rapid LED kit vs AI sol

[irish02bk]

I have a 75g RR tank taht currently has a 6bulb TEK on it, i would like to upgrade to LEDs.

first if i went the sol rout, how many modules would i need, its a mixed reef not SPS dominant.

Second would it make sense to just DIY build and get the reefkeeper LED controls instead?

 

[XavierZ06]

With the new price drop of the AI SOLS i am having a hard time deciding myself. By the looks of it, cost wise it will be pretty even factoring in time dedicated to building the rapid LED kit, and a housing for the unit, etc.

On a 75 id go with 2 of the AI modules, which is what im leaning towards for my own tank.

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Go diy, but buy from reefledlights.com, they are cheaper and offer more options.

 

[uchin]

Diy to me will be harder sell and probably won't fetch as mush as a figure like ai when the time comes.

 

[keokea]

I prefer reefledlights also, rapidled doesn't give you the bin option of what quality leds your getting, I have 3 diy cree fixtures from multiple suppliers, I highly recommend diy leds if your going led

 

[gflat65]

I've been building reefledlights.com DIY's for several of my tanks and am happy so far. Over my 130 frag tank (72x30x14H), I only run (48) 3W Crees and am getting decent growth. It's a shallow tank, so I've not even gotten the white all the way up (and only run optics on the SPS side). It's been up for four months now, I think (maybe longer-concept of time dwindles as you age). I use rapidled for the 10V regulated power supplies and I think it's likely the direction I'll go for the dimmer boxes in the future (only marginally more expensive than building my own and less work).

I just put a (40) 3W cree diy over my wifes 75 and so far so good. It's only been about two weeks on that one, though. I've got blues at 100% and whites at about 50%. When I crank the whites up, it looks like more light than I had with (4) 39W T5's (3 foot fixture over the 75 initially). It's a softie/LPS tank. Need a par meter...

 

[chadfarmer]

i ended up with the AI and I have reefledlights on my frag tank

 

[irish02bk]

Which do you like better?

i ended up with the AI and I have reefledlights on my frag tank

 

[Onedesign1]

I'm a DIY fan. But unless you're handy it can seem imposing but it's not. Also if you don't have a canopy the commercial units look better obviously but the handy person can solve that if desires But if you can DIY I highly recommend it because it's forever maintainable and upgradeable, and you do save some.

I have never purchased from reefleds but while they give you the options for binning 90% of the people looking at it have no idea what that means and IMO they are not very clear on their site. I also see no reason why I would want a lower bin...what's the logic there? The highest bin royal blue is by far more efficient and thus more desirable. Reality is rapid sells the highest bin for the same price as reefled does the lower. FWIW my most recent build was from neither of these companies....I'm just calling it as I see it.

Back to the AI Sols.... You have to hang them high due to tight optics and small footprint with low count of LEDs... So make sure you take that into account.