12G LED Pattern

[Cave Dweller]

Looking to set up a 12g nano with a "custom" LED setup since the stock PC crapped out. Lights would be set up on 1 driver which is not dimmable, so i don't want to go overkill and I also don't want to have to redo the piece either. Looking to do may be 12 LED's but not sure it that would be too strong. Not putting lenses on it so that i can keep the stock light cover. Below are a couple ideas in regards to color pattern but am looking for advice. (Can't post pics at the moment so going oldschool with letters for colors)

B W W B
W B B W
B W W B

or just flat out

B W B W
W B W B
B W B W

 

[Cave Dweller]

Bump for a possible Christmas gift before I just wing it and keep my fingers crossed

 

[pecan2phat]

IMO, if your going non-dimmable one driver and this is a reef tank, I would emulate the SOL blue with a ratio of 1:1:1 of Royal Blue / Blue / White (would choose warm white vs cool white if available).

With only 12 emitters and one driver, I would not waste any of the resources to UV, amber, green or red.

 

[Cave Dweller]

Pecan thanks for your response. Yeah I already had the driver and royal blue/cool white LEDs that were sitting around from a previous project and was looking to use them up. For the most part the tank would be for like a clown, nem, and some smaller items like zoas etc. Would these lights still be ok? I was looking to see how I could get more of a blue shade to the tank as opposed to the sometimes overpowernig white as it will be on driver with no stunner strips etc to help bring out the colors.

Don't want the tank to glow like a smurf but still wanted to see some of the colors pop and try to come up with a decent pattern to cover the tank.

 

[pecan2phat]

Cave D,
I totally hear ya on reusing stuff on hand.
What you are planning to keep in the cube can be subject to the lighting. Although 1:1 RB & CW will give you a 12k~14k look and not the blue shade that your driving for, it would help keep the anemone happier and more healthy. Anemones need a lot of light even if you always see vendors and stores show them in a 20k spectrum.
If you weren't trying to keep an anemone housed in there, I would just suggest that you take out two CW & replace them with two 420nm UV emitters (any UV under 420nm are very dim to make a difference for your configuration) to enhance the color balance a little.

 

[Cave Dweller]

Thanks again for the info. Yeah will likely have an anemone in there so maybe i'm just better off doing it for the good of the tank for the moment and supplement later. At first over my 75 I had tried the waterproof LED strip lighting (which btw sucks horribly for anything but effect as I was gonna go FOWLR) that puts off a decent color.

Can mount a small strip or 2 along the heat sink or just on the light cover itself for the added effect.



Will just go with the 1:1 but now gotta work on how they're to be placed pattern wise.

 

[pecan2phat]

I would try alternating as in example two of your initial post.