LED Help Please

[mkbtank]

So, I am buying (Read: my wife is getting me for a gift) an LED kit from nano-tuners. I am getting the 5.6 cree kit and need to figure out which bulbs will be best.

 

I believe my choices are Cool White, Neutral white, Cool blue and Royal blue.

 

There are 3 (Thomas Research Products 1050mA Dimmable Drivers) drivers with 10 bulbs on each. Any thoughts on what the best mix/placement would be for best color and adjustability (Via dimming the different drivers).

 

This is going on a 28gallon NC. (will be mostly sps)

 

The kit comes with 30 x Cree XRE LEDs (15x Royal Blue and 15x Cool White) but I think I should substitute some cool blue and neutral white as well.

 

Also their layout is: The heatsink component is pre-configured with all LEDs mounted and wired on the heatsink in a "checkerboard" fashion. 10x white LEDs on one channel, 10x royal blue LEDs on a second channel, and 5x white + 5x royal blue LEDs on a third channel.

 

SO... My questions are..... should I switch out any bulbs and would you change anything in the layout?

 

Thanks for any advice.

[NeveSSL]

The general consensus of late has been to add 1 blue LED per group of 12. Neutral whites, on the other hand, depend on your taste. Some people replace all of their cool whites for neutral whites, others only do a fraction (maybe half to two-thirds).

 

I'm about to build mine and I'll be doing 2 blues and trading out two-thirds of my cool whites with neutral whites soon (out of 24-26 LEDs).

 

BTW, if you want some hardcore reading on this subject, check out the aesthetics thread. That is where I learned what I did. There are pictures in the thread, too.

 

Brandon

[mkbtank]

Thanks Brandon! Great info. I like a look a shade on the bluer side (like a 14K pheonix)

 

How would that impact the Neutral white ratio?

[evilc66]

It really doesn't matter, as the drivers are all dimmable, and you can set your color temperature to anything you want. If you want a good baseline with good color rendering, go with 10 neutral white, and 20 royal blue. Thats starting to become an accepted ratio for neutral white use. Blues do add something to the color rendering, but it's not that dramatic, and too much blue can windex the tank. I'd skip them for the time being, and maybe swap out one or two royals for blues at a later date if you feel the need.