Questions about Rapid LED kits

[Gonzo59]

Hi, I frequent other regional forums for my area and was turned onto Nano-reef by my fellow members because I couldn't get the information I wanted on LED technology. I have already read evilc66's sticky which was very helpful; but I have more specific questions to a particular pre-made kit.

 

I have a oceanic biocube 14 g AIO; Rapid LED offers a kit that fits inside my existing hood. The problem is that it only offers 12 LED lights for the kit, which I thought was a little puny. Do ya'll think it is sufficient? I run LPS and one montipora and would like to get an anemone in the future.

 

If you think it will be sufficient what colors should I choose? There's not much room for variety and I would like to have as close to a full color spectrum as possible.

 

They use CREE LEDs

 

http://www.rapidled.com/biocube-14-retrofit-kit-with-two-dimmable-drivers/

 

http://www.rapidled.com/leds/

 

I've been thinking about just adding another row on either side of the two existing rows if there is enough room...

[icecool217]

12 LEDs is probably not enough for LPS and SPS that demands more light. You can definitely add more LEDs providing that the driver can support them. It looks like you did some research already so I would assume you know how to calculate how many LEDs a particular driver can support. If not, then just ask.

 

Only concern is that if you add more LEDs to the heatsink, you will need to add a second or third fan to keep the LEDs from running hot inside the hood. You can opt to add more fans in. Buy a computer fans, an usb cable, and an external usb port with power adapter. Splice the cable and cables on the computer fan, and match the 2 coloured cables (red to red, black to black). That removes the need to find a power adapter and add as many fans as you need.

 

As for the colour spectrum, a lot of us prefer a mixture of colours than just white and blue: Red, Cyan, Royal Blue, Neutral Whites, and Hyperviolet. Some people have now included cool whites and regular blues as well but for myself, I am pretty satisfied with the colour selection as it looked bright and natural on the fixtures that I have built. Keep in mind that one manufacture's RB may look slightly different than another's RB. If you decide to build using that combination, remember to group Red, Cyan, and Royal Blue together in a tight triangle (to eliminate disco effect, plus this combo is equivalent to neutral white), and 2:1 RB to White. HVs appear dim but are pretty strong to the corals. My recommendation is that if you decide to add another row and include HVs, you may want to string those with its own drivers with a lower amperage. Read through the LED color/selection recommendation thread. Think about what type of LEDs, brand of LEDs, and the combination that you want. That would probably be a good start.

 

Almost forgot to use dimmable drivers. That way you do not have to run LEDs at 100%, can help your corals adjust to the lighting, and can the dimming capability to render a combined lighting that works for you.

[evilc66]

Lol! 12 LEDs is more than enough for a tank of that size to grow everything and anything that you could want. 12-14 LEDs is a very common setup for this size tank.

 

As icecool217 said, its a good idea to get a different mix than the default cool white a royal blue setup. There is no real difference in overall growth potential, but the color rendering of your corals will improve considerably with the right setup. Dimmable drivers are also a good idea for tuning the color, setting your overall intensity, and acclimating an existing tank to the new setup.

 

Don't get too overwhelmed with the array of available colors. Not all of them are truly necessary and are there to help adjust your lighting setup to suit your specific needs and tastes. A good starting point for a 12 LED setup would be 4 neutral white (4500k), 6 royal blue (450nm), and 2 cool blue (470nm). Violet LEDs (400-430nm) are strictly for growth. Cyan and green LEDs are good for making the light look brighter, as well as removingnsome purple tint that you can get from neutral white and royal blue combos. Red and deep red are more for color rendering, but can be tough to blend in some situations. Deep red does have some growth benefit in shallow water sps.

[Gonzo59]

12 LEDs is probably not enough for LPS and SPS that demands more light. You can definitely add more LEDs providing that the driver can support them. It looks like you did some research already so I would assume you know how to calculate how many LEDs a particular driver can support. If not, then just ask.

 

I didn't know there were ways to calculate this. I just figured two Mean Well ELS-60-27's dimmable drivers could handle 18-24 LED's... while I have yall on the subject of drivers... Do ya'll happen to know the difference between the 27P and 27S models that are offered?

[Gonzo59]

Lol! 12 LEDs is more than enough for a tank of that size to grow everything and anything that you could want. 12-14 LEDs is a very common setup for this size tank.

 

As icecool217 said, its a good idea to get a different mix than the default cool white a royal blue setup. There is no real difference in overall growth potential, but the color rendering of your corals will improve considerably with the right setup. Dimmable drivers are also a good idea for tuning the color, setting your overall intensity, and acclimating an existing tank to the new setup.

 

Don't get too overwhelmed with the array of available colors. Not all of them are truly necessary and are there to help adjust your lighting setup to suit your specific needs and tastes. A good starting point for a 12 LED setup would be 4 neutral white (4500k), 6 royal blue (450nm), and 2 cool blue (470nm). Violet LEDs (400-430nm) are strictly for growth. Cyan and green LEDs are good for making the light look brighter, as well as removingnsome purple tint that you can get from neutral white and royal blue combos. Red and deep red are more for color rendering, but can be tough to blend in some situations. Deep red does have some growth benefit in shallow water sps.

