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Thread: 55 gallon DIY LED display build (from groupbuyled.com)

  1. #21

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    I still have to clean up the wiring from the fixture to the drivers, and finish sealing the cover to the heatsink, but other than that its all done.

    Final LED count:

    14 XP-G Neutral White (40 degree optics, 700mA max)

    36 XT-E Royal Blue (40 degree optics, 700mA always)

    6 3W True Violet (60 degree optics, ~600mA)

    6 3W Turquoise (60 degree optics ~600mA)

    6 3W Deep Red (60 degree optics~600mA)

    All LEDs on full:





    Neutral whites on lowest setting, everything else on high:




  2. #22
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    Looks great! The first 2 pictures with them ALL ON, just going off the picture (which I know is bad the begin with) it "appears" brighter than what even a 250w XM 10K bulb puts out. If it appears brighter, then it must be REALLY bright. Figure a 250w 10k MH will put out around 800 PAR at the surface of the water if the light it at least 12" above the water, taking a wild guess going off the picture, I would bet your getting 1800 PAR at the surface with your LED light. Just an educated guess. I know the picture was just for the comparison shots, and you are more than likely never going to run them all at 100%, just be very careful with the intensity.

    I would bet that if you ran all your LEDs at 25% right now, you would still be putting in more light than your previous lighting. You are going from a Volkswagen to a Ferrari in terms of lighting upgrade. Corals can take the Ferrari lighting.. eventually.. but you have to slowly acclimate them to higher lighting. If you go more than 10% above your previous lighting output in one shot it shocks most SPS corals (not sure if you have any) and it usually means near instant death (overnight), talking from personal experience. I was slowly ramping up my lights to acclimate my corals, started at 40% and every 5 days moved up 5% but one day I went from 60-75% in one shot and had some nice white skeletons in my tank by the next morning.

  3. #23

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    Well I do have a few SPSS that I got last night, however they came from a very shallow tank (14" tops) with a 4 bulb T5HO fixture, so they are used to much higher lighting than what used to have. They are also currently very low in my tank.

    I plan to leave 28 of the royals blues on high (they are not adjustable) and have everything else turned down to low. I will slowly adjust it up from there.

  4. #24
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    4 bulb T5 Fixtures usually puts out around 400 PAR under the bulbs at the surface (type of reflectors and bulbs play a big part in T5 output, but the range is still usually 300-500 PAR depending on variables), about 1/2 the output of a 250w 10k bulb, or about equal to a 250w 20k Radium bulb, just to give you an idea of what the corals used to be under.

    Also, just an FYI, it is the royal blues that cause the most damage to corals. Reason being is royal blue is very dim to the human eye so we crank them up to get color we like, and the glow of the corals, but the problem is the spectrum is ideal for photosynthesis (455nm), and this is the light that does the most damage to the corals because when switching to LEDs, most people end up putting 2-5x MORE 455nm spectrum than what any previous type of lighting could provide at that spectrum. Cool and Neutral white LEDs actually put out a lot of royal blue spectrum as well, but the rest of the spectrum they put out washes out the blue, but it is still in there. White LEDs all by themselves will provide the same, if not more, of the 455nm lighting than even most daylight T5 bulbs or MH bulbs. You add royal blue LEDs on top of the whites and you really start blasting the tank with that spectrum, but as we all know, royal blue LEDs are really a must have for our viewing pleasure so it isn't like you can do without them.

  5. #25
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    I run a mix of 7 12,000 and 19,000K LED's combined to 1 455nm LED and my corals seem to react very well to this. I have 32 total over a 40G breeder type/size tank.
    150G. Reef/Mix
    125G. 3 Regular Oscars/1 Jack Dempsey
    75G. 20+ Africans
    40G. Fish/Reef. Algae Scrubbers on ALL my SW
    10G. SW Fish/Reef.
    10G. SW Hospital/new fish quarantine/pod breeder tank
    6 stage RO/DI system 200 GPD.

  6. #26

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    Still trying to clear the water, I bought some fiberfill from wallmart and filled up the aquaclear with it last night, and today I bought some Seachem clarity (a flocculating agent) and added twice the recommended amount, the directions say up to 3 times the recomended amount is ok for faster/stronger clarifying. It is slowly clearing up, hopefully the clarity will help some.

    I think the cloudyness at this point is due to micro algae, it probably was aggrivated by cleaning both my algae screens at one time.

  7. #27

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    Yea taking some pictures of it with the white flash made it clear what the problem is, its not very obvious without strong white lighting though.


