pecman347 Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Hey guys! I've got a few quick questions for my fellow reefers out there. I've used LED's before on my tank with a decent amount of success. I had 2 20W's at 7000K, 2 10W's at 10000K, and 2 10W's at 20000K. This was on my biocube, and the 20w's had 1500 lumens and the ten's about 800 lumens. I had maxima and crocea clams in that tank and they did well under 10W led's, and coralline did grow on the rock at a good rate. However, I dismantled the tank a while back and then put those lights on a 20 long and it seems to have bleached the rocks due to the brightness of these led's and the shallowness of that tank. Like they're really really bright. My question is, I've seen people use 30, 3W led's on their tanks with an aluminum heat sink made by nanotuners that fits into biocubes. I know the wattage will be comparable, but I'm pretty sure that lumens don't add. Anyone have experience with 3W led's or have a PAR meter that I can borrow? I want to have a clam again, but setting up individual 10W led's and heatsinks was tiresome and rough, and nanotuners offers that aluminum plate with holes already drilled for 3W led's. Second question, I was going to add a sump to the bottom of my tank, it turns out that a 15 gallon tank fits perfectly. Or a 10 gallon, same base. Anyways, I'm planning on 3/4" pvc overflow, but what pump would be good for a return pump? I was thinking of a mag drive 1.9/2. I've seen people use a MJ 1200 that had to be throttled back, so I'm assuming that an actual water pump that pumps at that GPH will be strong enough. Sorry for the long entry, any help would be appreciated! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 I have the exact setup you have and are wanting. 30 3w leds (from nanotuners) and a sump. Are you wanting to run the return straight from the sump? I have 3/4 inch pvc for the "over flow" and 1/2 inch for the return off a mag 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woods Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 RapidLED also has a Biocube LED Retro Kit you could take a look at. I just built some LEDs for my 180g with CREE 3W. They have only been on the tank for a week so the jury is still out. If you find a PAR Meter, I would love to borrow one as well to check what kind of output I am getting with and without the Optics on the LEDs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pecman347 Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 @bige That's great! I actually just got a led retrofit from Steve's LED's. It's very heavily blue, a 3:1 ratio with 28 led's. So that's 21 royal blue 3 watts, and 7 7000K 3 watts. I'm planning to add 2 10 watt whites, but should I get a 7000K or 10000K? I'm planning to add dimmers on those and run it from an arduino diy I'm doing. Also planning to add a 10W UV led as well to round out the spectrum. And wow a mag 7? I'm imagining that that's gotta be throttled back some right? I was thinking of a mag 2 or 3 and running it fully open, I already have 2 koralia 425's and a y-splitter locline from the stock pump so it's about 40x turn over. Coral wise, I'm going for SPS and clams, and i've got... WAY too many acans right now haha. @woods Yup I'm still looking for a par meter as well... but oh well haha. My cousin is actually wanting to set up a tank so I'm helping the planning with that one as well, and planning to run 10W led's off of that set. I'm pretty sure I gave myself some eye damage from the unexpected blindingness of that LED set, but it should do well over the large tank he's planning. I'll post pictures of my project soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I have some sps up top and acans down low. The mag 7 is full throttle and I think I could use a 9. But it looses a lot on pvc bends I guess. I do have it split into 2 out put for inside of tank. I have a 3/4 inch pvc down to to sump and it is dialed back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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