heat! Alrighty. I just can't read.

Lol, no, they're mounted as designed for that particular version of them. The diy version with "remote" mounted driver is supposed to be pretty cool running though.

Haha ok, that makes sense! Cause I swore I looked at the diagrams correctly! It does run pretty hot, though. I'll probably end up moving the drivers at some point when I'm done with my million other projects.

 

[dshuld]

Ahah - move them if they continue to transfer a bunch of heat! Alrighty. I just can't read.


Haha ok, that makes sense! Cause I swore I looked at the diagrams correctly! It does run pretty hot, though. I'll probably end up moving the drivers at some point when I'm done with my million other projects.

Lol, I can understand that believe me.

 

[GoodKarma19]

Lol, I can understand that believe me.

Still need to finish Lily's actual build... I'm the queen of build delays, haha! Oh well. I'll try SunBlaster t5HOs for that build, see how they perform. Maybe try those t5HO retrofit bulbs. Her build is pretty much all low-moderste light plants, so I think it'll be fine either way!

 

[dshuld]

Still need to finish Lily's actual build... I'm the queen of build delays, haha! Oh well. I'll try SunBlaster t5HOs for that build, see how they perform. Maybe try those t5HO retrofit bulbs. Her build is pretty much all low-moderste light plants, so I think it'll be fine either way!

Haha, see if your garden shop has access to the jumpstart version of that fixture. I'm pretty sure the reflector comes down over the bulb a bit more (like the reptilebasics/ pangea fixtures do) then the sunblaster does.

 

[GoodKarma19]

Haha, see if your garden shop has access to the jumpstart version of that fixture. I'm pretty sure the reflector comes down over the bulb a bit more (like the reptilebasics/ pangea fixtures do) then the sunblaster does.

Yeah, I didnt realize how much of the bulb was exposed with the sunblaster! I'm making it work, but I'm slightly irritated lol. Thankfully I already had the PVC frame in place, so it's elevated off the plastic supports on the screen lid!

 

[dshuld]

Yeah, I didnt realize how much of the bulb was exposed with the sunblaster! I'm making it work, but I'm slightly irritated lol. Thankfully I already had the PVC frame in place, so it's elevated off the plastic supports on the screen lid!

View attachment 247378

Yeah, the downside of it being designed to sit in a channel of their seed starter lol. The jumpstart looks like it comes down lower. I wouldn't be surprised if the pangea/ rb singles aren't rebadged versions of it tbh.

 

[GoodKarma19]

Yeah, the downside of it being designed to sit in a channel of their seed starter lol. The jumpstart looks like it comes down lower. I wouldn't be surprised if the pangea/ rb singles aren't rebadged versions of it tbh.

Interesting! I'll see if I can find any locally. After the last fiasco with shipping lights, I'm definitely gunshy haha! I think my local grow shop carries similar reflectors.

And if not, well, I can craft some little PVC "cradles"

 

[dshuld]

Interesting! I'll see if I can find any locally. After the last fiasco with shipping lights, I'm definitely gunshy haha! I think my local grow shop carries similar reflectors.

And if not, well, I can craft some little PVC "cradles"

Lol yeah, that was a bit nuts. I'm really surprised by hlg on that one.

 

[GoodKarma19]

Lol yeah, that was a bit nuts. I'm really surprised by hlg on that one.

So am I! I had read a lot of really positive reviews, and their products are solid... but holy cow, that was a messy shipping process! We'll see, though. If I'm really impressed with these boards long term I'm sure I'll end up buying more haha!

 

[dshuld]

So am I! I had read a lot of really positive reviews, and their products are solid... but holy cow, that was a messy shipping process! We'll see, though. If I'm really impressed with these boards long term I'm sure I'll end up buying more haha!

If you do, you should go diy with them next time . I'll be using them in the bio builds as I move along though I think, at least the snake bio builds anyway. Not sure on the Canadian price but 4 boards for $139 US, ~$60ish driver, frame materials and what not should do two of the three snake builds.

 

[GoodKarma19]

If you do, you should go diy with them next time . I'll be using them in the bio builds as I move along though I think, at least the snake bio builds anyway. Not sure on the Canadian price but 4 boards for $139 US, ~$60ish driver, frame materials and what not should do two of the three snake builds.

Hmm! That's not too terrible. I'll have to consult you if I go through with it! I like to pretend I can muddle my way through most things, haha! Always have been a creative problem solver. Sounds like a brilliant solution if I'm powering multiple tanks. At this rate, I'll need to construct a rack for everything!

 

[dshuld]

Hmm! That's not too terrible. I'll have to consult you if I go through with it! I like to pretend I can muddle my way through most things, haha! Always have been a creative problem solver. Sounds like a brilliant solution if I'm powering multiple tanks. At this rate, I'll need to construct a rack for everything!

, racks make the addiction easier to expand on.

 

[GoodKarma19]

, racks make the addiction easier to expand on.

Right?! "Oh look, I have room on my rack! What can I fit there"....