DIY LED Question: Supp LEDs to an ATI 6 Bulb...looking for color advice

[cody6766]

I bought an ATI fixture that came with a DIY mod. The original owner added 12 LEDs on 2 heat sinks on each side of the light. I really like what the blue LEDs add to the T5s, but I think some careful LED selection can make it better.

Right now I have 6 LEDs, assumed to be CREE blues, on 24" x 1.5(ish)" bars. They attach to the front and back of the T5 fixture. The Maxwell driver is more or less maxed out at 12 of 13 LEDs and cannot be dimmed.

I think I can easily fit an additional 2 LEDs, and probably fit 4 LEDs on each heat sink. I don't mind buying additional drivers, or buying a driver I can dim to balance things out, if needed.

So, to the meat of the question...what LEDs should I add to the 12 blues to add the pop that one can only get with LEDs? What I have is nice, but I think I can do better. I want to avoid the Windex look, but would like to eek out as much vibrance I I can get. I don't want to go to the 20K+ look, so i'm thinking that UV LEDs might get me where I want to be. Also, I think I have Royal Blue LEDs, not regular blues, but I don't know how to confirm that.

So, what LED mix would you guys recommend for 2x 24" bars of blue/actinic/UV supplementation to a 15'ish K T5 arrangement?

 

[jayball]

Odds are good that they are royal blue. If it was me I would add 420NM (true violet, a bit visible, closer to the actinic bulb peak) or 405NM (Near UV, almost invisible to the eye but floreses green coral very bright). anything under 420 tends to degrade all but the highest quality lense so watch for that.

 

[cody6766]

that's kind of what I was thinking. Right now I'm running them without lenses and the coverage in the tank is fine. I don't need any additional PAR, so anything I get there is just a bonus. The height of the light and my couch position makes it a bit of a nuisance, so I'll put the widest lenses I can find on anything I get.

Give me some feedback on this configuration:

RB--V--UV--RB--UV--V--UV--B--UV--V--B

The back bar will be a mirror image of the front. I'm thinking it might be smart to buy a dimmable driver so I can balance the LEDs with the T5s. I'm not after the all-too-common super blue look of an LED only tank, but I'd like to get a little more florescence out of the coral.

 

[jayball]

RB--V--UV--RB--UV--V--UV--B--UV--V--B

Assuming the B on the right is a typo that is very close to the ratio of LED's I use on my sunrise and set channel. (8 - 405, 4 - 420, 8 - 450 spread across a 4 ft tank) The look will be similar to what you have but with the addition of a violet hue and a bit more brilliant fluorescence.

One thing to keep in mind is unless the heatsync stays fairly cool now you may need to drop the current you are running through the LED's to maintain a safe temp

 

[cody6766]

Yup, that B should be RB. Right now, with 6 LEDs running at 700mA, the heatsink is barely warm to the touch. I think I'll be using the extruded bars from Rapid LED (unless there's a better option out there) which look more efficient than the ones I have now.