Ordering my LEDs soon, need some opinions! - pg3

Something I was thinking about too. I'm for sure getting the Typhoon controller from Boost, so that will add a lot of customization. I figure start with blues, and then turn on the colored LEDs and UV, and then finally turn on the whites?

If you don't mind me asking, why will you be swapping out some of your cool whites? How harsh are the neutral whites?

 

The driver Ive mentioned handles upto 14 LEDs at 700mA, according to Rapid's site. But Id say to limit upto 12 just to be on safe side. So UVx4, 420x4, bluex2 and cyanx2, total of 12 LEDs on one driver (Please double check the spec with the meanwell site as well whenever you have a chance).

If you include neutral white (or warm white), it should have enough red spectrum, so Id ditch red. Some says too much red spectrum boost the algae growth.

Cyan is the color right in the middle of blue and green. I believed that cyan needed to be 505nm on the spot, but looking at how happy my corals look, Im ok with the cyan being too green (actually mine is from LEDGroupuy, they call it turquoise for the record). So if you have cyan, I dont think you need green.

I rent too but the condo owner left the paint in the garage, I can always touch it up in no time.. I got lucky.. LOL You can utilize a conduit bar to make a hanging bar like this. This way, you dont have to drill any wall or ceiling.

 

Double checked, it runs 3 to 14 LEDs with a max current at 700mA.

I noticed that the Blues and Cyan LEDs have a maximum current of 1000mA and they recommend to run them between 800mA and 900mA. Would I have any issues running them lower like you said in the same series with the UV LEDs at 700 mA?

Ironic that you sent me that link. My dad used to be a carpenter and he's coming over on Sunday to take measurements so we can build a custom stand for my tank. I had this idea about attaching the bar to the stand and make it adjustable (like the notches on crutches). Definitely going to talk it over with him and see what he can do.

 

i have the typhoon controller, love it! but you may wanna shoot john an email about all the drivers you'll be using to make sure they'll work with it! the dude is awesome and will call ya if ya need help.

I have 24 cw's and am going to swap out about 8 for nw's to broaden the spectrum.

For reference, i know have
16 rbs
12 blues
12 violets
24 cw's

I run my blues, rb's, uv's at 70% and my cw's at 35%, and i'll prob ramp that up slowly to 90% blues and about 45% whites max on a 55. Whites overpower everything so def do more blues.
my lighting cycle;
blues/uvs on at 2:00pm with a 2 hour sunrise, off at 2:00 am with a 3 hour sunset
whites on at 3:15 with a 2 hour sunrise, and off at midnight with a 2 hour sunset

still playing, looking into the codes for it still, but kinda happy has it is

 

Hey cosmo, whats up!? LOL

I dont think you can utilize the typhoon with the constant current, although I cant be sure about this. Ill let cosmo chime in. But you can always control on/off the current driver with a simple timer.

When I was planning/designing the LED build, I was determined to get a reef controller. It took me a while but I did get the Apex Lite. Right now it's a simple on/off like this:
RoyalBlue 9:30 am - 8:30 pm 11 hours
420, UV, blue, turquoise 10:15 am - 7:45 pm 9.5 hours
White 10:35 am - 7:25 pm 8.8 hours
I manually turn up/down gradually when needed.

Down the road, I WILL get an add-on module to auto dim control the LEDs, so I can simulate the tropical storm, sunrise/sunset, cloud movement 8)

 

@Cosmo : Okay, didn't realize you only have CWs before. Now that makes sense. I e-mailed Boost and they already got back to me. The driver that they sell optionally with the Typhoon was the same I was looking at with Rapid, so all good

@exactly: I'll double check about the constant current driver. But like you said, can always use a regular timer since I won't be doing any dimming, and I have plenty of timers!

Thanks so much for the help so far guys.

But for the million dollar question. Do you think 30 LEDs is enough? Would 36 be optimal, or even more?

My idea with 30:
10 x Royal Blue
6 x Cool White
4 x Neutural White
3 x UV (398nm)
3 x UV (410-420nm)
2 x Blue
2 x Cyan

36:
12 x Royal Blue
8 x Cool White
4 x Neutral White
4 x UV (398nm)
4 x UV(410-420nm)
2 x Blue
2 x Cyan

 

Just do the 36 and save yourself the second guessing, plus if ya upgrade someday, ya got that little extra boost! That wold come close to being enough for a 55g, depending on corals, but prob enough. IMO own though i'd do more like 9-10 rb and 5-4 blue

I'd consider more blues than whites, but your issue is gonna be drivers and what to run on each. Only real option is to drop back to older white Cree's that will run at the same current as the newer blues. just food for thought.

 

I figure no matter how many I go, I wont need more then one driver for whites. All of the Blues and Cyan from Rapid run at the same current, so I could always mix and match those on drivers together. The only thing is that the UV LEDs run at a max of 700mA, and I no idea if its okay to run the blues at that lower current.

 

pretty sure its ok, as it states MAX current XYZmA, but an email to John or Mike and that questions is answered by a pro! I'd look into running the uvs and cyan's on 1 driver and maybe just add 2 colors to that driver as well, so you'd only have 3 drivers.