# Biocube LED upgrade



## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

if your going with that select the full spectrum light, just white and blue is not for plants (you need reds).. yet a fuller spectrum is.. 

however looking at that particular aquarium, I would put it back on craigslist or gut out all the crap it came with and put a normal cheap led on it for a fraction of the cost.. $200 for that light kit is a total waste of money when you could light a couple 30g tanks with better LED's for that kind of money... that partictular tank looks like a moneypit, designed for salt water none the less.

dont feel too bad, same way with my Fluval Chi.. once I threw away the light/filter and got ones that weren't a complete joke it was actually a nice tank.

Do you think the a LED strip like this would fit under the hood?
Amazon.com : Finnex FugeRay Planted+ Aquarium LED Light Plus Moonlights, 20-Inch : Pet Supplies


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## helgi125 (Jan 16, 2014)

nayr said:


> if your going with that select the full spectrum light, just white and blue is not for plants (you need reds).. yet a fuller spectrum is..
> 
> however looking at that particular aquarium, I would put it back on craigslist or gut out all the crap it came with and put a normal cheap led on it for a fraction of the cost.. $200 for that light kit is a total waste of money when you could light a couple 30g tanks with better LED's for that kind of money... that partictular tank looks like a moneypit, designed for salt water none the less.
> 
> ...


I am going with the Cube, mostly because right now its low maintenance and the fishes Im going for are jumpers. I use the Finnex's for my 2 other tanks The thing is I got the tank (brand new) and the LED's I linked for 200 bucks as a package, along with some other things.

So given that I want to use the biocube with its original LID on, I know there have been successful modifications to them for plants. Could I add some More LED's to my current selection of White/blue (3-6 red's for example) via this site? http://www.rapidled.com/ The individual LED's dont seem to be that expensive. 

Any tips on this would be welcome as well as Any idea on how many LED's of this caliber I would need, Do I even need the blues? could I replace the blues with more White/Red's?

-HelgiR


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

ah so you already have that light, then yeah if you can remove some of the blues and replace them with reds, maby add a couple greens so your plants will pop..

theres some websites out there that help give you an estimate of the spectrum you'll get with combinations of widely available LED's, find one of those.. put in what you got and tweak it while comparing it with a typical planted spectrum.


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## helgi125 (Jan 16, 2014)

nayr said:


> ah so you already have that light, then yeah if you can remove some of the blues and replace them with reds, maby add a couple greens so your plants will pop..
> 
> theres some websites out there that help give you an estimate of the spectrum you'll get with combinations of widely available LED's, find one of those.. put in what you got and tweak it while comparing it with a typical planted spectrum.


Cool, will look into that, However watching this guys thread 5 years ago 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=103576

He seamed to do just fine with the bulbs, just replacing the acnic bulb with a 6500k might be enough, no need to fiddle with the LED's. The Deal was good enough that I don't mind saving the LED's for a later project, knowing it will happen


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## subcontrariety (May 26, 2011)

I've had pretty good success with the stock lighting, even though my 29g came with only one working ballast so I've only been using one bulb (its been going for a couple years - crypts, ferns, and anubias are quite happy). If you really want to switch to LEDs, there are direct replacements for the bulbs - you just need to take the ballast out of the power supply. Here's a planted aquarium specific version: http://ahsupply.com/light-emitting-diodes/lamps-bulbs.html
Amazon has some cheaper versions, but I don't know how they compare in product quality and light output.


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## grizzly_a (Sep 9, 2014)

I'm assuming you got the BioCube 29? 

You can buy new PC bulbs at AH Supply (I did, and they work) I thought about the RapidLED mod, but after looking and measuring, I think I can mount 2 of the existing Finnex 16" Planted+ or Fugeray in the hood after removing the existing stuff. Another thought was Satellite+ (4005) 16.8" should fit in there nicely also, and have the ability to change intensity and color.

I have both the BioCube 8g and 29g, both planted. I'm using AHSupply bulbs in both. I run a single PC on the 8G and it grows plants like crazy. The 29g I have a 6500K and a 10,000K running together. I like the light color with both. When the 29g burns out, I will likely finish off my LED mod with existing fixtures.


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## helgi125 (Jan 16, 2014)

grizzly_a said:


> I'm assuming you got the BioCube 29?
> 
> You can buy new PC bulbs at AH Supply (I did, and they work) I thought about the RapidLED mod, but after looking and measuring, I think I can mount 2 of the existing Finnex 16" Planted+ or Fugeray in the hood after removing the existing stuff. Another thought was Satellite+ (4005) 16.8" should fit in there nicely also, and have the ability to change intensity and color.
> 
> I have both the BioCube 8g and 29g, both planted. I'm using AHSupply bulbs in both. I run a single PC on the 8G and it grows plants like crazy. The 29g I have a 6500K and a 10,000K running together. I like the light color with both. When the 29g burns out, I will likely finish off my LED mod with existing fixtures.


Yeah I was surprised with the amount of space in the hood chamber to be honest. However I was going over the actual LED's in the package that came with it (rapid LED) and it turns out there are mostly (18 8000k white) then a couple blue and couple red so I went ahead and ordered 3 Green's 

According to my calculations running the 18 white and 3 Green with 1 Red for 8 hrs should set me at solid 6700k (sweet spot) and I will install 1-2 blues and run the other reds on a dimmer running a sunrise/sunset mod. 

this was the cheapest way around this for me, a 6700 bulb would had run me about 40 bucks at the LFS but just buying those greens was 9$ still swinging me way below estimated spending.


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## grizzly_a (Sep 9, 2014)

I don't understand how the RapidLED retro was cheaper than a $40 bulb at the LFS, but the LED retro is going to be amazing, especially with a dimmer.


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## nayr (Jan 18, 2014)

the craigslist tank came with the RapidLED retro already, he is wanting to modify it from the white/blue to a more suitable planted spectrum.. 

i think, his first post was confusing.


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## helgi125 (Jan 16, 2014)

nayr said:


> the craigslist tank came with the RapidLED retro already, he is wanting to modify it from the white/blue to a more suitable planted spectrum..
> 
> i think, his first post was confusing.


Yes you are correct, sorry if the first post was confusing. Came with 24 solderles RapidLED set but the combined LEDs were in the wrong spectrum.


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## grizzly_a (Sep 9, 2014)

Any updates to your tank? How are the lights and colors?


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