Need advice on DIY LED

Tethered_Limbs

Active member
my buddy has a 40b reef he want to make a diy led fixture for,i was looking at the rapid led kits n they look nice. but i remember ted saying you need more than blue n white you need green purp red... would the 24 Ultra Premium LED DIY Kit with Dimmable Drivers from rapid led be ok for just about anything in his shallow reef? or if i need to add to the spectrum how would i go about doing that
 
They let you swap in other colors of LEDs over there. They have reds and greens too, so they do have some spectral options. I'll let Ted fill you in on the specifics, but they have everything you need there. :)
 
I would maybe add 1 green and 1 red,otherwise in a 24led kit i wouldn't change much.Maybe do 14Royal Blue and 8white,1 red,1green.Get the dual driver dimmer to dim each individual string to dial in the color.I've done several and works great.In my nano i went with the pwm controller and it's plain awesomeness.
 
24 would be iffy over a 40b tank, I would consider minimum 36-42 LEDs spread evenly over a 24-30" x 9-12" area, about 8-10" above the tank, with no optics. This arrangement should get you started off well, and can add more later if needed.

For a 40b, I'd do 8 purple/uv LEDs scattered around the entire length of the tank, on their own Dimmable driver, 6 greens and 2 reds on a driver, and 12 each royal blue and cool whites on their own drivers,
 
I would maybe add 1 green and 1 red,otherwise in a 24led kit i wouldn't change much.Maybe do 14Royal Blue and 8white,1 red,1green.Get the dual driver dimmer to dim each individual string to dial in the color.I've done several and works great.In my nano i went with the pwm controller and it's plain awesomeness.

wats pwm?
 
24 would be iffy over a 40b tank, I would consider minimum 36-42 LEDs spread evenly over a 24-30" x 9-12" area, about 8-10" above the tank, with no optics. This arrangement should get you started off well, and can add more later if needed.

For a 40b, I'd do 8 purple/uv LEDs scattered around the entire length of the tank, on their own Dimmable driver, 6 greens and 2 reds on a driver, and 12 each royal blue and cool whites on their own drivers,

would he need more because of the width of the beam of light?
 
By spreading them out to get better coverage, you lose the intensity and your par drops. I think. 24 seems pretty low for that tank. Depends on the depth of the tank too. If it's deep, I think you're suppose to add optics and put leds closer together. Shallower can be spaced out more without optics. Correct me if I'm wrong someone.

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Look into satisled.com and use meanwell drivers.Their new line of 180lumen led's are super bright and has a very noticeable light increase over the cree xpg leds.George is right,24leds is not enough,that's what i have on my 30g cube.I would do 48 leds.
 
Aquastyleonline.com for bridgelux chips and mean well Dimmable drivers. Even their heatsinks are crazy inexpensive!
 
awesome links guys. its pretty shallow but i can see the width being a problem. with 24 wed prolly, get 2 24" heatsinks,12 leds a sink n space them bout 6" apart. with 36 led could do the same with except 9" thick beam? would that be too narrow a beam?
 
The bridgelux leds from aquastyle are relatively comparable to Cree for par output, I have no idea what you end up with ordering from satisled.
 
are their diy kits a good option, they dont come with the meanwell drivers or controllers, but it does come with a fan n heatsink that rapid doesnt have in their kit. or just put all the pieces in the cart separately?
 
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