My LED conversion

[tesfeld]

I am close to being fully funded for my project and need help on some details. My tank is 180g 4x3x2 and I'm trying to match the output of my 2x250MH 10k and 440 VHO actinic.

1. I have an Apex controller and will be doing dimmable. What do I need to connect them together other than the Apex cable?

2. RapidLED suggested 2- 48LED setups to handle my tank (mixed reef) for a total of 96 LED's. I am wanting a color temperature between 10 and 12k so I was looking at a 1:1 ratio of royal blue:cool white plus some red, green, and UV. I'm also trying to decide between 2 Mean Well HLG-185-42B dimmable drivers and 8 ELN-60-48D's.

3. 60 degree or 80 degree optics? I have quite a footprint to light and they should be about 6" off the surface of the water.

4. I have the hardware to add 2-36^ T5's to the mix if necessary for increased spectrum

Any input is greatly appreciated!

 

[psteeleb]

couple questions
- is the tank only visible from the front?

- do you want a more blue look early day and late evening (natural effect as the sun as at a high angle thus treating the water penetration like it's deeper)?

- do you have the full APEX with the VSP's (variable speed ports - Cat 5) built in? (gives you 4 controls)

- do you want individual control on the reds and UV?


some thoughts:
- if only 24" tall there is not a need for the 60 deg optics as I would only recommend these for penetration

- if front visible only consider a front royal blue bar pointed toward the rock work for early day and late night and possible moon lights on a separate ballast and dimmer control

- 1to 1 will get you around 8-9k so I'd go more like 1.5/1 or 2/1 that will get you around 10-12k and dim according to preference

potential controls (set ballast size and number accordingly)
Dawn/Dusk (moon) blue bar in front pointed toward rock at angle (about 12 LED's)
Main unit blue ~ 60 LED's
Main unit white ~ 30 LED's
Mixed unit reds and UV (or maybe dim one and hard wire the other on smaller ballasts) or UV only and use a Fili purple T5 for your reds

 

[tesfeld]

- is the tank only visible from the front?
No, 3 sides
- do you want a more blue look early day and late evening (natural effect as the sun as at a high angle thus treating the water penetration like it's deeper)?
Sure. I know I want them all dimmable to tune the color temperature but some can stay at a certain level once determined (red, green, uv)
- do you have the full APEX with the VSP's (variable speed ports - Cat 5) built in? (gives you 4 controls)
yes
- do you want individual control on the reds and UV?
yes, to get the desired color temp

 

[psteeleb]

@tesfeld wrote:

Okay - I guess I just wanted to make sure it wasn't from front and back

With basically 4 controls and 2 hours ramp time you need to decide if its worth using a control on as few red lights as you will likely use. You could go with a manual dimmer and set one time as they are usually a set and forget with so little needed you don't really need to ramp up / down

As for the blues I used two controls on mine to provide more control on them but I also run them over a long period of time ramping up and then again down but that's just preference

I'm only using 3 of my controls but plan to add more white to the rock face areas with the 4th. I also plan to add some UV and maybe 4-6 reds without optics or I may rearange my t5's to get more spread out of them

here's my set up for reference - it's 30" tall but only 18" front to back
[attachment=0]light schedule.JPG[/attachment]