DIY led light lamp for nano reef help

Geyner Medina · Feb 22, 2017

Hi, I'm trying to build a new led lamp for a nano reef tank. Sizes:
50x50x50
25g

I'm not sure if leds that I'm using are enough or too much..
Around
14 led royal blue
4 led 20000k
6 led 10000K

Need help about, suggestions or some info to build this correctly

bblumberg · Feb 26, 2017

My 24g Nanocube uses a retrofit kit from RapidLED. It has 12 x RB, 4x cool white (6500K), 4x neutral white (5000K), and 4x warm white (~3oooK). Not so different from what you are proposing, but covers the green and red spectrum, which yours may not. My light grows most corals very well, including birdsnest, green acro, bubble tip anemones, etc. I run the RBs at about 50% and the white at about 25%.

In your case, I'd consider adding a few 430 nm violet and a couple of lime to pick up highlights. You might want to add some warm white in the future, depending on how you like the color balance. Or you could try a BlueAcro COB LED. These are quite nice - I just picked up 3 for my 150G build. Just waiting for new canopy to arrive before installing it.

Bruce

YooperReef · Feb 26, 2017

What type of drivers are you using.
And is it controllable/dimmable?
I agree with bblumberg about adding g the other colors to the mix. Careful with the lens you choose with a small tank don't want to cook anything.

bblumberg · Feb 26, 2017

I don't have lenses on this setup since the lights are only an inch or so from the water. I am using a potentiometer dimmed kit with the ELN-60-48D. If I had it to do over again, I'd go with the LDD-H option and controller. My corner tank has a 51 LED custom array on the RapidLED premium enclosure and uses LDD-H drivers, a Storm controller and a Meanwell SE-350-48. I recently swapped that power supply (which is only 87.5% efficient) for an HEP-320-48A that is waterproof (IP65) and 94.5% efficient). At my current electricity rate, this will pay for itself in a little under 2 years.

Bruce