Biocube diy led questions

[btuck887]

i wanting to do a led upgrade on my 29 biocube. i was considering the diy retro dimmable kit with 20 leds. but im thinking i would like to do a few more leds..

what are some reccomendations?
do a diy with say 24-36 leds?
opinions on color combos, such as how many CW, RB, NW, B, etc..
really want to do a nice led upgrade and not have to upgrade that again in the near future

Thanks in advance

[BC564]

have you checked for any retro kits. I have found different ones as I want to do that for my biocube 14 in my office. Here is a link for a bio29

http://shop.stevesleds.com/Biocube-29-LED-Light-System-Extreme-SPS-Biocube-29-Gallon-retrofit-kit.htm

[davej]

If you end up picking your led colors, here's my experience. I did a retrofit on my RSM130d. Used a 4 warm white, 4 neutral white and 8 cool white. Turned out way too yellow for my taste. Ended up ordering more cool whites to swap out. Ended up keeping a couple of neutrals and the rest cool.

[btuck887]

Got this color combination recommended to me from rapid led. Think it may be to blue? Also would 25 LEDs be enough?

Thanks

"Hi Braxton,

Thanks for the email! If you like your tank pretty blue, you can go with about a 18-20K color temperature, which will be 15 royal blue and 9 cool white. The 24 LEDs are enough for growing all types of corals.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask!

Thanks,
Vince
Rapid LED"

[ScubaSteve]

On my BC14 I did 16 - 3W LEDs.

8 RB
4 CW
4 TV
2 RGB chips

All LEDs were on 3-up stars, except for the true violets, so as to minimize the disco effect. For you I'd atleast double the number I used (depending what you want to grow - I grow SPS). The RGB make a HUGE difference in rounding out the colour. With the RGB I can get the colour temperature very close to my 250W 14,000k Pheonix bulb. Without the RGB it find it looks washed out and lacks the vibrancy that metal halides have.

For numbers of LEDS and layouts, check here: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/311998-full-spectrum-led-layouts/

[ScubaSteve]

If you're interested, I have my biocube build here: http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=93962&highlight=Typhon

[btuck887]

Thanks scubasteve,

Did u purchase a retrofit kit from somewhere or just put it all together yourself?

Also what are the RGB Chips? Sorry I'm somewhat new to the led thing and not sure what everything is

Thanks

[mike31154]

There are some pretty cool multi-chip LEDs available these days, worth investigating. I've used 10 watt multi-chips for my build, but since I completed mine, more multi-chips with options of combined colours have arrived on the scene. You can even get them up to over 100 watts per chip. One of those would probably be overkill in your case, but they're available from 10 watts up in many colour combinations, including RGB.