In your opinion do you think it is enough for corals that just require a small amount of light? Or for all corals except SPS?? I'm not too fixated on adding SPS to the tank but it could be nice.

 

Also I have read that the biggest mistake to make with LED's is to only use one type of white and/or blue, since LED's only hit the one spectrum they are designed for as opposed to other lights that can hit multiple spectrums (within a color) in a single color. What are your thoughts?

[icecool217]

Lol! 12 LEDs is more than enough for a tank of that size to grow everything and anything that you could want. 12-14 LEDs is a very common setup for this size tank.

 

As icecool217 said, its a good idea to get a different mix than the default cool white a royal blue setup. There is no real difference in overall growth potential, but the color rendering of your corals will improve considerably with the right setup. Dimmable drivers are also a good idea for tuning the color, setting your overall intensity, and acclimating an existing tank to the new setup.

 

Don't get too overwhelmed with the array of available colors. Not all of them are truly necessary and are there to help adjust your lighting setup to suit your specific needs and tastes. A good starting point for a 12 LED setup would be 4 neutral white (4500k), 6 royal blue (450nm), and 2 cool blue (470nm). Violet LEDs (400-430nm) are strictly for growth. Cyan and green LEDs are good for making the light look brighter, as well as removing some purple tint that you can get from neutral white and royal blue combos. Red and deep red are more for color rendering, but can be tough to blend in some situations. Deep red does have some growth benefit in shallow water sps.

 

Not doubting you. I always feel it is much easier to have more LEDs and dim rather than be on the lower side. I would probably get laughed if I told you I more LEDs over a 7.5 gallon tank. lol

 

 

I didn't know there were ways to calculate this. I just figured two Mean Well ELS-60-27's dimmable drivers could handle 18-24 LED's... while I have yall on the subject of drivers... Do ya'll happen to know the difference between the 27P and 27S models that are offered?

 

I think you mean 27P or 27D?

 

P model means it is PWM capable. If you look at Rapidled's website, P drivers are "fully programmable with PWM controllers (Arduino software, Reef Angel,etc)"

 

D model is "fully programmable with 0-10V controllers (Reef Keeper w/ ALC, Neptune Apex,etc) or a potentiometer + 10AC Adapter.

 

 

As for a quick calculation, for example, the ELN-60-27P provides a 13.5-27V DC Voltage, at 2.3A max. Let's say you are using the Cree XML cool white, the specs for it is: 2.9V @350mA, 3.1V @1500mA, 3.35V @3000mA. So at 2300mA, it looks like the forward voltage is between 3.1V-3.35V. To be on the safe side, let's use the higher voltage (3.35V). So let's do the math.

 

Take 13.5V / 3.35 = 4.02

Take 27V / 3.35 = 8.06

 

This means that the minimum number of XML cool whites required is 4.02 and maximum you can wire together is 8.06. For the minimum, it cannot go below 4.02 so that means you need 5 CW. Since you should not go above the maximum of 8.06, you round down to 8. So in summary, you can drive 5 to 8 XML CW.

 

One thing you need to avoid is using a driver that has a higher amperage than the LEDs can take. Let's say your driver runs at 2.3A max, and the LED you want to use specify a maximum of 700mA (or 0.7A), you will fry your LEDs instantly by supplying too much current to the LEDs. If your driver runs at 700mA max. while your LEDs can go to 1500mA, then it is perfectly fine.

[evilc66]

In your opinion do you think it is enough for corals that just require a small amount of light? Or for all corals except SPS?? I'm not too fixated on adding SPS to the tank but it could be nice.

 

Also I have read that the biggest mistake to make with LED's is to only use one type of white and/or blue, since LED's only hit the one spectrum they are designed for as opposed to other lights that can hit multiple spectrums (within a color) in a single color. What are your thoughts?

The 12 LED setup is more than enough for even a full sps tank. It can be made suitable to lower light corals with the use of dimmable drivers (or other ways to block some of the light).

 

There is no issue with using only one type of white LED. You just have to use the right one. Neutral white (~4500K) is the preferred choice right now. As for blue, you can get away with just royals, but 470nm has a lot of benefits, when used correctly. It's one of those colors that can make a tank look horrible when used in excess. The setup I suggested earlier should be pretty balanced.

 

Not doubting you. I always feel it is much easier to have more LEDs and dim rather than be on the lower side. I would probably get laughed if I told you I more LEDs over a 7.5 gallon tank. lol

Nothing wrong with having an excess of LEDs, provided you can control the intensity.

[Gonzo59]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the input.

[Gonzo59]

In yall's opinion, does it really matter which dimmable driver I get from the list?

[evilc66]

The nano driver is the easiest to use, but has a max output of 700mA. It's probably just fine, especially if you aren't getting into a lot of high light sps. It's still 0-10v compatible, so you can use it with a compatible controller down the line.

 

The ELN drivers give you the ability to run at higher currents, but at the cost of harder setup. These drivers require the maximum current to be set via an internal potentiometer. It also requires additional parts that aren't included with the kit to make the drivers work if you aren't using a compatible controller.