another day another led array

[jfl14609]

So hopefully today the rest of the leds make their way here so tomorrow I am going to build two more led fixtures and put them on the 75. I plan on making two separate fixtures approximately 18 inches in length. each will have 21 bulbs. they are 3 watt cree I think xp-g but always forget that part. then meanwell drivers with the diy arduino controller. I am thinking 7 white 14 blue on each fixture. I am thinking I will have to dim this a bit but it will allow me to use this setup on a larger tank is ever needed. does anyone us any of the red or green leds? I dont personally see a need for them

 

[davidpesce]

I've got an array with violet and green (in addition to cool white and royal blue). The violet and green are on a separate driver and dimmable. You definitely notice a difference in the colors on certain corals. But I don't think those spectrums do much for growth.

 

[jfl14609]

how many did you add

 

[Krypt1979]

ygpm I need some serious help lol.

 

[jfl14609]

not a problem man i will take a bunch of pics as I am building this one and message them to you. I am not sure when i will be able to fire it up as i dont have the controller for it yet but i will have the fixture done by the weekend I am sure i may even solder it all up tonight

 

[reef_guy81]

If you do not mind, could you make a build post for your LED Array ? Or if thats not possible, could you please PM me the build pics as well.. I too am planning on building one for my tank, and could certainly use the help from the instructions and the pictures.

Are you going 2:1 RB to CW ratio? I have read several threads that CW kinda washes out the color compared to NW. Maybe this thread might help you with the color combinations.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1885076.

Thanks.

 

[eamike261]

I just did a Cree build from RapidLED with 1x Red, 11x CW, and 12x RB. When the blues and whites are both turned up all the way there is not much color, the whites definitely overpower the blues. We just keep the blues a little stronger than the whites. I'm not sure if the 1 red is doing anything or if it just gets lost in the other 23. We left the 1 red without an optic.

 

[jfl14609]

thats basically what my other fixture is i have the blues at 100% and the white like 60 i figure why not just got 2 to 1

 

[Krypt1979]

That is what is making me scratch my head. There are so many different opinions on how to do the bulb ratios and what bulb colors to use that it's very confusing.

 

[jfl14609]

your only like 20 mins from me right

 

[Krypt1979]

Yeah, just down 104 a little ways.

 

[jfl14609]

maybe i will wait till this weekend if your free

 

[Krypt1979]

Definitely man, I'd be up to help and learn. Maybe bring some cold ones to help increase the danger/failure chance lol.

 

[E_rock]

Sorry I dont mean to hijack the thread. But I just want your opinions real quick. I have been planning on a similar build for a while. Long story short. Do you think if I put 12 on each side of a 90 gallon tank, 24 in total would it be enough to grow some soft corals just to get me started?? Eventually I will probably add the other 24 to get the standard 48 total. But I would feel a lot better about it, if I knew I could do the first half with out blowing them up. Thanks

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Talking about mix ratios is hard without a lot of specific details - the exact model of each color and the drive current, for starters. In general though the trend right now is to replace some of the cool whites with warm or neutral whites, to help round out the spectrum. Cool whites aren't really that good from a photosynthetic perspective and tend to create a washed out look color-wise as well.

Personally, I have stayed away from warm monochromatic LEDs (i.e. red, orange, yellow) because their spectral output is so narrow - using warmer white LEDs gives you a broader spectral range.

 

[jfl14609]

Sorry I dont mean to hijack the thread. But I just want your opinions real quick. I have been planning on a similar build for a while. Long story short. Do you think if I put 12 on each side of a 90 gallon tank, 24 in total would it be enough to grow some soft corals just to get me started?? Eventually I will probably add the other 24 to get the standard 48 total. But I would feel a lot better about it, if I knew I could do the first half with out blowing them up. Thanks

ho problem on the partial hijack haha I am by no means a pro but just as reference I am putting 42 3 watt crees on my 75

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Again I think we need to be specific - 24 XM-L at full power with tight optics would cook soft coral (or any coral for that matter) and kill it in a 90g. 24 XR-E at moderate currents and no optics would barely keep softies alive in a 90g.

If I were doing a low light system for undemanding softies in a 90g, using typical LEDs and drivers (i.e. Meanwell ELNs) I would probably use 6 warm white XP-G and 6 cool white XP-G on one driver set to 1.3A for white, and two drivers set to 1A with 12 XP-E or XT-E royal blues for actinic supplementation. I'd pick optics based on height above the tank.

 

[jfl14609]

What would your suggestion be if he wanted to keep sps?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

In a 90g using the same models of LED, maybe 50% more than that. Say, 9 cool white and 9 warm white XP-G at 1.3A and 36 royal blue XP-E at 700 or 1000mA.

IMHO the vast majority of LED builds done today are too intense and too cool, but at least some of that is personal preference. I've had a hard time with several "typical" LED arrays bleaching corals if I'm not really careful about placement.

 

[Krypt1979]

In a 90g using the same models of LED, maybe 50% more than that. Say, 9 cool white and 9 warm white XP-G at 1.3A and 36 royal blue XP-E at 700 or 1000mA.

IMHO the vast majority of LED builds done today are too intense and too cool, but at least some of that is personal preference. I've had a hard time with several "typical" LED arrays bleaching corals if I'm not really careful about placement.

Hence my profound confusion lol