180g LED Plans

[ryan115]

Finally getting the 180 set up, stand built, etc... now looking at lighting

My plans so far are 36 XPG CW and 54 XRE RB
Planning it generally as 3 modules, 1 for each section of the tank, with 30 LEDs per section
Figured out at 22"x22" that puts it around 16 sqin/LED. Planning on and LPS dominant tank with a few choice SPS and clams.
I am still undetermined on mounting height or which optics, but my basic layout that I am looking at is...
http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu10/trojnman115/LEDLayout.jpg where the blue squares are the XRE RB and the Yellow are XPG CW
The two layouts I am considering are...
http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu10/trojnman115/ledfixture-channelaluminum-ledside.jpg
http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu10/trojnman115/ledfixture-channelaluminum-2.jpg

I think I am leaning more towards the second for ease of wiring.

I havent looked too indepth into drivers yet. But, so far I am looking at a single meanwell for the CWs and probably 2 for the RBs (though I would use one if I can figure out one that would be reasonable and not too high of voltage.
Any thoughts of suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks

[ronsonol]

I am just building LEDs for 135 Gallon and I went with 90 total...a little on the high side for a 135, but I plan to run them at lower current.

For you, I think you might benefit from adding 18 more to your plan, so 108 total. If you go with option #2, you can add one more row of 18...if you continue with only 5 rows that is a gap of over 5" between them...another row would cut that number down.

[ryan115]

I forgot to mention the spacing...I am looking at starting the LEDs 3" from the front and back and 4" from the glass side and about 3" from the "divider" side. That would give me 3" spacing down the length of the tank and 4" between rows. The main reason I stopped at 90 was that it seems like it was about right with sqin/LED and everyone was running their units dimmed fairly far down anyway. But I am not sure. Again thanks for the help

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Order enough to do one of your three modules and go to town experimenting. I think you'll probably find that the color is a bit washed out with just CW and RB - most people these days are adding in some neutral or warm white, or plain blue.

IMHO 90 will probably be fine for your tank, depending on current, height, optics, and what you want to keep at different points in the tank as far as photosynthetic livestock. Keep in mind that many of the old rules of thumb for determining LED count were made up when XR-E was pretty much the only game in town - the XP-Gs you're using are significantly more intense at the currents we typically use, so you can safely drop the count a good 30%.

[ryan115]

So would you say that it is generally a one or the other type thing? I know that everyone has their own opinion and view on color...I am just trying to get something to look like a Radium of Phoenix 14K.
Would 8CW XPG, 4NW XPG (or WW), and 18RB XPE sound about right for this? or would a couple of regular blues help to round it out. I would like to order everything at the same time to get the price breaks, without having too many extra leds laying around. But I may just have to suck it up and get a few at a time.

[ryan115]

So I am thinking maybe something along these lines...

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu10/trojnman115/LEDLayout_2.jpg

Where the dark blue are XRE-RB, the yellow are XPG-CW and the orange are either a XPG-NW or WW.

Being that the CW and NW arent that different in their spectral plots, do you generally see more of a compensating effect with the WW. Or is the washout fixed with just a slightly wider spectrum?
Or if I went with NW would it be more beneficial to get ones that are in a lower bin but also have a lower CCT rating (around 3700-4300)?
Thanks

[kcress]

You should not be using XR anything....

[ryan115]

sorry I meant XP-E RB not XR-E

[kcress]

Roger that!

[ryan115]

So for those that have experience with these systems, (I have only seen one up and running) does that mix and spread seem about right?