RAPID LED Retrofit Kit - Layout Questions

M

MAERAK

Member
I am going to order the retrofit kit for the 28G CF Quad Nano - Dimmable version, which is a 20 LED layout. I am still new at the hobby and am brand new to LEDs. What layout would you recommend? The default layout is 10 cool white and 10 royal blue. A suggestion I got was:
8 Royal Blue
6 Cool White
4 Blue
2 Neutral White
2 UV

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

Thanks
 
jayjigga

jayjigga

Active member
Unless you like a whiter look, I would swap 2 CW with 2 RB. Even if they're dimmable, you want to be able to tone down the colors. 8 white LED's will be a lot for the blues to counter. To keep the colors separate, it would be the smaller driver for the white string, but I'm sure they'll help you out too. They have great customer service.
 
GBeck87

GBeck87

Member
I would not go with cool white. Go with neutral. Go atleast 2:1 blue to white and fill the rest with some TV CB and a red and CY. Get Full spectrum if you can.

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jayjigga

jayjigga

Active member
GBeck87 said:
I would not go with cool white. Go with neutral. Go atleast 2:1 blue to white and fill the rest with some TV CB and a red and CY. Get Full spectrum if you can.

Sent from my LG-VM696 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
I'll definitely have to disagree with not having any cool white. I have all 3 whites on my setup, but I also have 4 times more LEDs and at least twice the area to cover. On a tank that small, you won't be able to blend the red enough. In order to do it right (according to Jimmy IIRC), you want to cluster a deep red, cyan, and blue as tight as possible to simulate a warm white. With such little space to work with, I would suggest something like:

10 Royal Blue
3 Cool White
4 Blue
2 Neutral White
1 Warm White
2 UV

I don't know if the UV will affect enough with all the other colors going on, but what I did on my 12 was put them on the moonlight kit and run them with actinics.

Again, this is personal opinion, and not the only way to skin this cat :)
 
GBeck87

GBeck87

Member
Everyone has there own opinions. Why wouldnt he be able to do a cluster? You can mount the leds however you want. Clustering should be a given on any DIY.

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jayjigga

jayjigga

Active member
GBeck87 said:
Everyone has there own opinions. Why wouldnt he be able to do a cluster? You can mount the leds however you want. Clustering should be a given on any DIY.

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Click to expand...
Cluster as in the triple puck. Heat directly affects the life of an LED, which is why I recommend good heatsinks and more often than not a way to actively cool the fixture. 3 regular stars next to each other might be tight enough, but it depends on how high he's mounting. Personally, if I can see color separation on the sandbed or on the rockwork, it irks me. A single red led stands out so much.
 
GBeck87

GBeck87

Member
Jigga Please! He can do more than one red i have 2 and i dont see mine. I like my colors just wished i wouldnt have done solderless so i couldve got them even closer together. I used adhesive not the mounting screws.

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G

Green0j0s

Member
Get the MH Kit for the Nano... I got that kit for my CF Quad NanoCube and all you have to do is scrape the white off the glass that covers the rest of the opening in the CF version. I used a utility knife blade and scraped it off pretty easily.

You get a couple more LEDs that will let you throw in a Red and Green and 2 others of your choice. In my opinion I'd get 2 more UVs with a red and green along with Jayjiggas setup.

10 Royal Blue
3 Cool White
4 Blue
2 Neutral White
1 Warm White
2 UV
 
jayjigga

jayjigga

Active member
GBeck87 said:
Jigga Please! He can do more than one red i have 2 and i dont see mine. I like my colors just wished i wouldnt have done solderless so i couldve got them even closer together. I used adhesive not the mounting screws.

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Click to expand...
I don't see the point of arguing about whether or not you are unable to see the red. I don't know how high you have your lights mounted, or if they're installed in your hood. OP asked for our thoughts. I've seen great look tanks with just RB/CW. The full spectrum thing is getting more buzz, but if you look at a chlorophyll chart, the deep red is where coral would benefit from it; people throwing in red and green leds aren't really catering to the corals' needs more than aesthetics.

Again, all personal preference, but both our opinions are welcome, and we can certainly agree to disagree.
 
GBeck87

GBeck87

Member
Ive never used more than one white on any of my builds, but if you guys say its better, ill take your word for it. You can throw a Cyan in there which is pretty sweet i used 2 red and 2 Cyan.

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G

Green0j0s

Member
Sorry actually you will only be able to do the following:

10 Royal Blue
3 Cool White
4 Blue
2 Neutral White
1 Warm White
2 UV
1 Red
1 Green

MH Kit is a 24 LED Kit and CF Quad is a 20 LED Kit. You had 22 in your first post.
 
T

Tbonekilla

Member
10 RB
5 NW
3 CB
2 TV

NWs will have all the red orange green you'll need. TV is only for PAR. The CB balances out the actinic from the RBs and the white of the NWs.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2
 
sh0tyme83

sh0tyme83

Member
I just ordered this same kit as well. I worked with Vince over at Rapid LED and we came up with this combination:

8 Royal Blue
7 Cool White
3 UV
1 Red
1 Green

This is similar to what the guys at Rapid LED run over their tanks.
 
GBeck87

GBeck87

Member
A little too much white for me. We all like different colors to our tanks, i like atleast 2:1 B/W like jigga said too. Its just easier to wash out the whites.

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sh0tyme83

sh0tyme83

Member
yup agreed. I really liked the 12k MH bulbs I used to run so I wanted something as close to that as possible. I will also only be running the whites at 700 mah so it should make them dimmer. I have my 8 blues wired together and then the whites and everything else wired. I'm still waiting on a LED to LED jumper. RapidLED sent me 17 instead of the 18 I needed. Should be here today and then I can get a few pictures posted if it's any help to the OP.
 
GBeck87

GBeck87

Member
Where do you live? I may have extra led to led jumpers left over.
Pretty positive i do. And Jay i wasnt trying to argue with you man just trying to give an opinion. Sorry if i affended you man :D
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