led lighting question for the gurus

[Reefermike]

it was my plan originaly to down size from the 135 cube to a 40 breeder. i had bought a lot of the led to diy a fixture over said tank . when i set up the cube i thought oh i will put large fish in it . then i relized it sitill only 40" wide and 36 deep. So a friend called who owed me a few bones and offered up hi 150 ( 60 x 24 x 24 ) for a deal since he owed me a couple hundered and we are square. Now the lighting question i have currently 24 Royal Blue, 12 Nuetral White, 6 OCW, 6 430nm TV and 6 417 nm TV 3 inventronic 40w 700ma and 2 inventronic 450 ma drivers . i was thinking 22 led ea over 3 heat sink sort of a pendent. then i will order the heat sink from steves led that are linear and put it leghth wise in front and back of the pedents. or order 44 more led ad make it 5 pendents. The intention is to be a mixed reef . i need some help. i am in a good position because i do have the 135 up so i have time on my side i just dont want to keep running the 400 halide over it cause it eats the electricity up. any suggestions. the heat sinks i have on hand are makers 6" . i am thinking i went about the led thing all wrong

 

[nathanrx8]

Sounds like a good idea rapid leds well have everything u need and the kits for tanks do u have dimmers for your leds cuz youll want them

 

[nathanrx8]

I think youd probably like the lights better if you do a full spectrum with reds greens yellows different white s and blues and purples it would make your tank really pop

 

[Dave A]

Greens and yellows are not required for a full spectrum build, white emitters put out plenty of yellow light and more green than you'll ever need. Green light is of little use in photosynthesis. Red light is used by chlorophyll a, but not in huge quantities. Too much red may even lead to photo inhibition.
The OP's list of emitters shows some potential but doesn't show enough detail. Obviously, you will need a lot more of most of them but you have more than enough OCW already. I like a mix of NW and WW to provide most of my red light but a single red emitter every 2' or so is probably not too much. If you stick with all NW, you could probably get away with as much as 1 red per foot, or up to 5 of them on your 60" tank. The same quantities would probably be OK for turquoise/cyan, maybe even a few more. Cool blue goes a long way, they are useful in photosynthesis but too many will quickly turn your tank into a box of winded. I started with 10 CB on my 4' 90 gal and it was way too much blue, swapping 4 of them for cyan helped but not that much. I'd say 4 OCW and a couple extra CB should cover you pretty well for the parts of the spectrum they provide.
Six each of the two wavelengths of violet is a good start but you'll need more of them for a 5 ' tank. I have 10 417nm violets on my 90 gal and it's not enough. OTOH, I don't have any of the 430nm yet so I'll add a few of those before I think about adding more of the 417nm. I think the addition of some 430nm will negate the perceived need for more 417nm. I think I'd be inclined to start with 8-10 of each if I had a tank the size of yours.
You don't say which RBs and NWs you have. You have roughly half the number of whites that you will need, I'd be looking to add in a similar quantity of high CRI WW. Look for 90 CRI or higher. RBs are tougher, I like a mix of 445nm and 455nm, in my case I used a 50:50 mix of Luxeon (445) and XT-E (455) but in hindsight I would be better off with more of the 445nm as that is what most corals require.

 

[jedimasterben]

I think youd probably like the lights better if you do a full spectrum with reds greens yellows different white s and blues and purples it would make your tank really pop

I really don't think you know much about LEDs.





Ok, so the light is actually going over the 150g that is 60"x24"x24"


24x NW
48-72x RB (1:2 ratio for 12-14K at 100%, 1:3 ratio for 16-18K at 100%, or just dim down the whites to taste, but you'll sacrifice output)
12x OCW
18-26x hyper violet
18-25x true violet

The high numbers for violet would put you at about 25-45W/m2 of violet light, which is about what is in nature, and that will provide a ton of PUR because violet is the primary drive of photosynthesis. You certainly don't need to use that many, but if your budget allows for it, you'll get better growth from it.