  8. #28

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    I know LEDs are kind of a mystery to many people, this was quite the experience doing all this. It took days of research and tons of emails to Milad at groupbuyled.com before I even started, and then I changed my plan like 15 times before I finished.... So I figured I would list the final costs of this light and what all you would need to make one if anyone is interested in doing something similar.

    The following is what would be needed to make a light exactly like mine, and also one without the extra colored LEDs.

    Heatsink: 10.000" x 46" Fin Height: 1" Base Height: .300" Weight ~23lbs - $170.10 shipped (heatsinkusa.com)

    Subtotal: $170.10


    Cover:

    OPTIX 24 in. x 48 in. x .093 Acrylic Sheet - $23.98 (local homedepot)
    GE Silicone II 2.8 oz. Window and Door Caulk Clear - $3.89 (local homedepot)
    Rattle can of black spraypaint ~$5.00 (local homedepot)

    Subtotal: $32.87 (plus tax if applicable)


    LEDs, I will list the cost of what I got, and the price of just the basic 28 Royal blues and 14 Neutral whites:

    7 x CREE XT-E Royal Blue XP-G Neutral White 3 UP - $189.00
    (Color: 2x XTE Royal 1x XPG Neutral, Quantity in Package: 2 Pack)

    7 x 3UP - XT-E XP-G Optic- 2 pack - 40 Degrees - $36.75

    1 x Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive 5g - $6.99

    5 x Inventronics 40w driver - 700mA - $185.00 (if you leave off the violet/red/turquoise/6 individual Royal Blue LEDs only need 3 - $74.00)

    1 x True Violet LED - 420nm - $27.00 (optional - $27.00)
    (Quantity in Package: 6 Pack, Optic Degrees: 60°)

    3 x Deep Red - 660nm - $11.94 (optional - $11.94)
    (Optic Angle: 60°, Quantity in Package: 2 Pack)

    3 x Turquoise - 495nm - $15.00 (optional - $15.00)
    (Optic Angle: 60°, Quantity in Package: 2 Pack)

    1 x CREE XT-E Royal Blue - $19.38 (optional - $19.38)
    (Quantity in Package: 6 Pack )

    1 x XP/XT Optic - 6 Pack (40 Degree) (optional - $9.54)
    (Quantity in Package: 6 Pack )

    5 x 10K Ohm 1/2 watt Linear Taper Potentiometer Easy Solder - $15.00 (only need 3 for for just white/royal blue LEDs -$6.00)

    2 x Solid Wire 24awg (300 volt) - 25 feet each- White - $11.5

    2 x Stranded Wire 24awg (300 volt) - 25 feet each- Black- $11.5

    2 x Solder Tube 10g (63/37) - $8.50


    Subtotal:
    $547.10 (The cost to get exactly what I have)
    $384.24 (The cost to just have 28 Royal Blue and 14 Neutral White LEDs)


    Grand Total:
    ~$750.07 For a fixture exactly like mine.
    ~$587.21 For a basic fixture similar to mine, but with just 28 Royal Blues and 14 Neutral Whites.

  9. #29
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    You really can't beat that price. You get the added bonus that if anything goes bad you know you can quickly and easily fix any problems yourself with your light and also got to pick exactly the colors you wanted.

    I know exactly what you mean about all the research.. I spent a good 12 months researching LEDs before making a purchase, then after the purchase I changed the plans several times after I got to see it running. So for me, it took about 2 years to really get a firm grasp on how LEDs work on a reef tank, 1 year of researching and thinking I had it down, then building, then another year to understand what I missed in my thinking during the first year of research.

    For me, an added upgrade to your LED light would be to use PWM drivers and use an arduino controller (like the Typhoon) to be able to control each channel of lighting and have wireless capabilities so you can control the light with a smartphone, computer, or iPod touch. I am a computer geek though, so I understand that is another giant step in complexity. I did the same as you originally, I used pots to control my LED light intensity when I first made it, then 6 months later replaced the drivers and added a reef angel controller with 8 PWM channels so I can do all the extra cool stuff I wanted to do. Getting the light working and looking good is first priority though, adding extra features can always come at any time later.

  10. #30

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    Yea, some of the controllers seem pretty neat, but I doubt I will be spending any more money on lighting for a while. This REALLY strained the college student budget as it was. The next project for me is probably going to involve upgrading the algae scrubber somehow.

    I am not sure yet if I will just add 2 LED panels behind my existing screens to have them lit on both sides (currently lit on only 1 side with 26 watt curly flourecents) or if I want to build a while new enclosure for the scrubber. I am having to fight my natural desire to go way overkill on the scrubber, because I would like to be able to keep softies and some decorative macro algae. Its a mental battle =)

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