DIY led lighting

[Irishmike7979]

I plan on upgrading from my t5s to LEDs in early march and I wanted to get a jump start on picking the best ones for my tank. I have a long (48in) 55 gallon mixed reef tank. While looking on rapidled.com I saw a kit that would be perfect for me but no idea of how to install it.



In the description it states that it needs to be plugged in to a reef keeper controller which I do have. What type of driver is better well-eln-60-48d-dimmable-driver or mean-well-eln-60-48p-dimmable-driver/, i know i want dimmable so I really not sure of the difference between 48d/48p. Is there anyone out there who purchased this kit or a similar one and created a thread I can read over. I want to get as much information on this before I make the jump.

Price range is 5-6 if that helps and someone can tell me of a fixture that they recommend instead of going the DIY route. Please keep in mind that I will need two though.

 

[danbstrong]

I plan on upgrading from my t5s to LEDs in early march and I wanted to get a jump start on picking the best ones for my tank. I have a long (48in) 55 gallon mixed reef tank. While looking on rapidled.com I saw a kit that would be perfect for me but no idea of how to install it.

In the description it states that it needs to be plugged in to a reef keeper controller which I do have. What type of driver is better well-eln-60-48d-dimmable-driver or mean-well-eln-60-48p-dimmable-driver/, i know i want dimmable so I really not sure of the difference between 48d/48p. Is there anyone out there who purchased this kit or a similar one and created a thread I can read over. I want to get as much information on this before I make the jump.

Price range is 5-6 if that helps and someone can tell me of a fixture that they recommend instead of going the DIY route. Please keep in mind that I will need two though.

Whichever way you go i reccommend if your doing sps tank to add uv just blue and white will not help sps coral color sps needs uv for color if doin lps then blue and whites are sufficient

 

[oyf709]

Blue and white works fIne for Sps. Uv is only really adding coloration .

 

[danbstrong]

Blue and white works fIne for Sps. Uv is only really adding coloration .

Uv adds no color to a coral thats what the blues do
Uv is what causes sps to have bright colors they do this in order to reflect the light to protect themselve which is why mh are used for sps tanks because of the uv content some

 

[Irishmike7979]

I have some nice sps that I want to color up so ill get some uv but have you put any of these kits together?

 

[danbstrong]

I have some nice sps that I want to color up so ill get some uv but have you put any of these kits together?

I have not but my friend who own woos aquatics ( coral can be seen on ebay) under ( wa live coral ) plug lol he put an acro under leds without uv and the same acro under leds with uv and the color became super bright under uvs i have no experience on the build he says took about an hour i can see where he got the material from if your interested pm me

 

[oyf709]

So which part of me saying uv helps coloration is wrong?

 

[danbstrong]

So which part of me saying uv helps coloration is wrong?

You said blues and whites were fine for sps i was disagreeing if you put say a very healthy red planet acro under only blue and white leds it will eventually lose some color in its pigment the reason an acro gets the vibrant colors is to reflect uv rays which is why most sps keepers prefer mh over leds unless they have the uv bulbs the uv bulbs do not add color to the look of coral as actinics would rather a uv causes the coral to " color up " or get a brighter pigment

 

[danbstrong]

You said blues and whites were fine for sps i was disagreeing if you put say a very healthy red planet acro under only blue and white leds it will eventually lose some color in its pigment the reason an acro gets the vibrant colors is to reflect uv rays which is why most sps keepers prefer mh over leds unless they have the uv bulbs the uv bulbs do not add color to the look of coral as actinics would rather a uv causes the coral to " color up " or get a brighter pigment

Sps will grow under blue and white leds but youll never achieve the best coloration of an sps without uv

 

[Irishmike7979]

Here's the list of LEDs that come in the kit wonder if the 6 UVs will be sufficient

 

[oyf709]

Sps will grow under blue and white leds but youll never achieve the best coloration of an sps without uv

So u basically saying wat just posted. If your issue is my wording of "add" vs " brings" out coloration . I am ok with that.

 

[danbstrong]

Blue and white works fIne for Sps. Uv is only really adding coloration .

Guess im confused what you were saying what i was saying is blues reflect the colors a coral already has what a uv does is cause that coral to gain more color in its pigment and eventually without uv an sps will turn brown may take e lil while but sps absolutely must have uv an sps should look amazing without actinic not brown blue leds can make an ugly coral look as if it has color then turn off the blues and they look like a turd lol when turning off the blues an sps should not look brown all im saying is this sps must have uv i grow propagate and sell sps coral i have sps only tanks and one has only blue and white leds and every acro in there has lost its color dont look half as vibrant and all tanks are on same water system i believe op was asking about uv and sps imo absolutely

 

[danbstrong]

Guess im confused what you were saying what i was saying is blues reflect the colors a coral already has what a uv does is cause that coral to gain more color in its pigment and eventually without uv an sps will turn brown may take e lil while but sps absolutely must have uv an sps should look amazing without actinic not brown blue leds can make an ugly coral look as if it has color then turn off the blues and they look like a turd lol when turning off the blues an sps should not look brown all im saying is this sps must have uv i grow propagate and sell sps coral i have sps only tanks and one has only blue and white leds and every acro in there has lost its color dont look half as vibrant and all tanks are on same water system i believe op was asking about uv and sps imo absolutely

Im probably not explaining it right lol example woild be get an acro thats browned out and put it in a tank with blue and white leds only its gonna grow but its gonna stay brown tips may get small amount of color put the same acro in tank with same leds but with addition of uv the acro will turn to the color in which it was meant to be for example blue or green or what have you ive saved a few brown acros one turned green with blue tips and green polyps from brown under uv hope this explains what im saying sorry for confusion or misunderstanding

 

[Irishmike7979]

Decided against the DIY route since I found these units. A local coral company around my area uses an old fixture but puts all new 3w LEDs in the fixture. It has two dimmable switches built in with a programmable timer as well! They won't be ready for another week but stoked to see what they'll look like.

Here's the link:
http://coralcompulsion.com/led/led-120w-full

I'm sort of against hanging things from my ceiling so if anyone knows of a different fixture or DIY I can hang these from I'd appreciate it!!

 

[Greenpillow]

Hey let me know how the LEDs work out!!


You could make a nice book shelf above your tank and hang the lights off the brackets ^_^i have seen a few people do it and it looks good.

 

[Irishmike7979]

Hey let me know how the LEDs work out!!

You could make a nice book shelf above your tank and hang the lights off the brackets ^_^i have seen a few people do it and it looks good.

I like the book shelve idea but my tank on an angle.

 

[Greenpillow]

Hummm.. Maybe build a hood for your tank and hang them in the hood.

 

[Irishmike7979]

Yeah I think that is the only other option I have other than hanging them

 

[Irishmike7979]

Here's the new LEDs







Noticing some dark spots wondering if I should change the lenses, currently have 90 degree ones on.

 

[Pick1225]

I have hung mine from wall like this if it is any help just an idea