Led questions

[Saltydude]

My friend sold me a heatsink, 4 fans, and 3 drivers.

According to rapid led I need 12 LEDs for my 24inch x 12inch (15g) tank so I was thinking of

6 Royal Blue and 6 Cool White... Is this enough and do I need more colours and at what ratio? And will extra colours so full spectrum look better than Rb:Cw

[VW_TDI_02]

My friend sold me a heatsink, 4 fans, and 3 drivers.

According to rapid led I need 12 LEDs for my 24inch x 12inch (15g) tank so I was thinking of

6 Royal Blue and 6 Cool White... Is this enough and do I need more colours and at what ratio? And will extra colours so full spectrum look better than Rb:Cw

I would look at other builds and see what they used and how their tanks came out. You can also look at popular lights such as NanoBox and Radion to see what colors they use. If you look through the lighting section you can find a million threads of people doing very similar stuff to you. This next thread should also help a ton deciding what colors do what.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/352618-led-colors-and-what-they-are-used-for/

[Reefkid88]

What drivers ?! I'd add some different nm violets,a few cool blues and a few ultramarine blues.

[Saltydude]

What drivers ?! I'd add some different nm violets,a few cool blues and a few ultramarine blues.

He said the drivers are three 700ma non dimmable drivers... And theirs 3 of them so Im thinking the

first will be 6 Royal Blues and

second will be 6 cool whites and

Third will be, 3 hues of bluish colour, 1 orange, 1 red, 1 green

Similar to the prime HD

 

And I was also wondering if I could get some controllability from the led through my phone with some kind of module?

[ajmckay]

The tough thing about LEDs is getting the color right. This involves using multiple color channels (blue, white, violet, etc) and blending them. Each channel generally needs it's own driver as well. It's not uncommon to have 5 or 6 different spectra LEDs on 4+ channels. So if you wanted to get into more colors you'll need more drivers.

 

I used a 2:1 royal blue to neutral white combination as my base (in addition to other colors), and running just those I think the tank looks good. So fill 2 of your drivers up with however many RB led's they'll support and 1 of the drivers with NW (I used 4000k). This would probably be the easiest. Not sure which drivers you have or how many LEDs they support but at least this makes it easy. If you want 12 LEDs then 8 RB and 4 NW. Maybe order some cyan or a cooler blue also to mix in? It's easier to order more LEDs up front because individually they're not very expensive and shipping often costs a lot.

 

For controllers you'll need to get an add on such as the bluefish and new drivers that are dimmable to the controllers output method. Adding a controller also adds a lot to the cost though with phone functionality costing $100 - 200+. IMO unless you're looking to build a large fixture you should just buy a commercially available one such as the AI prime or Nanobox duo or something. If you really want to DIY something beyond the 2:1 RB:NW setup then you'll probably end up starting from scratch, except maybe the heatsink.

[Saltydude]

Imo I think off the shelf fixtures are to expensive but they do have cool functions... I just want to get the job done and make it look nice on the tank while on a budget

I skip the controllability function and full spectrum

So I'll have on the

First driver 3 Royal blue

Second driver 3 ultramarine 420-450nm

Third 6 Cool White

 

Is that good or could you guys give me a different combination of LEDs for three drivers

And should I replace either the Royal Blues or ultramarines with 3 uv LEDs... Will this be harmful or make the corals get more flourecent... Caus I want more flourecense without washing the tank with blue

[evilc66]

Don't skip on the full spectrum part. You will hate yourself later. I have a good idea for an LED setup that will be fairly simple but still give you decent control, but I need to know the details on the drivers. Might as well make the best use of what you have.

[Reefkid88]

If you use better whites,you will eliminate the use of the red,green and oranges. Use Neutrals or Warms to fill that gap those 3 colors claim. Add a few cool blues (also called regular blues) and cyans on the white channel and whatever else blue wise on the blue channel.

[Saltydude]

Correct me if I'm wrong here. I can only have one same colour led string on the driver right? or can I have similar colours on the same driver?

If I use--- on the

Driver1- 6Nutral White- 2cyan/cool blue

Driver2- 3UV-A

Driver3- 3Royal blue- 3ultramarines

 

I'm really intrested in UV-A LEDs are these harmful to myself or livestock and will these bring out more pop in the corals?

 

 

Evilc66 I'm intrested in your idea what r u thinking...

[ajmckay]

Correct me if I'm wrong here. I can only have one same colour led string on the driver right? or can I have similar colours on the same driver?

If I use--- on the

Driver1- 6Nutral White- 2cyan/cool blue

Driver2- 3UV-A

Driver3- 3Royal blue- 3ultramarines

 

I'm really intrested in UV-A LEDs are these harmful to myself or livestock and will these bring out more pop in the corals?

 

 

Evilc66 I'm intrested in your idea what r u thinking...

 

Post the details of your drivers! Make/Model # or a picture or something that shows the input/output specs. I'm also interested in what Evil comes up with (he needs this info first).

 

As I understand it you can have multiple colors on one driver as long as the forward voltage of all the LEDs is nearly identical.

 

What UV LEDs are you thinking? Are you sure they're not just violet? I'm not sure UV would be a good idea.

[Saltydude]

Ajmckay I'll try to get some pics of my friend as he still hasn't shipped them....

