homer1475's Biocube 29 Build Thread

So looking into upgrading the lights to LED's. Not sure If I should go with the rapidLED puck or steve's LED's? Any suggestions? Also buying the apex gold series so I don't need a controller for the LED's.

A word of warning on suggestions, I have little to no DIY wiring experience. So the easiest would be the best.

Funny part is soul, I looked all over all those stores, no one had one in stock. thats when I asked someone who obviously had no clue either.
 
Homer going to send you PM as there is one thing to help your decision though I dont think they want it common knowledge. LOL.
 
soulpatch said:
Homer going to send you PM as there is one thing to help your decision though I dont think they want it common knowledge. LOL.
Click to expand...

oOo I want to know!

Let me know what other LED questions there are, I'm happy to talk through them. I did the RapidLED solderless kit, and now have a pretty good idea how LEDs work, so feel free to bounce any ideas off of me.

Steve's isn't compatible with apex without buying a $20-30 adapter, which adds an additional layer of complexity.
 
ReefWreak said:
Steve's isn't compatible with apex without buying a $20-30 adapter, which adds an additional layer of complexity.
Click to expand...

Exactly the reason why I went with Rapid LED. I was actually going to go with Steve's till I got this response from them and decided I have enough going on to bother with an additional middle man in the lighting chain given how critical they are for our tanks.
 
ReefWreak said:
oOo I want to know!

Let me know what other LED questions there are, I'm happy to talk through them. I did the RapidLED solderless kit, and now have a pretty good idea how LEDs work, so feel free to bounce any ideas off of me.

Steve's isn't compatible with apex without buying a $20-30 adapter, which adds an additional layer of complexity.
Click to expand...

Yeah just figured this out. That's the reason I'm going to go for the rapid puck. Plus rapid sells all the apex stuff so I can get it right from them, and if I have any questions, I can email them directly or pick up a phone and (shudder) actually call them.

Now I just have to wait for that bonus/profit sharing check to come in. :D
 
There's definitely plusses and minuses to the PWM on Steves. Some people may like it because it can get dimmer than when LEDs are on 0-10v.

Rapid was super helpful on both the phone and via email. Jack and Mike are great, they even answer the ReefCentral forum that RapidLED has.

I like the new heatsink that has the fan. I don't miss having a fan with mine because it stays cool, but I can see the benefit.
 
Those drivers fit neatly in the hood which is probably why they pushed it. My issue with it is that it is merely blue/white and no uv or mixed lights.

edit: saw you could order different colors but more limited on control then the puck it appears as it looks like only 2/3 channel dimming.
 
That was my thinking to, and if I decide to do some SPS's, I'll want the extra channel and spectrum. Although it all does fit nicely in the hood, and my wife would like that. Not sure which I'll order yet. After emailing them, I got the same offer you did. :thumbsup:

I channel 60$ bucks..... Just don't know at this point. Think I'll email them back.
 
I mean, that's what I did. I have it and love it. I did the solderless retrofit with the full spectrum solderless LEDs, and actually bought a few LEDs to swap out down the line. I would recommend doing the custom and doing almost exactly their full spectrum, but swap out the cool whites for natural whites, and lime for the green. Also I would have bought additional longer solderless connectors because they'll be needed at the turns in the grid of the LEDs on the heatsink so that you can split them into different current strings.

I think either kit is "solderless", the puck kits may be a little easier to set up because with the drivers it sounds like you can just screw down the output wires to the LEDs, where as with this solderless kit, you have to wire nut (or electrical tape, or crimp, or solder and heatshrink) the pigtails from the driver to the wires from the LEDs.
 
Sorry, working and posting, so missed the responses.

I actually bought a third driver because I was planning on doing UV one string, colors one string, and blues one string. I ended up doing colors+UV one string @ 700mah and RBs on the other string @ 1300mah.

Definitely buy those extra solderless connectors though, maybe 6x6" extensions?

FWIW, mine is set up for SPS, and I've already seen a significant change in colors in my SPS from my prior LED lights.

I could probably fit the 2 meanwell drivers in the hood, but I'd have to do a lot of messy work because there's not enough standoffs for them to fit nicely.
 
So just browsed souls build thread, I did not realize all the drivers go in the cabinet. Looks Like I have some work to do. lol
 
yeah comes down to what you want to do. No matter what you have wires coming from the hood to the cabinet either for the plugs or for the apex control. I like the puck but can see the appeal of a custom solution. For me though I dont know what lighting works best so i went with the puck to have them all and can tailor as needed for my corals and how I want it to look.


PLEASE NOTE: If you mount the drivers to the top of your cabinet using screws like I did ensure the length could in no way go through and touch your tank. All of mine are too short to go through the top wood plate for this reason but it is worth mentioning.
 
soulpatch said:
yeah comes down to what you want to do. No matter what you have wires coming from the hood to the cabinet either for the plugs or for the apex control. I like the puck but can see the appeal of a custom solution. For me though I dont know what lighting works best so i went with the puck to have them all and can tailor as needed for my corals and how I want it to look.


PLEASE NOTE: If you mount the drivers to the top of your cabinet using screws like I did ensure the length could in no way go through and touch your tank. All of mine are too short to go through the top wood plate for this reason but it is worth mentioning.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking the same thing, I have no idea what LED's to add, plus the extra channel. My thinking is, you never know what you might want in corals, so best to do it now then wish I had down the road. So I might just do the puck.

The screw length was my first thought when I saw everything mounted in the cabinet, plus the fact the cabinet is chipboard. Short screw and chipboard don't mix well over a long period of time if you tend to move things around. I'll definitely have to think about where things are going to go so I don't keep moving them around and pulling the screws out.
 
homer1475 said:
I'm thinking the same thing, I have no idea what LED's to add, plus the extra channel. My thinking is, you never know what you might want in corals, so best to do it now then wish I had down the road. So I might just do the puck.
Click to expand...

You could always add a strip or such later should you wish. The puck has jumper connectors so you can add more to the single driver.
 
Did you put the original splash guard on the top? Did not see that in your build thread, but I'm guessing not seeing where you placed the auto feeder.
 
Yes original splash guard was put back on as well as wiring through the rubber grommets to ensure it is as water tight as possible
 
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