The GHL Mitras LX7 LED

GoVols · Feb 1, 2017

Noahlastner said:
In the market for new lights. Does anyone have a comparison for the orphek atlantik?

Have you seen the Philips "Coral Care"?

Dumaurier7 · Feb 10, 2017

Come on Guys keep it coming! Upgrading my lighting is the next phase im about to get into, i'd like as much information and experiences as I can get !

GoVols · Feb 10, 2017

Dumaurier7 said:
Come on Guys keep it coming! Upgrading my lighting is the next phase im about to get into, i'd like as much information and experiences as I can get !

I've done all Kessil and they'll do the job as long as you get enough to get the spread right.

@slief
Can you help out Dumaurier7 with your insight on your Mytra's?

Scurvy · Feb 14, 2017

Great write up and very impressive tank!
Can I ask what you used to mount the Kessils? I've been looking for something articulating like you used. Looks like you might have a couple of different types from your photos. Or maybe it's just different angles?

GoVols · Feb 14, 2017

Scurvy said:
Great write up and very impressive tank!
Can I ask what you used to mount the Kessils? I've been looking for something articulating like you used. Looks like you might have a couple of different types from your photos. Or maybe it's just different angles?

+1
It's a very detailed read

@Scurvy
Have you seen these Kessil mounts?
http://aquariumledmounts.com/produc...ting-mount-for-kessil-350-and-360-series-leds

Scurvy · Feb 16, 2017

I had not, thanks!

kattz · Feb 23, 2017

Umm... a little price reality here?

If I'm looking at Dennis's setup on his 120 correctly, there's six of the GHL units on his tank and he's dropping what appears to be eight Kessil units. OMG. That's $4,200 in the GHL investment and $2,400-$3,000 in Kessil investments. Color me negative, but I just can't afford that type of expenditure on my 300DD. I love the stuff Dennis does, but right now when it comes to lighting, I'm looking for the Subaru and he's driving the Maserati.

Other than cost, it's a great setup. I'm green with envy.

I need another solution besides this. Lighting is what's keeping me from continuing on my 300DD build.

Kev

gus6464 · Feb 23, 2017

kattz said:
Umm... a little price reality here?

If I'm looking at Dennis's setup on his 120 correctly, there's six of the GHL units on his tank and he's dropping what appears to be eight Kessil units. OMG. That's $4,200 in the GHL investment and $2,400-$3,000 in Kessil investments. Color me negative, but I just can't afford that type of expenditure on my 300DD. I love the stuff Dennis does, but right now when it comes to lighting, I'm looking for the Subaru and he's driving the Maserati.

Other than cost, it's a great setup. I'm green with envy.

I need another solution besides this. Lighting is what's keeping me from continuing on my 300DD build.

Kev

Just go MH. You will spend a third or less than the GHL. You won't be saving much electricity with a ton of Mitras anyway. The amount you save on the MH fixtures can pay for electricity and Radiums for a long time.

kattz · Feb 23, 2017

Actually, just finished installing the 220V hardware last week. Going to go Philips CoralCare.

gus6464 · Feb 23, 2017

kattz said:
Actually, just finished installing the 220V hardware last week. Going to go Philips CoralCare.

Nice. When you get them mount them in front to back orientation to cover the 3ft width of the 300dd. I love my coralcare. It's colored up my SPS just like my ATI Powermodule. I've acquired some stuff that looked like dirt when I got it and in 2 weeks they did a complete 180.

GoVols · Feb 23, 2017

kattz said:
Actually, just finished installing the 220V hardware last week. Going to go Philips CoralCare.

Great Move!

RegalAngel · Feb 27, 2017

Appreciate the info on the LX7 LED fixture; was checking the XR40 G4 but now I think these will be fine for my 300g tank.
Probably go with three units.

rc1626 · Mar 2, 2017

kattz said:
Umm... a little price reality here?

If I'm looking at Dennis's setup on his 120 correctly, there's six of the GHL units on his tank and he's dropping what appears to be eight Kessil units. OMG. That's $4,200 in the GHL investment and $2,400-$3,000 in Kessil investments. Color me negative, but I just can't afford that type of expenditure on my 300DD. I love the stuff Dennis does, but right now when it comes to lighting, I'm looking for the Subaru and he's driving the Maserati.

