I'm setting up a mr aqua 18x18 25 gallon cube. I was just curious to see how many LEDs others would think to use for this tank. Right now I have a fixture I made with 6 Cree XR-Es cool white running at 1 amp, and 6 Cree XR-E royal blues running at 700mA. I don't have optics on them right now, but it seems pretty bright to me. I know that for the 18 inch depth, I might want to up the quantity of LEDS to 16-20. Just wanted to get some feedback before I do add more. I'm going to make a build thread hopefully next week.
How many LEDs to use for 18x18 cube
- Thread starter stage3-S4
- Start date
- Location
- Kings Park, NY
SPS tank? The "General" consensus for that tank would be 20-24 if going SPS. You may be able to get away with slightly less than that (16) due to it's depth. If mostly Softs/LPS than you should be OK with what you currently are running. JMO
I'm not really sure yet what I will be putting in there. Most likely, it will probably be LPS and softies with a few pieces of SPS. The tank is near a window and will get tons of natural sunlight. I was thinking 20 is probably a safe bet.
with the natural sunlight, I'd be careful with the heat produced. I would also go with the twenty, It should provide the lighting you need for sps at a low light level. just place the corals higher up if necessary.
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yea, I'll have to see what happens in the summer time. Its not really direct sunlight. I may have to add a chiller. I shouldn't have issues since I'm using only LEDs. Even with the sunlight, I cant see it producing as much heat as a MH lamp.
Which driver is that? Are you dimming them with PWM, or just a pot?
The 12 LED will light the tank enough for softies/LPS but I'd still go with 24, this way you can adjust the color and will get a better light fill. On the drivers, use the D version unless your building an Arduino controller or using the PWM driver Rapid sells. With the D driver you can use either the Apex or RK for sunrise/sunset or just a pot to adjust the color.
I got 2 meanwell dimable drivers rite now dimming wit a pot
I already have everything. I have been using drivers I designed with a national semiconductior LM3404 current regulator IC. They work perfect and have the ability to be dimmed with PWM. I was considering switching over to the meanwell drivers simply to make thing easier and save space. I wont need an external power supply and I can use them with my Reefkeeper. Besides isn't that 50w LED like 500 bucks or whatever? I think my entire setup cost me about 200 bucks.
- Location
- Brooklyn
Yea ive been itching to set it up. Im just waiting for jeff to make me a sump. You dont think that 110w will be overkill?
- Location
- Brooklyn
I don't really know. that's kind of why I mentioned it. I will probably hang it maybe 10-12" above it. I was told the next version down the 60 watt wouldn't be enough of a spread for the tank. Plus 18" is pretty deep.
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