[TiM71717]

Hey all,

I have a RSM 250 that I will be setting up soon (if I stop procrastinating), and transferring the contents of this tank into it:

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/...-new-pics.html

I was wondering if anyone knew of somewhere that I could have my RSM hood modified to have LEDs (high powered ones, not moon lights), instead of the T5 bulbs. If not, maybe a good DIY LED article for this specific tank hood? Thanks in advance

-Tim

[ZANYMASTER]

Or..remove the Hood like I did with my 130D and you'll have a better lighting option.

[TiM71717]

I guess that is an option, but I like the way the hood finishes the tank off.. hmmm

[jrobbins]

i dont know about the 250 but on the 130 it was really hard to mod the canopy. there wasnt really enough space to fit a heatsink, and there are almost no good mounting points.

not sure if the 250 is similar, but you might just look at squeezing some of the ecoxotic led strips in there.

or, if the 250 uses standard t5's (unlike the 130) you might be able to find some of the led strips that are the same form factor. fitting the driver might be a pain though.

[TiM71717]

I think i'm going to go with the ecoxotic strips.. any suggestions on how many i should get? i want to add some shimmer / and give the corals more of a blue pop

[Aqua Pro Builder]

I tested the 6 bulbs T5 in the hood is giving you ~130(17" from the hood) PAR, how much more PAR you want with the new LED besides the spectrum filler thing?

Do you prefer more white or more blue?

[TiM71717]

I prefer more blue, and regarding PAR, I'm not 100% sure how much more I'd want. Basically I want to be able to keep any types of sps down the line. Maybe between 200 and 300 ? or is that too much?

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Originally Posted by TiM71717

I prefer more blue, and regarding PAR, I'm not 100% sure how much more I'd want. Basically I want to be able to keep any types of sps down the line. Maybe between 200 and 300 ? or is that too much?

OK. I will measure the initial setup and see whether we need to go up or down in the quantity of the LEDs.

As a reminder, when we add more blue, the PAR will go up but our eyes will not registered as brighter.

[TiM71717]

Gotcha, thanks Wingo!!

[TiM71717]

So I just got my Red Sea Max 250 hood back from Wingo, who modified the hood to have a super-badass LED system. He did an AMAZING job. The LEDs are all contained within the original lighting area, and he installed some awesome controllers that allow me to completely customize the appearance and colors of the tank. The spectrum fillers allow me to add in other RGB hues to really make it a truly gorgeous display. It came out better than I could've imagined, and Wingo was very informative, friendly, helpful, thorough, fast, and professional. He preserved the original appearance of the hood, and managed to install everything within it. I can't praise his work enough. If anyone else has a Red Sea Max 250 and were thinking about making the switch to LED's, Wingo is your man. He was a pleasure to deal with, especially since my knowledge of LED's was pretty lacking, and I was scared to do a DIY solution. Pictures and videos will be coming soon!