Recommendations on Red Sea Max LED retrofit

[Stones]

So I'm finally nearing the end of my upstairs living room renovation and would like to get the ball rolling on setting up my RSM 130.

Now I've been following along with most of the DIY LED builds on here but haven't been able to get enough information applicable to my planned DIY build.

So to all of the LED experts out there, do you think that 8 Cree XM-L T5 cool white leds spaced ~2" apart across the center of a 4 x 20" heatsink without optics would provide sufficient coverage and suitable PAR for a 20" x 20" area? I'll be running the LEDS at 2300 mA via a Meanwell ELN60-27D driver but am worried that this will not be enough LEDs for sufficient coverage despite running them significantly higher than the typical 700 mA most LEDs builds are employing. I'll also be running 8 XT-E royal blue leds, 6 XP-E blue leds and a few red, green and true violet leds in addition to the XM-Ls.

My other option would be to purchase an additional driver and more leds so I'd be running 16 Cree XM-L T5 cool whites (which I think would be WAY overkill) or I could downgrade to the Cree XT-E cool whites and run 14 of them at 1300 mA and get away with using only 1 driver as opposed to 2 for powering the cool whites.

A better (and cheaper) option would likely be to purchase a 36 LED aquastyle kit so long as they are willing to let me swap out some of the blue leds for other colors. I've seen a few people have used these kits and have been quite happy with the results but I'm not sure if anyone has been keeping SPS under an aquastyle DIY kit.

Any input is greatly appreciated as I've only done one small LED build for a freshwater nano tank so I didn't have to worry about the ratio of whites to other colors.

[Snaz]

The best resource for you right now would be nano-reef.com Particularly the lighting, DIY and AIO forums. I bet you can find lots of threads regarding DIY retrofit for your tank there.

Ray at Aquastyle Online will answer emails or comments submitted through the website very quickly. He appears to be fluent in English so no worries about language barrier and ask how to switch some emitters colours around when ordering, he will accommodate.

I only started SPS since getting the aquastyle LEDs so I can't offer comparative advice but the SPS I acquired since are growing well.

The voltage and emitter questions will be well answered by the fine folks at NR, it might be worth you cross posting there if you are not getting the answers you seek here.

[Stones]

Thanks Snaz, I figured you'd have some insight as you seem to pop up in all of the LED build threads:biggrin:

I'll poke around on nano-reef and see if someone has done a similar build to what I'm trying to accomplish. My biggest concern is simply coverage as I'm sure the intensity under the LEDs will be sufficient granted the higher output of the XM-L's.

I've already emailed aquastyle to see how to go about switching out some of the emitters for more color variety and just waiting on a response.

Were you able to avoid brokerage fees on your 2nd order or did they ship via Fedex again? I couldn't find where Aquastyle was based out of so but I doubt shipping USPS is an option...

[mseepman]

This might be a good alternative...nice and easy too.http://www.modularled.ca/red-sea-max-130-130d/

[Stones]

This might be a good alternative...nice and easy too.http://www.modularled.ca/red-sea-max-130-130d/

Thanks for the link. I did check out the Modular LED kit but I already own a 4 x 20" heatsink and have several Meanwell drivers and Cree LEDs kicking around that I wouldn't mind using if it will provide decent enough coverage.

[Snaz]

Regarding shipping. My first order was shipped via fedex and arrived in 5 days but about a week later FedEx sent me a brokerage bill in the mail for 18 dollars. Lame. The second order was shipped via Hong Kong post which handed off to Canada Post Express and arrived in 7 days, no extra fees/brokerage etc. Nice.

[Stones]

Regarding shipping. My first order was shipped via fedex and arrived in 5 days but about a week later FedEx sent me a brokerage bill in the mail for 18 dollars. Lame. The second order was shipped via Hong Kong post which handed off to Canada Post Express and arrived in 7 days, no extra fees/brokerage etc. Nice.

Thanks Snaz! If I order, I'll request that it come via HK post to avoid brokerage fees.

[mseepman]

If you already have some CREE's and some drivers...here is what I would do. I don't think the 8 XM-L's will be enough. I would buy a small mix of Modularled White and Royals and add them along with a small driver to the mix you listed above with the 8 XM-L's (assuming you have these already). That heatsink can handle a lot of LED's. This should still be your cheapest solution while getting you LED's that you know you can count on.

[Stones]

That's also what I was thinking that only 8 XM-L's would be on the weak side.

I currently have 2 meanwell ELN60-48D drivers, 13 XM-L T5 cool white leds, 5XP-E Royal blue and 5 XP-E blue so I'm going to have to place an order somewhere regardless as I don't have enough components for a complete build.

When I originally ordered the XM-Ls, I didn't realize they had a max drive current of 3000 mA. Otherwise I wouldn't have ordered those particular drivers as they can only push 1300 mA.

Seeing as I'm going to need to order at least one more driver and several more LEDs, I may end up trying out one of the aquastyle kits and save the XM-Ls and meanwell drivers for a retrofit on my 225 gallon reef once some snow starts to hit the ground.