been out of hobby for while, need lighting advice for AP12

[RobinsonFam1]

hello all!

I have an AP 12 and one bulb and one ballast blew with stock 27W PCs.

after looking into replacing bad parts im finding that i can prolly DIY some LEDs for same price.

question: how many LEDs should i get? ive been looking at 12 LED kits.

also color: the 6 white/6 blue looks too blue for me like a 14K-20K halide. so im thinking 8 white and 4 blue. Thoughts?

trying to make it all fit into stock hood too to keep clean look.

thanks everyone! :beer:

[RobinsonFam1]

nobody with any advice i guess........



bueler.....bueler.......bueler........

[MrHarvard]

Im actually about to start the exact same tank. I have done DIY LEDs myself in the past and there fairly simple. I havent decided if im going to order the kit from rapidled.com (its made for a biocube 14g but it can be made to fit easily), or if im going to buy the pieces seperatly. Im thinking i want atleast 18 3w leds for this size tank but prolly gonna go with 24. 10 white 12 blue and 2 uv purple. I like the more blue look myself but that is your call. My advice would be to get 2 dimmable drivers and put the whites on 1 and the blues and UV on the other. You can create all types of color spectrums this way. I ordered my last leds from aquastyleonline and they worked really well and there alot cheaper than the crees. You will hear alot of defferent opinions on your led brand choice as well. Im planning on starting my build next week if all goes as planned. I hope this helped and if you have any questions feel free to PM me. Cheers!

[Hens4Fish]

in my opinion, 24 3 watt cree LEDs is way overkill. I have that over my 24 gallon AP and keep it on 50%(its dimmable). Just my thought.

[MrHarvard]

in my opinion, 24 3 watt cree LEDs is way overkill. I have that over my 24 gallon AP and keep it on 50%(its dimmable). Just my thought.

Thanks for your input. What all are you keeping currently in your tank, do you have any SPS? Also what is your color combo on LEDs? I ran 24 over my 20 cube and it was perfect. Maybe I'll go with 18. What are your reasons for only running yours at 50%? Are you seeing a lot of growth?

[RobinsonFam1]

i found a steal of a deal on a 175MH with 14K bulb, 6 mos old. full pendednt setup. also the bug has kicked back in....lol....just built a new stand to hold the new 20L that may go back to the store for a 30!

where we recently moved to (Savannah ga) has no reef support at all (1 store). makes me want to do a weekend trip back to Atlanta to get everything i need, then another trip to stock the tank. lol.