How many and what color led to replace my actinic t5?
 

Hi everyone im tony. Ive read alot not posted much. I have a 180 gal 60*30*24 reef. Its 30 deep. Currently running 2 400w halides and 4 t5 48 in actinics. I was wanting to replace my actinics with a diy led kit from like rapidled or aquastyleonline. As of now i dont have the funds to switch to leds completely so cost is important. My halides are the primary source of light so i just want the leds to make the colors have that pop and they will be on a timer so i can get the dawn/dusk effect. I guess the question is how many leds to i need to accomplish this and whats the best color led to use. I would think i dont need lenses because im not worried with par at depth just coverage and pop. Plus the more leds the more the cost obviously. Any help is appreciated ... thanks!

Take this with a grain or two of salt, I'm still new to LEDs but I've been researching this sort of thing for my own build. What I've found is that not all LEDs are the same and that direct comparisons to other types of lighting are impossible.
That said, the common thinking is that 12-14 LEDs are roughly equivalent to a 4' T5 lamp. To replace 4 actinics, I'd be inclined to use a mix of royal blue (60-70%) , violet(420nnm, 20-25%) and cyan (10-15%), I would probably use 48 LEDs.

Hi thanks for your reply. Do you think that would be for cree or the bridgelux? Would it matter? I know that cree are the better led but im inly using leds for supplementing the t5 and would like to save a little money. That being said ...if i would get a lot more pop out pf the cree leds then i might just have to go that route.

I'm not so sure that Cree are "better" than Bridgelux. Cree LEDs will put out a little more light (~15-20%) when driven at 700mA and can be driven at higher current for even more light output but that won't help at all in your case. Considering the surface area you need to cover, I don't think it would be wise to use fewer than 48 LEDs and with that quantity you should get the light you need from either brand.
For my build, I'm looking for output at certain wavelengths. For example: I wasnt a peak at 420nm, Bridgelux Violet is rated for 418-420nm, Cree UV is rated for 410-420nm. I don't want 410nm, I want 420nm, and since both LEDs are rated for a max current of 700mA, I'd prefer the Bridgelux. For Royal Blue, I like the Cree better than the Bridgelux but I like Bridgelux Cyan better than Cree Blue. I'm still looking into Phillips LEDs, some of those look pretty good too.
As I said in my previous post, I'm still new at this so take anything I post with a grain of salt. I'm still in the research phase for my own build, I'm hoping to be ordering parts within a couple weeks.

BTW, from what I'm seeing on the spec sheets, I'm starting to think that Cree sorts their LEDs into various "bins" by light output per watt but allows a broad range of spectral variation, while Bridgelux sorts by wavelength and is less concerned with brightness.

I am not endorsing one or the other but this seems to state that CREE at least sorts their XT-E Royal Blues by both light output and by spectrum. They are seperate parts of the "part" number.

Thanks for the replies. It really doesnt matter to me as long as i get plenty of pop. Rapid led (mike) said a 24 actinic kit with a few uv would be all i need. I dont think i need 48 leds for actinics. I m only wanting the flourecent pop of the corals. Also looking at the 36 led kit from aquastyleonline with rb violet and cyan. What do u guys think?

From what I have seen and read from people who bought from aquastyles, their 420nm Actinic Violet LED look great, they are a brighter purple looking color that is incredibly rare to find in LEDs. They would make a good actinic replacement from my understanding.