LED Colors

[Maverick00]

So after playing around with an led sump light i want to slowly start getting some stuff together to light my main tank. Its a 3' 45 gallon.

Im thinking 42 leds total on 3 drivers
14 a mix of whites
28 a mix of B and RB

Im alittle unsure of which whites and how many i should have of each (warm neutral and cool) Same goes with the blue and royal blue combination.

I would like to use my apex to dim the colors as well using 0-10v regulation.

I plan on buying everything from rapidled

Any thoughts or ideas?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Wow that's a lot of blues compared to whites. I like my light really blue but 2 to 1 ratio:wink:

[daplatapus]

I used a different supplier but if there's anything I learned after building mine is if you can, incorporate a few Violet/UV led's in your build. They will make colours POP like crazy and give you some of the 410-420nm wavelength.

[Maverick00]

Im blue crazy :biggrin:

I havent seen a royalblue or blue led in action in person as of yet but im trying to compare these leds to the t5ho setup i ran in the past. I prefered either 4 blueplus bulbs or 3 blueplus and one daytime.

For the size of tank I figured 42 leds will give me plently of adjustment room to dim the blues and up the whites if i desire a color of that sort. Its difficult to sit and decide on the colors before having them lit up in front of you :neutral:

[Reefer Rob]

2:1 - RB:NW is perfect. It would be nice to add a bit of red in particular, it adds some nice depth. I had 38 RB and 18 NW. It was just a little bluer that a Phoenix bulb.

I recently added 6 OCW and 12 True Violet from LED Group Buy. The OCW is a nice effect, but I'd almost like a touch more red.

[Maverick00]

I used a different supplier but if there's anything I learned after building mine is if you can, incorporate a few Violet/UV led's in your build. They will make colours POP like crazy and give you some of the 410-420nm wavelength.

Out of curiosity which supplier would that be? Ill defiantly look into that

[Maverick00]

2:1 - RB:NW is perfect. It would be nice to add a bit of red in particular, it adds some nice depth. I had 38 RB and 18 NW. It was just a little bluer that a Phoenix bulb.

I recently added 6 OCW and 12 True Violet from LED Group Buy. The OCW is a nice effect, but I'd almost like a touch more red.

What size of tank are you running for this set up? checking out ledgroupbuy....

[Reefer Rob]

What size of tank are you running for this set up? checking out ledgroupbuy....

I have a 75 gallon standard, but only turn the lights up to 50%. I've already begun the sniveling process to get a 150G (48Lx30Wx24H) next year. I have no doubt it will light it no problem.

[Maverick00]

excellent thats good to know! Its nice knowing you have the power to light something bigger. Intensity control is one of the main reasons i want to jump on this led train :D

[daplatapus]

I went with ledgroupbuy as well. My mix was 6 - 3up stars, 6 - RB, 2 OCW and 6 True Violets. I love how my green's POP and my monti's, gsp's and Acan's love the spectrum.

edit: 3 of those RB's are only used for moon lighting.

[Reefer Rob]

You went with 6- NW:RB:RB 3ups AND 6 RB... not too blue?

[daplatapus]

well 3 of those RB's are used just for the moonlights. And I wired all the RBs (even the ones on the 3 ups) on one driver and the NW's on another so I can play with the intensity of each separately. And I do run my NW's higher than the RB's, I just can't remember right now how much I drive each one. I could find out easy enough if there's interest.