Budman Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 looking at ordering this led build from rapid led tellme what you think.. if anyone has anything similar I would like to be able to see them. this is going on a 125 gal mixed reef. this is my first led 3 x 6" x 20" Drilled/Tapped Heatsinks 3 x 20" splash guards 24 Cool White Cree XP-G R5 LEDs 33 Royal Blue Cree XT-E LEDs 9 Violet UV LEDs 3 Red Cree XP-E LEDs 3 Green Cree XP-E LEDs 72 x 60 degree lenses (if the lights will be less than 10-12" off the water we would recommend the 80 degree lenses) 7 Mean Well ELN-60-48D or 7 Mean Well ELN-60-48P drivers (Please make sure to adjust the SVR2 to the correct output levels on these drivers!) 1 Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive (for the lenses) and 2 tube of Thermal Grease (for the LEDs) 3 Y-shaped Hanging Kits 14 water resistant wire nuts 7 power cords (US + Canada orders only) 25' Black Bulk Wire 25' Red Bulk Wire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwimmers Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 I have a pertty big rapidLED setup - about 66 LEDs over my 5' 120. Mostly blue/white and a few red/green - about to add 10 UVs. More then welcome to come check it out anytime - located on NW side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 I am on west side let me know what is good for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin1300 Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Jr (Romeo) has a nice LED diy setup too.... If jr does not respond you chloroform him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefNewby82 Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 LMA0 !! J.R. is in my living room right now and i just showed him...now he has to respond !! Haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin1300 Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Wow, on tablet and typed "pm him!", not chloroform him!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefNewby82 Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Dude were crackin up...i didnt know this site was that pressured for people to respond !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 I am still up in the air if this is enough leds for my reef. I am old school with vho, and 250 watt halide. not likeing the cost of changing bulbs. been reefin for about 20 years. I only have a couple of sps mostly lps and softies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Msr224 Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 Just a little opinion here.....if you can make a couple of swaps.... Skip the green and replace with additional red. That will give you 2 reds per bank and the green only grows algae.... Do they have 120d lenses available? either convex or standard.. You'll also need to decide what style of dimming you want to do so that you can determine which driver to go with. The most common and easiest to work with is the 0-10v(version D). The determining factor in this will be the type of controller you want to use to control the dimming. You don't want to run the LEDs at the full voltage. Run them a little short and you will see increased stability and length of life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 I am sure I can make swaps with different colors and I will look into optics this was with 60 and I think 80 or more might be better will check on 120.. I will have these 8 inches or more off the water. as far as dimming there is the version d it looks to be the easiest and cheapest I am sure I will have lots of questions from those of you with led experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin1300 Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 Since Scott (MSR) commented have to plug our sponsor, Orphek. I was considering DIYing a fixture and for the price, you really don't save much of anything DIY. Instead of DIYing the LEDs for my tank I'm going with Atlantiks: http://orphek.com/orphek-products/atlantik/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 i like the idea of the diy plus I can add to later if needed. plus this is over a 125 gal and I am sure I would have more cost in a factory fixture. I have looked at a lot of the already built fixtures and would need 3 of most of them. this build is at@ $800 with the fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin1300 Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 Understood. I'm penetrating 30 inches of water and the Atlantik fit the bill and came out cheaper. It's got 78 LEDs per fixture and Meanwell drivers so I did cost comparisons and wanted my tank to have coverage for something equivalent of a 400 watt MH. From this link I did some comparisons for ReefLEDs recommendations based on sq inches for my tanks coverage. Below is something similar I did for footprint of a 125: 1,296 sq in for a 125 gallon 864 sq in for 36X26 area Reef LED Lights recommends 48-60 LEDs over 864 sq inches so that's one LED to every 14.4-18 sq inches. With those calculations, take 1,296 and divide by that ratio and it comes out to 72-90 LEDs. That all being said...The 72-90 LEDs would be blues/whites as they are what's putting out the PAR and from your outline you have 57 Blues/Whites. I'd consider adding some more so you have something a little more powerful. Just my thought on the subject, take it like a grain of salt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Msr224 Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 IME most of these kits are good bit the recommended tank sizes are a little bit of a stretch. I would guess that's 50%-65% of what you'll eventually want on the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwimmers Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 I am free any time, pm me and we can go from there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 Thanks for the info on how many leds I need I may just add 12 more blue white. these heat sinks will hold 36 per. I will always be able to add to it as I get higher light needs. It is so much different from what I have always done with older light systems and just went for total wattage. This is probably the biggest change in reef tanks. I like the cost savings and headachs of not changing bulbs yearly. the savings of not having to run 1000 plus watts on my tank, and the added heat they cause. which is one of the biggest reasons I am doing this. My tank gets really stressed from heat in the summer with no chiller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin1300 Posted January 26, 2013 Report Share Posted January 26, 2013 Thanks for the info on how many leds I need I may just add 12 more blue white. these heat sinks will hold 36 per. I will always be able to add to it as I get higher light needs. It is so much different from what I have always done with older light systems and just went for total wattage. This is probably the biggest change in reef tanks. I like the cost savings and headachs of not changing bulbs yearly. the savings of not having to run 1000 plus watts on my tank, and the added heat they cause. which is one of the biggest reasons I am doing this. My tank gets really stressed from heat in the summer with no chiller. Many of us have the same reasons! On my 600 I'd probably run about 3.2 kW of MHs and supplemental T5s. I'll be able to light an 8'X4' footprint for right around 1 KW! No chiller, and no bulb replacements every 6-9 months! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 this is the setup I am going to build I will keep u guys posted and start a build thread Iwill be using the d drivers 3 x 6" x 20" Drilled/Tapped Heatsinks 3 x 20" splash guards 30 Cool White Cree XP-G R5 LEDs 42 Royal Blue Cree XT-E LEDs 12 Violet UV LEDs 3 Red Cree XP-E LEDs 3 Green Cree XP-E LEDs 90 x 60 degree lenses (if the lights will be less than 10-12" off the water we would recommend 80 degree lenses instead) 7 Mean Well ELN-60-48D and 1 Mean Well ELN-60-27D or 7 Mean Well ELN-60-48P drivers and 1 Mean Well ELN-60-27P driver (Please make sure to adjust the SVR2 to the correct output levels on these drivers!) 1 Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive (for the lenses) and 2 tubes of Thermal Grease (for the LEDs) 3 Y-shaped Hanging Kits 3 x 92mm Vantec Fans 1 x 12V AC Adapter 2 x Fan Y Adapter 3 x Fan Extension Wires 16 water resistant wire nuts 8 power cords (US + Canada orders only) (you can connect multiple drivers to one power cord if you'd like to save some AC outlets) 25' Black Bulk Wire 25' Red Bulk Wire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin1300 Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Looks like a great setup. Keep us posted when you start building! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefer82 Posted January 30, 2013 Report Share Posted January 30, 2013 Ill keep an eye on this thread as well, I'm about to start a similar project fir a 90 I'm picking up next week. I've got 72 leds from rapid led already as well as 6 meanwell 60-48d drivers and the 2 channel dimming kit. I need yo decide on a heatsink and mounting style...not sure if ill do a canopy and mount them however or hang from the ceiling. JR lives right by me and has an excellent setup so I'm sure ill have to bribe him somehow for some assistance. If you need any extra whites I may have a couple...I haven't planned the exact configuration just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Msr224 Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 http://www.worcreef.org/index.php?topic=15151.0 Here is a link to a similar build. This one is over in Ohio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted February 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 I like the heatsink he used a little pricy but nice. I did order the same 4 channel dimmer control so I can run all colors seperate and a moonlight kit.just waiting for this to show up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefer82 Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 The makersled heatsink is very high on my list, just trying to decide if its worth $150. I've seen several builds and they have all turned out great using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted February 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 I also wanted to use it but at $300 for a 72' .It just nocked me out of my budget. My leds should be in on Tue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefer82 Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 Yeah its serious cash but one of the most important pieces. I like the flexibility, not cementing them down makes for easy change out or future upgrades. I was going to get a blank and then just drill/tap myself but this is so much easier. I'm only dealing with 36" though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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