40b DIY LED questions

Rapid LED Cart


sorry needed to add a heatsink, but this kit is $470 and top of the line! 36 Cree led system with meanwell dimmable drivers, plug and play(no soldering), pre drilled heat sinks, and a controller!

If you don't want dimmable subtract $60ish! Also subtract $50 if you want potentiometers(dimming knobs) instead of a controller!

 

I did mine for my 65 down and it ended up in about 475 dollars all told. fully dimmable really nice but actually almost too much light I keep my ballasts in about 50 percent. if I remember right you have to use a minimum of 8 led per ballast so you could do something like 24 to 32 and I think with the right lens and the right height youll have more than enough light coverage. I do keep a happy healthy sps and clam in my tank.

 

A 24 kit should be plenty for a 40B. I've had a 24 Rapid kit on mine, an AI Sol, and now a Radion. I grow SPS all day with any of em. For 470ish you can get a Sol with controller. For 300ish, you could do a Rapid kit with pots as dimmers. A Boost LED Mu135 is great for a 40B as well...great colors! I want to say its around 350. Lots of choices...read read read.

 

So many options lol. Well idk where to start. So you guys think 24 would work? If I did 24 I would want to divide then into into two seprate power supplies. And what is that device called that control the dimmable feature? So 24 will be more than enough correct? I want to be 100% sure on this part

 

I was using a Sol fixture that had 24 diodes. I had a 20 LED kit from Rapid that was growing SPS. I later added 4 UV diodes. 24 should be fine. I'd get 60* optics all the way around. 8 CW, 4 NW, on one driver...8 RB, 4 Blue on one driver. You can add some reds, greens, and UVs as you please, but it is too early to know if those really help. Get a controller, either through Rapid, or Boost, or a Apex/Reef Keeper. That would be your cheapest route. You can use Pots to dim each color which is by far cheaper than controllers.

 

definitely get a controller but i noticed that the reef angel was a missing option...i use a reef angel and its a little intimidating programming it at first but its an all in one package (and its cheap for what it can do!), definitely check it out...as far as im concerned a good reef controller is nearly as important as a good skimmer ;D

 

I'd listen to faceofdeceit on this, he's had all the big dogs! i was giving ya overkill, cause that kinda sounded like what you wanted! I think a top line 24 led system should work fine! rapidled.com full system about $330
DDC-01 PWM Controller
Drilled and Tapped 4.25" x 23" Heat Sink for 24 LEDs

24 LED Plug-n-Play Retrofit Kit Dimmable
And thats solderless, 24 Crees drilled and tapped heatsink, meanwell dimmable drivers, with a controller! all you'd have to do is get a hanging kit!

 

Cosmos thank you sir, great kit. So with thus kit I can buy some super actinics and some other colors to vary? Or can I ask them to swap them out? I want to have great variety of colors so that I get the best color out of my corals.

 

How much would those reef controllers cost? I thought they where pretty expensive.

 

umm, with that few leds not sure ya wanna be swapping out much! ya can add a moonlight kit for pretty cheap, but not real sure what you're looking for! i'd stick around 14 blues and 10 whites! The nice thing about going dimmable is you can change(dim) the blues and whites independently to get the look you want! And in the future, when budget allows you can get a nice controller that will do thunderstorms/lightning/cloudy days etc! I think the controller in that kit does sunrise and sunset, but thats in your budget and pretty top of the line! save for the controller next! you're welcome BTW