DIY Converting from MH to LED! RAPID LED

After much debate and some savings I have finally began my project. I am building my LED light fixture. I run 3X175 metal halides and 2X160 VHO over my 125 DT now. The lighting cost of this beast has out grown itself. When the electric bill arrives each month I cringe….and the looks from the wife don’t help. ;D The pros vs cons just don’t add up anymore and it only makes sense to change to LED.
I ordered from RAPID LED after doing a LOT of research. I like their pricing and the fact that I can order everything I need from one place. Paying shipping once helps the wallet. Mike, from RAPID corresponded with me over the course of months while I was gathering enough courage to move forward. RAPID gets an A++ for their customer service (and patience).
I am by no means an electrician nor do I have any experience with any kind of projects such as this. I hope that by writing this thread I will be able to help any person with the desire to change to more economical lighting for their reefs. Please feel free to message me or weigh in on this. I am doing this in “real time” and I would love for anybody to give their advice as I move forward. I am also planning a few videos to go along with my build. I am not a professional videographer so please excuse my lack of lingo or thereof during the videos. :
What I ordered
1. 2 ultra premium LED DIY kits with dimmable drivers. Each kit contains 18 cool white and 18 royal blue LEDs along with 36 lenses, 3 Mean Well drivers, thermal adhesive and or grease, water resistant wire nuts, 3 power cords (for drivers),and 35 pre-cut wires.
2. 3 heatsinks measuring 4.25”X16” non-drilled/tapped
3. 4 LED moonlight kit
4. A multimeter. This is a must have!
5. 2 80mm fan kits with each kit containing 2 fans, 1 DC jack adapter, 1 fan speed controller, and 1 fan Y adapter.
6. 2 color dimming kit
I hope to keep a build/blog thread going and update it as much as possible. Many pictures and even videos are to come.

 

lol! good work! I just ordered a 48 led version almost identical! The only diff was i bought the typhon light controller from boostled! but Mike is GREAT and a good source to have!

 

I almost went with RAPID's controllers but I wanted to keep cost as low as possible. Some timers and the 2 color dimming kit will have to work for now!

 

ph yeah thats fine! check out biocubes build for an idea what your getting into! Great thread! doesn't look as scary once you see it!

 

Great thread by Bio-Cube. My plan is to make this a step by step guide. I hope everybody enjoys it!

 

Thanks

 

Your welcome. Do you think you could come over and help me with wire management? ;D

 

You pay for the flight and I'm game.

 

Okay I will talk to the fun hater aka wife. JK! 8)

 

What are you using as dimmers for your kit?