Other than cost, it's a great setup. I'm green with envy.

I need another solution besides this. Lighting is what's keeping me from continuing on my 300DD build.

Kev

I don't believe the tank you are referring to is Dennis's tank. The pictures with the Mitras and Kessils is slief's tank. I believe Dennis said he was currently running Radion Pro gen 4's on his 120. If he had all that light on a 120 everything would probably still glow after lights out.

Regardless if you have a 300DD it's going to take a few lights to illuminate it regardless of what type. Sounds like the Mitras has a pretty good spread though so maybe not as many as with another manufacturer.

slief · Mar 5, 2017

I will leave this here. This is my 500 gallon reef with six Mitras LX7206's. It's been several weeks since the upgrade and the tank and corals have responded amazingly.

As for comparing pricing to Metal Halides which was mentioned above, having come from running a mix of 400w Radium Halides coupled with VHO fluorescent lights, LED's can save a lot of money in the long run. Especially if your electric company has outrageous rates like So. Cal Edison. At my current settings, my Mitras are pulling 95 watts each according to my Kill-A-Watt meter. That is a total of 570 watts compared to the 1300 watts I used to illuminate the tank with. Not only is that saving me power but my chiller no longer runs ever. Granted, there were some serious pump changes that were also incorporated into my switch from Halides several years ago but in the end, my electric bill went from $1100 a month down to $350 a month. The entire upgrade cost me several thousand back in 2010 when I made by switch but paid for itself in the first year just in electricity savings. Then there are the bulb savings. Even if I factor in the light upgrades since my initial switch to LED's, the expense has still more than paid for itself. Especially considering the resale value that a good set of LED's has. Given that this tank has been up and running since 1997, I am not one to cut corners on it and lighting is one of the more important aspects when it comes to success with corals. As such, I consider these lights an investment. Not only do they grow corals and keep my tank looking beautiful but the corals they grow get to be fragged and that happens to generate some revenue to help pay for these kinds of toys.

Now, the proof is in the pudding. This tank has been running LED's and LED's only for the past 7 years. Pretty much all the coral in this tank was grown from frags. As I said above, the Mitras upgrade was several weeks ago and my SPS have grown well over an inch in just the last 30 days under these lights and the coloration of the corals is far better in person than it ever would have been under my 400w Radiums.

This video was shot today. It's best viewed in HD.

d2mini · Mar 5, 2017

kattz said:
Umm... a little price reality here?

If I'm looking at Dennis's setup on his 120 correctly, there's six of the GHL units on his tank and he's dropping what appears to be eight Kessil units. OMG. That's $4,200 in the GHL investment and $2,400-$3,000 in Kessil investments. Color me negative, but I just can't afford that type of expenditure on my 300DD. I love the stuff Dennis does, but right now when it comes to lighting, I'm looking for the Subaru and he's driving the Maserati.

Other than cost, it's a great setup. I'm green with envy.

I need another solution besides this. Lighting is what's keeping me from continuing on my 300DD build.

Kev

As someone else pointed out, you are confusing/combining two different tanks... mine and slief's.

Mine is the 120g Elos, which has three Radion G4 Pro's over it. My 25g nano has one Mitras LX7 over it.
Slief's is the 480g tank above with 6 Mitras.

Txdragonslayer · Mar 5, 2017

I'm all for MH!

kattz · Mar 6, 2017

Sorry, man. Confused the two tanks; my bad.

But you know I think your builds are always sweeeet!

Kev

dragon99 · Mar 18, 2017

@d2mini
How's the nano doing with the Mitras? Any more thoughts after a month+ with the new light?

dragon99 · Mar 18, 2017

Welllll, this small club just got a little larger

Thanks @d2mini and @slief for posting the review, pics, and video. I had kinda written this light off my list before reading this thread. I was pretty focused on the Philips, but it's still not released and I need to get the T5's off my tank because of rising temperatures.

HolisticBear · Mar 18, 2017

dragon99 said:
Welllll, this small club just got a little larger

Thanks @d2mini and @slief for posting the review, pics, and video. I had kinda written this light off my list before reading this thread. I was pretty focused on the Philips, but it's still not released and I need to get the T5's off my tank because of rising temperatures.

The Seneye home doesn't include the PAR meter. You didn't want the reef version?