LEDs for 12g cube

College Fishman

New member
Okay so I'm setting up a 12 gallon and I wana go all out and get this badboy good to go! I was thinking a dimmable fixture from rapidLed and then build a mounting arm. The kits $130 and just LEDs on a heatsink. OORRR I can go with the Ai nano or some other light: not afraid to spend $200 on a light, nor get on that's to big for it and use it on another system later. Lmk what y'all think dudes
 
With only 12 gallons you do not need anything extravagent in lighting. For the Basice you get get away with only a 24 watt set up however if your going dimmables then you want at least 30 Watts. You also do not have to go crazey on the heatsink as simple 1" X 2" Channel alumnium is more than enough for you without even fans.

The important thing is if you go with dimmables you want the blues and whites on swperate channels so you can dimm one without effecting the other. This is usualy a matter of dimming the whites to establish the color you like.

I would start with looking at roughly 18 to 20 watts of blue LED's. A good combo would be 6 Royal Blues, 2 True Blues and 2 of Rapids UV's all running on a 700ma driver. This comes out to roughly 20 Watts total of Blue lighting.

Now the general range for white lighting depends on your color preference but using neutral whites it ranges from a total of 5 Watts to 8 watts of total white power. If you go with cool whites then it is more like 7 watts to 10 watts of white lighting. I prefer the neutral white color with the blues so your looking at a low wattage variable drive. Unfortunatly Rapid does not carry these so you need to go with a fixed 30 watt driver if you stay with rapid running 700 ma. With this you can experiment running 2,3 or 4 white LED's to get the color you like the best.
 
Nanobox has some cool stuff. If you want an ai nano i have one that im going to be selling. Only been used for 1 month on very low intensity and has the new controller with it.
 
Wow never hear of the nanobox! That things pretty cool! Would it be enough for the 12 gal? It's a bit pricy for my liking right now. Might try and look for a used Ai sol
 
Yes the 14gallon Rapid Kit would work however I would opt for the custom LED's getting 8 Royal Blues and 4 Neutral Whites. Using the 1-10 Volt dimming you can set it down a little so your burning your corals. Note those a 5 Watt LED's and 12 of them would give you 60 Watts much more than need at full power.

While you could save a couple dollars with using alumnium channels for the heat sink I don't think the savings would worth the extra work. Then if later you go to a bigger tank you can also use this for your refugium light.
 
If your wanting to go fancy........ http://www.rapidled.com/aurora-puck-kit-dimmable/

But I'd piece the kit together myself and go with a MakersLED nano heatsink as it would look a lot cleaner. Pair that with LDD drivers and a Typhon or Storm controller and a powersupply and you've got essentially one half of a Radion fixture, just the right size for a Nano tank.

Other possibility is StevesLEDs but you'd need to build a housing for his kits.
 
I looked into the aurora pucks when I first went to rapid. They look pretty cool, and that kit doesn't look bad. If I do go rapid, I'm gonna do the Aurora 1 puck.
 
We need to keep this in prespective. If the college fisherman is only building a 12 gallon system he may have some space issues. Add to that if he is college he probably also has limited financial means.

The LDD drivers are nice on a big build where you want to run many channels on a controler. But with a small build like this your also adding in an power supply which occupies more space.

Yes he can go as extravegent as he wants to go on his lighting but remember that lighting is only part of heathy reef tank. Without proper filteration the best lighting system in the world will be worthless.

If I were him I would keep things as simple as possible on the lights npo with only a 12 gallon tank. The money he saves now he will be able invest later when he goes to a larger tank.

Go with the Rapid kit and you will be moving in the right direction without spending excessively.
 
The LDD drivers are nice on a big build where you want to run many channels on a controler. But with a small build like this your also adding in an power supply which occupies more space.

Yes he can go as extravegent as he wants to go on his lighting but remember that lighting is only part of heathy reef tank. Without proper filteration the best lighting system in the world will be worthless.

Just offering suggestions.

...BTW have you seen how much space 4 meanwell ELN drivers take up compared to a single PSU and a board of 4 LDDs (generally housed in the light itself anyway). You would only need LDD L drivers actually on a single puck and those things are TINY! Plus cheaper.
 
Well price and space isn't really an issue. I work full time and I have bigger tanks. This will be my first cube though. So I'm slightly kind of swaying towards a light that I could use on a bigger tank if need be. That Par38 bulb doesn't look bad at all, and actually looks pretty sleek. Ill have to look Into that.
 
I looked up a video and it seemed nice. Kind of wish you could control the different colors but I guess that would be pretty difficult with a bulb like that
 
Yea, a kessil would be much more than enough. If you planned on ever upgrading to a larger nano then it might be something to look into.

If it were a light just to use on the 12g I'd just go with a par38.
 
The more I read up on par38 bulbs the less I like them. I'd want a gooseneck hanger, but by that point I might as well get an AI sol or nano. The price difference would be like $30
 
Yeah for that tank a Kessil would be a good choice. You could put almost any LED fixture on the tank you want, you'll just have to dim them. I have a Radion on a 20 gallon tank and love it.
 
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