Lighting Question for a 12 gallon apprx.

  • Thread starter Thread starter DD
  • Start date Start date
DD

DD

"Rambo"
Hello all,

Well my fluval edge 6 gallon has been driving me crazy with the tiny opening one has to stick one's arm through. It is a very stylish and appealing tank. Well I decided to get a different tank. I don't have very much space on my desk to put any tank larger than 20"L so I went with the Mr. Aqua rimless 11.3 gallon. It fits the space perfectly.

My question is, I currently am using the skkylight single strip 14K led. It's 18" long. Sitting on top of the edge it's probably 6-7 inches from the corals that are in the tank. Everything is doing excellent and have not been showing signs of not enough light. Almost quite the opposite.

Do I continue using that light? The only SPS I can see myself keeping are birdsnest and maybe another "easy" SPS.

Gus was kind enough to help me out with a question on LED's since I was determined to use the fluval edge. I have a heatsink that is 7" by 3.5". I was thinking I would possibly still build a fixture seeing as I already have the heatsink and the plan for the build in my head; haven't ordered LED's or any materials yet, or do I go with a par 38 with a gooseneck fixture?

Thanks in advance for all suggestions and advice,
Dom
 
I don't think a par38 is the way to go. You're close enough that you can tag along with ma rapidled order if you wanna. I have a couple heatsinks if they'll work better and I'm sure I can make use of yours if it came to it :)
 
jayjigga said:
I don't think a par38 is the way to go. You're close enough that you can tag along with ma rapidled order if you wanna. I have a couple heatsinks if they'll work better and I'm sure I can make use of yours if it came to it :)
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That sounds good thanks Jay! Would the heatsink I have be too small for the tank? When it was going to be used for my fluval edge, Gus recommended 6 royal blue, 5 cool whites, and 1 red. Too few for this tank?
 
ddiomede said:
That sounds good thanks Jay! Would the heatsink I have be too small for the tank? When it was going to be used for my fluval edge, Gus recommended 6 royal blue, 5 cool whites, and 1 red. Too few for this tank?
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Less is more with leds. What temp you looking to get? I think I did a 5 RB:3CW for Jeff...Jeff, is that right? You like the color Bro? I don't think it's too small, but maybe not wide enough...I'd have to see spread before I say yay or nay.
 
jayjigga said:
Less is more with leds. What temp you looking to get? I think I did a 5 RB:3CW for Jeff...Jeff, is that right? You like the color Bro? I don't think it's too small, but maybe not wide enough...I'd have to see spread before I say yay or nay.
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I really like the 14K look, but I don't get as much of the fluorescent colors that I was hoping for. The drivers I was going to buy were two of the nano dimmable drivers with potentiometers from rapidled. This way I could fine tune the white and blues. Will that work? I don't know much about LED color mixes or anything about LED's for that matter lol.
 
ddiomede said:
I really like the 14K look, but I don't get as much of the fluorescent colors that I was hoping for. The drivers I was going to buy were two of the nano dimmable drivers with potentiometers from rapidled. This way I could fine tune the white and blues. Will that work? I don't know much about LED color mixes or anything about LED's for that matter lol.
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Dimmable is the best way to go IMO. I like shooting for a 17-20K temp and I don't like red in a tank that small. I'm totally game to tank leds more though; pm me or post more questions, but I like the way it's going.

Lil BamBam said:
Jay, how about a PAR30?
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I'm worried about spread cause of the way the tank is and where it's open. He'll have dark corners unless he goes high up.
 
jayjigga said:
Dimmable is the best way to go IMO. I like shooting for a 17-20K temp and I don't like red in a tank that small. I'm totally game to tank leds more though; pm me or post more questions, but I like the way it's going.



I'm worried about spread cause of the way the tank is and where it's open. He'll have dark corners unless he goes high up.
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Would 6rb's and 6 cw do the trick? This way I can have the rb's hooked to one driver and the whites to the other and be able to dim them manually. I found a project box from radio shack that would fit this whole thing in there minus the drivers. I would just need to cut a hole in the top for the fan and figure out a way of hanging it.

Would lenses be applicable for something like this? If so which ones would I want to go with?

When all is said and done, I figure this is going to cost somewhere around 200 bucks or so.
 
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