I modded out an old 24" Solaris i5 unit with some good LEDs. Back in the day those fixtures were awesome, but now it takes twice as many of their old LEDs to equal the newer ones. So I have 6 Blues/6 whites on either side for a total of 24 LEDs with 60* optics. It's powered by 2 dimmable meanwell drivers. I cut the back fin off of the heatsinks that were already in there and was able to sandwich the driver between the heatsink and the top of the Solaris fixture. I also replaced the 4 fans with much better ones. It's amazing how cool this fixture stays even with the drivers being housed in the fixture. Finally, I installed 2 potentiometers with the dials sticking out through the top so she could adjust the color temperature to whatever she wanted. I wish I took pics along the way so that this all would make more sense. I do have this one shot that I sent to her when it was "alive."
I found a few more pics of the light. Here is a side view of the original fixture with just one strip of LEDs removed. You can see the fin in the middle at the bottom of the picture (which is actually the top of the light) that I cut off to fit the driver right there.
I then took some aluminum strips and cut them down to the same size of the circuit boards that had the LEDs attached to them in the first place. I only used 2 or 3 LEDs per strip rather than 5 like the original light had since these LEDs are over twice as bright as the originals.
As you can tell, this tank would be nothing without all of my daughter's expertise and creativity. She saved me a bundle and got me a better light than you can buy by making this one. It makes the tank what it is.
You have a beautiful tank! The video is amazing and turned out great. I could only imagine what it looks like in person! Great job and I love the aquascape!
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