• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

Led light for red sea max 130d

Brando457

Brando457

I have a red sea max 130d and am looking to do LEDs on it rather than replace the current PC bulbs.

I am considering doing the AI sol blue NANO fixture but unsure if it will be enough light for the entire tank.

I am also considering doing a DIY kit from rapid led.

The pro of the ai nano is it has the ability to ramp up and down throughout the day. Not sure if it is enough coverage though. I could do the SOL Blue, but think that may be overkill.

The rapidled kit I can make dimmable and retain my hood, keeping it sleek and all in one still.

I'm open to other and any suggestions, this is just what I've been considering.

Thanks!!
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
The red sea max is 24x20x24 inches, and the AI nano is 4x5 inches. I think you would have to hang it pretty high to get full coverage over the tank and that might be a strech. The normal AI gets about 2 feet squared of coverage if hung high enought, but most will run one per foot (6 units over a 180). I don't think one nano would cut it, maybe 2 would work but getting a normal AI would probably be cheaper. It also depends on what you want to keep in there coral wise, because if you did not want high light corals you could probably get away with one nano unit.
 
howze01

howze01

NJRC Member
To me it's obscene that you can pay as much as the normal AI costs and get one foot of coverage out of it. That just doesn't make any sense to me when we can get by with 2 of the Red Sand fixtures on a 120.
 
Fish Brain

Fish Brain

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Do you still have your ReefKeeper? I have my RapidLED kit hooked up to the ALC and it ramps them up and ramps back down.
 
Brando457

Brando457

They're the same as the SWC and rebranded. The original manufacturer sells them for $200 but not to the US, bummer as I'd love to get that light.
 
Sunny

Sunny

NJRC Member
Article Contributor
The coverage will depend on aquascaping. I have 6 AI Sol blue on a 96X30 tank. The lights are 22 inch from the water surface.
The tank is very bright and I am not running 100%. The Sol Blue are very very bright fixtures.

I would say get one and raise is 18 inches and you will be fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top