LED questions and help

Cosmo: Why not get drilled and tapped?

How long would I need to acclimate my corals underneath this light? I currently have 4 t5 bulbs, so I would assume I would need to keep it dimmed down for a while.

 

I have 3 clams in my tank doing well with my set up! You can always buy heatsinks other places. Look at heatsinksusa.com and then there was a new company just coming out with really cool heatsinks, but I don't think they're going to be out soon though.

But ya really don't need a 48" long heatsink, I'd just get 2 of rapids 16" black ones and call it a day.

And I do think the violets help a lot.

 

It does, I just setup my Apex to control my Rapid kit. Works very well!

 

Here was my prob with the drilled and tapped, first the metal screws it comes with can ground your leds out so they don't work so ya need to get nylon screws, plus they limit your placement. With the thermal adhesive you can spread your leds out to anywhere you want on the sink. plus its cheaper That being said order about 15 or so of these to help with that


LED Extension Wire (3.5") - Rapid LED

 

Referring to this one?

Drilled/tapped 6" x 20" Black Anodized Aluminum Heat Sink - Rapid LED

Awesome, that's one more problem down!

That just to help with easy placement? So I would just use adhesive to attach them straight to the heat sink?

 

yeah, Id get 2 of those, and they have the splashguards now too, so get ya those too.

Yeah those extensions will allow ya to place the leds better, ya may not need that many, but it'll def help. Also if ya get violets, it'll help spread them out.

And yeah, I'd just use the thermal adhesive, easier, IMO.

Sounds like you're good to go.

 

+1 to everything Rapid. I have a kit on both tanks and are worth every penny. Great customer service as well

 

Here is that heat sink that Cosmo mentioned. It looks really awesome, I can't wait to get mine. They are in the pre-order stage right now with an estimated shipping date of May 10th. The heat sink still uses screws to hold down the LEDs, but they are able to be moved around horizontally. So if you want to tinker with LED placement, it is super easy to do.

And about your question on acclimating your corals to the LEDs, definitely. Since you are getting drivers that dim, it's really easy. Just start at a lower % and rank it up slowly as you see fit. Some do over a period of weeks, others months.

 

Alright! This helped a lot, the last thing I still am not sure about is LED placement on the heat sink but I assume that's just personal preference. What gave you guys the best results?

 

I honestly just spaced mine evenly around and it worked for me!