LED's for small desktop frag tank

[nate_newton]

So I'm putting LED's in the idea bin for my small frag tank, currently it has the 10" T5's. It measure's 12"x21"x9". The tank is mainly for SPS, mostly Montipora's and Birdsnests. How many leds would you suggest to light the tank?

[jolson10450]

roughly 12, I have a 5.5g mini nano that measures 16"x10"x8" tall and i have 6 leds over it and it lights it perfect, with the 21"x12" you will need a decent amount more, buy a DIY kit with 12 leds in it from rapidled.com here is the link:

http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-...ium-LED/Detail

you will also need 6 optics to add to it for the xp-g LEDS unless you decide to go with no optics which at only 9" deep you possibly could, or use 80 degree optics, i would buy them just in case so you dont have to pay shipping if you change your mind.

go to heatsinkusa.com and pick out an appropriate heatsink for your application, i usually space my LEDS 2" apart evenly but its really personal preference.

the rough cost with shipping and everything should be roughly $150 i would say but it will last you 5+ years

[evilc66]

12 could work. A few more wouldn't hurt for some additional coverage considering the length of the tank.

There should never be a reason for using optics on a tank that small, unless you plan on mounting the fixture extremely high. There isn't even a real need to use XP-G LEDs either, and in this case I'd steer clear of them, and go with neutral white XR-Es. Sps seem to be a little more finikey when it comes to color rendering, and the neutral white LEDs will help quite a bit with that, especially seeing as you are planning on reselling the frags, where apearance is most important.

[nate_newton]

So 12 or white then, any blue? I do have some zoa's and a few chalices also, I'd say maybe 1/3 of the tank. I guess I'll just keep my 2 6"x7" heatsinks and use them for mounting. One other question. Since this will be close to water what should I use to protect it. Previously I've used acrylic from Loew's. Because there is some heat it bows down, what's best to use and can still support the fixture?

12 could work. A few more wouldn't hurt for some additional coverage considering the length of the tank.

There should never be a reason for using optics on a tank that small, unless you plan on mounting the fixture extremely high. There isn't even a real need to use XP-G LEDs either, and in this case I'd steer clear of them, and go with neutral white XR-Es. Sps seem to be a little more finikey when it comes to color rendering, and the neutral white LEDs will help quite a bit with that, especially seeing as you are planning on reselling the frags, where apearance is most important.

[evilc66]

You always have to use blue LEDs. The 12 LED count was for both colors.

If the acrylic is bowing, then use something thicker. Acrylic is the best option, as it's cheap and easy to work with.

[nate_newton]

Thanks I thought you meant blue too but didn't mention it.

[evilc66]

It's always implied. The only time you would use white only is for freshwater planted tanks. They are too yellow by themselves for reefs.

[nate_newton]

What happened to the dimmable Meanwell drivers on Nanotuners? Didn't they also have an led kit?

[evilc66]

What happened to the dimmable Meanwell drivers on Nanotuners? Didn't they also have an led kit?

Meanwells are out of stock right now, which is why we don't have them on the site right now. Even though we don't want to force shoppers to go elsewhere, we are doing this to reduce issues with long backorder delays.

[nate_newton]

Thats smart, some places when they're out of stock the add to cart button says out of stock and does nothing. I emailed but it looks like they're out of stock on the Neutral White leds also.
My plan is to go with the MeanWell ELN-60-48D, 14 leds; should I do 7 and 7, or 8 blue and 6 white. Does this sound ok?

Meanwells are out of stock right now, which is why we don't have them on the site right now. Even though we don't want to force shoppers to go elsewhere, we are doing this to reduce issues with long backorder delays.