The uv LEDs are these. http://www.rapidled.com/semileds-ultra-violet-uva-led-390-400nm/

They kind of scare me a little

But I want to maximise coral flourecense

 

 

Btw I checked the LEDs that I want and they all drive typically at 350ma or above

[Horerczy]

Those are largely harmless. Though I doubt they will do much for flouresce as sub 430nm LEDs tend to be overpowered by other LEDs.

[Reefkid88]

You can absolutely run more than one color on any given chennel just do exceed the voltage and the max voltage of the driver itself. Also,if the driver has a current of 1000ma don't put violets or anything that can't be ran higher than 700ma.

 

Don't be scared of 400-430 violets,I've always 2-4 in my arrays. Violets are good for par and spectural coverage. UVA is what you don't want. But usually anything under 400nm isn't typically used for reef tanks.

[Saltydude]

Those are largely harmless. Though I doubt they will do much for flouresce as sub 430nm LEDs tend to be overpowered by other LEDs.

 

Is their a another way to make corals flourece more?

[Saltydude]

Here are the LEDs which I'm leaning towards and which drivers I'm gonna put them in

Driver1- 3Ultramarines- 3Royal Blue

Driver2- 6Nuetral White

Driver3- 3 cyan

[ajmckay]

Here are the LEDs which I'm leaning towards and which drivers I'm gonna put them in

Driver1- 3Ultramarines- 3Royal Blue

Driver2- 6Nuetral White

Driver3- 3 cyan

I run the 430nm violets but they don't do a whole ton. I just tested the fluorescence with just those on and it wasn't that great. Royal Blue is really what you want for maximizing fluorescence. I'm not sure about "ultramarine"? Maybe do a search on that one...

 

As for what you have there - seems like that's going to be too much white IMO. I think you need to post info on the drivers and make sure you're getting the right LEDs before moving forward.

 

Also don't forget the other stuff like thermal compound/adhesive, solder, solid core copper wire (22-23 ga I think works well), heatshrink tubing, a terminal block (really useful for making wire connections), zip ties, etc... Also if you can I would order a few extra LEDs. It lets you experiment and also if something happens and one dies you don't have to wait and pay for shipping again. I know when I was building my array a few years ago I had some things go wrong and it was tough to finish.

[Saltydude]

Thanks ajmckay for the info I'll ditch the ultra marines aswell then

[ajmckay]

Thanks ajmckay for the info I'll ditch the ultra marines aswell then

I'm not suggesting you ditch them - I'm just not familiar with them. I'm sure you can find some first hand accounts of people who have incorporated them who can tell you what effects they have on the look of the tank. They might give suggested ratios as well.

[Horerczy]

I would keep the ultra Marines. They are in the royal blue wavelength that gets some of the best flouresce.

[evilc66]

Correct me if I'm wrong here. I can only have one same colour led string on the driver right? or can I have similar colours on the same driver?

If I use--- on the

Driver1- 6Nutral White- 2cyan/cool blue

Driver2- 3UV-A

Driver3- 3Royal blue- 3ultramarines

 

I'm really intrested in UV-A LEDs are these harmful to myself or livestock and will these bring out more pop in the corals?

 

 

Evilc66 I'm intrested in your idea what r u thinking...

And I want to tell you, but you still haven't told me what drivers you have

 

If you want to read up on what each color does, I have a sticky thread at the top of the lighting forum (it's also in my signature)

[Saltydude]

Since ultramarines are 430's nm and in the range of usable light for corals might aswell keep them aye

I'll won't buy any LEDs soon... as I want to know evils idea I'll post some pics of the drivers when they get here in 2-4 days time

[Reefkid88]

I love ultramarines,I run 4 in my light. Add some violets in the 400-410,410-420 and or 430 range. Put the Cyan's with the whites and have whites,cyan and I'd add 1-2 regular blues on that channel and the 3rd strig for some violets.

 

I run 2 channels: 1st channel is 4 ultramarines,2 royal's and 2 410-420's and 2nd channel is 2 nw's 2 royals and 2 regular blues. I may add 2 430's or 410-420's on the white channel.

[Saltydude]

Reef kid do u only run 2 whites on your system...

I was thinking of running

1st channel: 3 ultramarines, 4 Royal blue

2nd channel: 5 neutral whites

3rd channel: 2 cyan, 2 blue, 2 violets

[Reefkid88]

I do,but remember my current tank is only 16" long and 10" deep. My new tank is a 12"x12"x13" cube.

[Nano sapiens]

Creating a good reef LED array can be quite daunting. Here's what I found very useful when creating mine.

 

Using this excellent article on Advanced Aquarist:

 

Feature Article: Light in the Reef Aquaria

By Dmitry Karpenko, Vahe Ganapetyan

 

 

along with excellent recommendations from Evil and Jedi, I ended up with a choice of emitters that seemed correct.

 

Then I used this website http://spectra.1023world.net/ as an approximation to check if the spectrum and intended power levels were adequate and so ended up with my current DIY array that's been plugging away for ~2 years now:

 

 

This is a farily typical spectral plot, but is perhaps a bit heavy on Hyperviolet (~430nm) and a bit more true Blue than many commercial arrays with just a touch of additional red mainly for a bit better color rendition of fish and inverts to the human eye. Whatever you choose, there is a bit of wiggle room as long as you provide the correct wavelengths and intensity that the coral/zooxanthellae need for photosynthesis.

 

From personal experience, having a good spread of 'white' LEDs for coverage is fine, but I found that my corals are happier/healthier when the white channel (mostly CREE NW, in my case) are not turned up too high.