LED Lighting for 125 G Reef DIY

[GrimReefer82]

I'll start by giving a little info on my tank. It measures 72L x 18W x 24 Deep I have a mix of softies, clams and LPS with 150 lbs. LR and 9 fish. I have an eshopps psk-200 skimmer and 2 refugiums fed by little giant.

I know there is a wealth of information on this site and I have read on some other threads but it is very difficult for me to sit and read hundreds of pages due to time constraints so any info would be great.

I would like some opinions and observations on my current dilemma. I have a 125 gallon reef tank that I currently have 6 60" T5HO's w/ 6 individual reflectors and workhorse ballasts. I originally chose this based on lower heat and less power consumption compared to Halides.

It is now time to replace my bulbs and I don't want to drop $200 on a lighting system that I hate. The heat is unreal and the power consumption is WAY more than I can afford. I am seriously considering going to LED's but I need a little help.

I need to know a ball park of how many LED's I will need if this is my only lighting source. I was thinking that 3 18" heatsinks with 16 royal blues and 8 cool whites on each heatsink would be a good start for a total of 72 3w cree led's.

My lighting will be between 10 and 12 inches from the water surface and I don't know if I need 60* or 80* optics. I would like the led's to put off as much PAR as my T5's at 18" deep.

It would be wonderful if someone could tell me where to get cree's for the best price.

[Gig 'em]

I have 14 LEDs over my 10 gallon right now and that works pretty well for me. I think a general rule is to have one LED every 2-3" on a heat sink per row. At least 3 rows for your size of tank if not more. Also the current trend is to use Neutral white LEDs with royal blues instead of cool whites to give a broader light spectrum.

Your LED build will be pretty expensive, but IMO it will pay for itself after a few years of reduced electricity bills and no need to replace lamps and low heat output.

please do not link to other forums

[TheFishMan65]

Look on my home page for the LED write Up summary. It is a little dated, but will answer many of oyur questions, but then come on back.

I am guessing about 480 watts of T5? So I would agree that 72 LEDs would be a good start. Color is personal choice. But I am leaning toward a mix of neutrals and cools with the royal blues. My build was CW and RB and I think I am missing some red. Won't know until I change some LEDs.

[GrimReefer82]

Yeah it's 480 watts of t5's. I will probably be selling my t5 setup to help with the cost. I have looked at a lot of sites and haven't seen the neutral whites you guys are talking about, but I did read somewhere that 8,000k's would soon be available.

After a little more reading I think 60* optics might be my best choice since they will be 10 inches or so from the water surface.

I think I will have to do more research for drivers and such, it seems to me that $18 for a driver that only pushes 12 led's is expensive.

One question that I have not been able to find an answer about is why can't you connect the leds in parallel instead of in series? Seems strange that noone uses the other + and - on the stars.

Who is the best supplier for these led's currently? I really appreciate your responses! Keep 'em comin'.

[TheFishMan65]

Check out RapidLED I think they have neutrals. You can go parallel strings (driver that pushes more current), but precautions must be made to prevent the current from going through all one string. You will probably need to do this - there is a good thread here somewhere I will try and find it.

[phasezero]

Having built a setup of 3:2 ratio of RB:NW for my girlfriend, i would definitely recommend adding some cool whites also. Although i know pictures posted of LED setups might not be accurate, i saw someone in the AI Sol thread post a picture of his Sol blue setup with the addition of neutral whites, it looked perfect in that every coral's color popped nicely. So for my next setup, i'll be doing clusters of 4, ( NW, CW, Blue, RB ).

[Gig 'em]

I got my LEDs from RapidLED and they have great customer service there too

[TheFishMan65]

Here is a good link (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18283110#post18283110)to describe how to go parallel.

[GrimReefer82]

OK, I now understand why parallel isn't so common with these. I think I will stick with series style circuits for safety reasons. I just don't like the fact that an entire string will go out because of a single bad LED but it's better than possibly ruining every LED on said string. Thanks for the link fishman.

The cheapest I can find the LED's are about $4.50-$5.00 ea. with optics. If I have calculated all involved costs correctly I will end up having $700-$800 in a 72 LED setup on my tank and I'm still not sure it will be enough. I'm thinking I may still have to supplement with a couple of T5's or add more LED's. The question is can I make enough light to make the tank asthetically pleasing with the LED's I understand that the LED's produce less yellow-green light which is useless to corals but the little bit of yellow-green you get with t5's helps with the visible light range of your eyes.

Sorry for the babbling, kinda thinking with my fingers. LOL

[GrimReefer82]

Do you think that 24 blue, 24 RB, 12 NW and 12 CW would make a nice coloration?

Hey Gig "em can you pm me that link you posted?

I know I am not a moderator but if it's useful info that would help somebody who cares what forum it's from. RIDICULOUS

[TheFishMan65]

I think that wold be a good color mix, of course I have not used this one. What driver are you planning to use? You don't want to use 6 ELNs.

[GrimReefer82]

I haven't figured out what driver to use, I need to do a little more reading. Ideally I would like to have a dimmable driver but that may not be an option due to the cost. I need to try and get my cost down to about $500 maybe thru some swapping or stealing. LOL JK! Anyways If I can get close I may sell my T5 retrofit and maybe some corals since I have too many now.

[TheFishMan65]

Well I think with that size build you will need to go parallel so start studying :).