DYI new led build for biocube 29

[tinman]

I'll tell ya what, you really only need 16-20 LEDs over a 29 biocube if you are retroing the stock hood. I had the 20 led kit on my old bc29, and I had both channels of LEDs dimmed to like 40-50% and that was still enough to bleach a couple of my Lps corals, and pretty much light up the entire kitchen area the tank was in. The fixture with 20 leds at 100% read nearly 800 par up top under the water and still around 350 at the sand. It was ridiculously overpowered. Definitely go dimmable with your kit to dial in the right amount of light and get the color spectrum you enjoy looking at, no need to go overboard and spend more money than necessary to get the job done, the bc29 is a pretty small tank to light up.

was gonna hang it over the cube ...

as Gus suggested 10 blues nd 10 whites and 4 other colors but my options are weighing more towards the kessil A350 .... both diy and kessil are costing me pretty much same so was thinking which way to go stuck

 

[FishBeard]

Will you be removing the trim around the top of the glass if you are running with no hood? Looks great as a rimless tank.

If you are confident and hands on kind of person, go DIY for the experience and bragging rites you made it yourself.

 

[CoralCompulsion]

Will you be removing the trim around the top of the glass if you are running with no hood? Looks great as a rimless tank.

If you are confident and hands on kind of person, go DIY for the experience and bragging rites you made it yourself.

I just did this on a 12g nano cube and it looks very nice. Highly recommended, and only took about an hour to get it all off and cleaned up nicely.

 

[m.miller1547]

I agree with George. 24 LEDs is allot. Unless you rent a par meter I would definitly setup a controller or potentiometers. I would start them at 20%. You may never ramp em up after you realize how bright they are. Plan your heatsink carefully. There is nothing worse than LEDs without optics. Crazy light spillage.

 

[tinman]

weighing more towards the kessil a350, anyone has experience using them ?

 

[BADGUS]

PM Mark(mmreefcrazy) he has 2 over his tank and by my last conversation with him,he is very impressed with them.

 

[tinman]

View attachment 4337

hey Gus, how does this look ??

so would decide by this weekend if i will be going with DIY or a350 .. the guy selling a350 broke the gooseneck to hang it... so back to wether diy or kessil dilemma

if going diy ..finally would be going with 10 whites, 6 royal blues , 4 blues, and 2 uv and one red and one green ..

Note .. one of the two greens is gonna be a red

 

[tinman]

Will you be removing the trim around the top of the glass if you are running with no hood? Looks great as a rimless tank.

If you are confident and hands on kind of person, go DIY for the experience and bragging rites you made it yourself.

no wont be removing the trm .. too scared to do that lol

 

[FishBeard]

no wont be removing the trm .. too scared to do that lol

Don't be scared, its even easier than drilling holes in a tank for bulkheads! It will be completely worth the effort to do if you are taking the hood off the tank full time.

 

[tinman]

Don't be scared, its even easier than drilling holes in a tank for bulkheads! It will be completely worth the effort to do if you are taking the hood off the tank full time.

but then how do i have the mesh on the tank so as to prevent my jaw fish from jumping off ??

 

[prestige-led]

Pattern looks good man,go for it!!

 

[FishBeard]

but then how do i have the mesh on the tank so as to prevent my jaw fish from jumping off ??

Oy.... Why go open top with a pendant hanging over it if you are just going to have the ugly trim and mesh netting frame on top of the tank? Retro the LED into the hood and keep the clean look of the biocube. Will look so much better and you wont have to worry about your jawfish jumping out. The leds will work just as fine in the hood as if they were hanging over the tank. There is plenty of ventilation to keep the fixture cool in the hood.

 

[tinman]

and if at all Gus .. to avoid the spillage what degree optics should i go for ??

also is there a reason why you said no optics in the first place ??

 

[tinman]

Oy.... Why go open top with a pendant hanging over it if you are just going to have the ugly trim and mesh netting frame on top of the tank? Retro the LED into the hood and keep the clean look of the biocube. Will look so much better and you wont have to worry about your jawfish jumping out. The leds will work just as fine in the hood as if they were hanging over the tank. There is plenty of ventilation to keep the fixture cool in the hood.

thats an option too but then again i like the eerie look of blue water ripples on the walls and ceiling (reflections)

would i still get that shimmer in the water if i retrofit the hood with leds ??

 

[prestige-led]

and if at all Gus .. to avoid the spillage what degree optics should i go for ??

also is there a reason why you said no optics in the first place ??

Get the 70* or 80* if available. I said no optics cause i thought it was going into the stock hood. You will not get ripples in your walls with the hood in place.

 

[tinman]

Get the 70* or 80* if available. I said no optics cause i thought it was going into the stock hood. You will not get ripples in your walls with the hood in place.

lol no i meant that shimmering effect in the water if i do the hood retrofit

but yea that kinda answers my question

thanks

 

[FishBeard]

You'll get shimmer no matter what, but the hood will block light from reflecting back off the water on your walls and ceiling.

 

[tinman]

Yay ..

got the most toughest part in my mind done

got the kit for framing the mesh i got from Goat585 ..the mesh is simply awesome ..didnt expect this
got the counduit from home depot and one old guy is sweet enough to bend it for me so the fixture part is done


waiting to hear from the kessil guy ...

 

[sparky5785]

Hey tinman if you are going topless (LOL) on your biocube would the top be for sale? If so pm me I'd be interested.

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Hoolin]

Get the 70* or 80* if available. I said no optics cause i thought it was going into the stock hood. You will not get ripples in your walls with the hood in place.

so if the leds go inside the hood, u dont need optics ?