LED Retrofit on Coralife Biocube 29

[jwinograd]

Looking for some advice. I have a Coralife Biocube 29 with stock lighting. My LPS and softies are doing fine, but nothing is growing too fast. I'd like to upgrade the lighting to LEDs so I can get SPS and some better growth. I've browsed some forums and looks like the Rapid LED (http://www.rapidled.com">www.rapidled.com</a>) and Steve's LED ([IMG]http://shop.stevesleds.com/Biocube-29-LED-Light-System-Extreme-SPS-8794102423.htm">http://shop.stevesleds.com/Biocube-29-LED-Light-System-Extreme-SPS-8794102423.htm</a>) kits are the most popular.

Does anyone have any other recommendations that they think are better?
Has anyone used these kits? If so, what color combinations would you recommend for max growth and aesthetics? There are lot of options.
Doesn't look like either of these kits come with a timer. Any good and inexpensive options that you would recommend?
Does anyone know where I can get a good retrofit kit used? If I can get something good, wouldn't mind saving a little bit of money.

New to reefing, and definitely appreciate everyone's help. Thanks

 

[camellia]

+1 Rapid

If you give them a call they have great CS and great kits!

 

[diprimak]

I used retrofitted my 34gal Redsea Max 130D with rapidleds. They were super easy to install and the lighting is awesome! Definitely recommend their kit. Pm me for any questions you may have.

 

[diprimak]

I used more blue than whites and have 2UV, one green, and one red.

 

[diprimak]

I also recommend buying the storm controller and programming a moonlight phase

 

[franciscosalazar]

Keep the stock lighting...
Worse decision I made with my bc29 was retrofitting...
If you decide you absolutely must upgrade lighting, take the hood off all together and hang a light or use an arm =)

 

[jwinograd]

@franciscosalazar curious why you don't think it is a good idea to put LEDs in? It seems a lot of people are doing that, and I don't think the OEM lighting is good enough for SPS. Did you have issues with any specific LED setup?

 

[franciscosalazar]

I used Ecoxotic's Panorama Pro 2.0's in the splash guard but the humidity ate them up.
I didn't try anything else assuming the same conditions would exist.
They work great over an open top though...
Just limited growth in such a small tank with narrow light spectrum...

 

[franciscosalazar]

Let me know if you decide to take the top off instead of gutting it...

 

[wildernets]

I used Steve's LEDs and like the kit a lot. Install can go from easy to advance depending on if you get it prebuilt or not. I also got the typhoon controller. That really made the difference.

 

[jwinograd]

My preference is to keep the top and gut it. Seems like it's about split in the Rapid and Steve's kit.

Nathan, what color config did you go with? Are you growing SPS?

Kyle, what do the UV, greens, and reds do?

 

[diprimak]

The UVs are supposed to help with coral growth and color. The red and green are for aesthetics. When I emailed rapidled I told them that I would like more blue then whites. They helped me put together a package. Before I assemdd the kit I layed out the pattern of the LEDs. I really like the color in my tank. I bought the souderless kit and it took me about 3hrs to complete. Gutting the top was easier then I expected.

 

[fishdude]

I used rapid LEDs for my BC retrofit and loved it. I used 14 blues, and 10 whites each with dimmable drivers. I wasn't a huge fan of the connections on the souderless kit or the quick disconnect on the fans. I had great growth with all coral except millipora.
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[tatertot72]

Which one did you end up going with? I'm considering doing the same thing for my cube.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jwinograd]

I decided to hold off. My corals are actually growing really well with the stock lighting and am running out of space. I think I will invest in a larger tank setup instead of the LEDs.

 

[franciscosalazar]

jwinograd;1035890 wrote: i decided to hold off. My corals are actually growing really well with the stock lighting and am running out of space. I think i will invest in a larger tank setup instead of the leds.

+1