Hey guys. I'm getting closer to pulling the trigger on my LED build for my Biocube 29 gallon, and would like to run a few things past you guys first.
I've been emailing with Milad from LEDGrouBuy and he suggested the following colors and numbers:
18 - 455nm Royal Blue
12 - 4500k White
4 - 660nm Red
4 - 495nm Turquise
6 - 420nm True Violet
That comes out to 44 LED's for a 29 gallon. I know I can dial them back, but that seems like a lot. Milad said that this color combo would look really good and he's gotten a lot of good feedback on it lately, so I'd like to stay with this combo just not sure on number of LEDs. I would go with Bridgelux as CREEs are over twice the price.
This is also going to stay in the hood of my Biocube as my wife likes the look. Otherwise I'd probably buy an AI SOL Nano as it would be cheaper. This isn't going to be hard, just involves a little more planning so I can make sure I keep everything inside the hood with space for fans.
If I went with the number of LEDs above, how big of a heatsink should I go with? I know that the BC splash shield will fit a 10"x18" heatsink, but not sure I want to go that big and take up the entire area. The advatage is more real estate to lay out 42 LEDs, but tht could also mean less color blending. The heatsink from LEDGrouBuy is only 1.3" tall and the splash shield is 2" so that should leave me with enough room for either fans in the original locations, or one 120mm fan in the middle of the heatsink.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to use the Inventronics 25w and 40w dimmable powersupplies from LEDGroupBuy as I know that they'll work with the DIM4 controller that's also available through them.On the other side, AquaStyleOnline has a 36 LED dimmable kit for $100, linke $130 with the heatsink. I could just tweak the colors through them, and still get the DIM4, but I'm not sure if the drivers from ASO will work with the DIM4.
What do you guys think? I'll probably start purchasing stuff this week, so any feedback you can give would be much appreciated. Sorry for the long winded post, just have a lot of questions before buying anything.
I've been emailing with Milad from LEDGrouBuy and he suggested the following colors and numbers:
18 - 455nm Royal Blue
12 - 4500k White
4 - 660nm Red
4 - 495nm Turquise
6 - 420nm True Violet
That comes out to 44 LED's for a 29 gallon. I know I can dial them back, but that seems like a lot. Milad said that this color combo would look really good and he's gotten a lot of good feedback on it lately, so I'd like to stay with this combo just not sure on number of LEDs. I would go with Bridgelux as CREEs are over twice the price.
This is also going to stay in the hood of my Biocube as my wife likes the look. Otherwise I'd probably buy an AI SOL Nano as it would be cheaper. This isn't going to be hard, just involves a little more planning so I can make sure I keep everything inside the hood with space for fans.
If I went with the number of LEDs above, how big of a heatsink should I go with? I know that the BC splash shield will fit a 10"x18" heatsink, but not sure I want to go that big and take up the entire area. The advatage is more real estate to lay out 42 LEDs, but tht could also mean less color blending. The heatsink from LEDGrouBuy is only 1.3" tall and the splash shield is 2" so that should leave me with enough room for either fans in the original locations, or one 120mm fan in the middle of the heatsink.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to use the Inventronics 25w and 40w dimmable powersupplies from LEDGroupBuy as I know that they'll work with the DIM4 controller that's also available through them.On the other side, AquaStyleOnline has a 36 LED dimmable kit for $100, linke $130 with the heatsink. I could just tweak the colors through them, and still get the DIM4, but I'm not sure if the drivers from ASO will work with the DIM4.
What do you guys think? I'll probably start purchasing stuff this week, so any feedback you can give would be much appreciated. Sorry for the long winded post, just have a lot of questions before buying anything.