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

[kotlec]

Arduino controler is not a big investment like one you just did. I made mine for about $30-40. Drivers are another case. But there you can go DIY route as well.

[joelespinoza]

Arduino controler is not a big investment like one you just did. I made mine for about $30-40. Drivers are another case. But there you can go DIY route as well.

I am not that up on electronics, it looks like my drivers would work with a Arduino controller as long as I had a low level filter installed on the outputs. However i am not sure I have enough free time to learn everything it would require to build and program a Arduino controller. Do you know anyone who has whole kits and or programs them for LED lighting applications? I am dealing with a 0-10v analog signal. I am decent with soldering but terrible with even somewhat complex electronics.

[kotlec]

There is thread on RC for complete nobs. Not that hard at the end. Will be easy for you , I am sure. Just check it : http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...987110&page=54

If your drivers are dimable then all you need else is this :
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Duemilanove-...item41640acd2a

$17 shipped

And something like this :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LCD-Keypad-S...item43aef3e3ef

Oh yes you also need RTC. Like this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Arduino-...ht_2811wt_1249

$7 shipped

[joelespinoza]

There is thread on RC for complete nobs. Not that hard at the end. Will be easy for you , I am sure. Just check it : http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...987110&page=54

Yea, I had already read through about 30 pages of that...... Maybe someday someone will condense 55 pages of discussion of complex theory (for me and anyone else with near no experience assembling electronics) about electrical circuts and coding into something managable for someone without a degree in electrical engineering..... If thats the easy version for noobs there is no way I am even in the class of noob.

I understand the hardware required for the most part, and could certainly assemble it if given exact diagrams with hardware that closely matched what I have, but as far as making it work..... It is kind of like saying it isnt hard to learn to use a ratchet, and pretty much everyone knows that a car needs an engine, a transmission, a final drive, axles, brakes, wheels, and tires. So that means anyone should be able to get on ebay, order everything they need, and assemble a working car they can drive to work everyday, right?

Basic knowledge and a working understanding are very different animals. If you do not understand how something works, or even seen a complete working model, most people will need step by step instructions on how to assemble it.

[kotlec]

There is general wiring diagram there. Just need some luck digging And if you read 30 pages, then you has to find step by step instruction. If you read more you only find that controler has become more complex and hi tech. But you can just stop at light controling. That what cachupoy is agitating to do.
I am sure you can easily do it . You underestimating your abilities. If you can keep reef aquarium , then asembling arduino controller is much easier. When I first heard about that, my reaction was exactly as yours. But now I am sitting in front of my working controller. And know what ? - I have already tweaked sketch to my liking. People on arduino forum are very helpful too. So never say never

[joelespinoza]

Honestly I dont think I am going to worry about that for now. The lights can come on and off with timers and it works fine. Maybe I will consider a sunrise/sunset controller for several projects down the road.


My next 3 projects:

1: Make some damn money because now I am DEAD broke. =)

2: Beefing up the scrubber somehow, probably additional LED panels on the backside of existing screens to make them lit on both sides, although possibly building a new enclosure of somekind when the SM releases his new plan. My current microalgae bloom is a sure sign I need to make it more competitive.

3: Getting another 50+ lbs of dry rock to the sump to get it started as live rock.

[joelespinoza]

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.

I have tried starting off as low as possible and running my normal time, and while I did not kill anything (yet) I definately gave some stuff a sunburn:

My hammer coral bleached up the sides, and has exposed white now, but the tops still look good, I moved it to the very bottom so hopefully it will recover.

My purple fan gorgonian retracted all its polyps for 2 days, I moved it to a shady spot, then it started putting them back out, now it looks fine except it had a FULL body peel.

My green star polyps looked great for the first few days, now all 4 seperate colonies have retreated and there is not a polyp to be seen.

The SPSS I put in the tank has still never shown a single polyp, its base growth on the rock looks fine, but I assume by this point it is probably dead.

I decided today to approach it from a new angle, I am going to leave the 6 royal blues and 6 violets on all day (15 hours) at about 75%, I am going to set the rest of the LEDS (28 royal blues @100% everything else at 30-40%) on a 4 hour per day schedule until everything seem to be out and about, then I will start adding time, probably half and hour every other day or every 3rd day or something along those lines.

How does that sound?

[joelespinoza]

The tank is not totally clear yet, but is getting much better, so I thought I would post some pics. Also I measured today, like LEDs are almost exactly 5" from the water (from the optics to the waterline)


Video of the color seperation over rough water, and the color consistance over smoother water:


All LEDs on full:



Mandrin dragonnet is watching you:












Sad Hammer with a sunburn =(

[moncapitane]

Like the layout. Do you have a paper sample or something that shows what lights you put where and how you wired it? The light is way better than the light before the LEDs. Would love to hear from you.

[joelespinoza]

My light is not bad, everyone who visits me thinks it looks amazing and usually stares at the tank for quite a while, however knowing what I know now, I could make a better light WAY cheaper.

I would use the same heatsink, that thing rocks. But I built that with 34 Cree Royal Blues, 14 Cree neutral whites, 6 turquoise, 6 deep red, 6 true violet LEDs and 700mA drivers with 45 and 60 degree optics.

If I did it again I would use Luxeon 2700k 95 CRI warm whites with Luxeon Royal Blues from steves LEDs and drive them at 1000mA with steves drivers. Luxeon 2700k whites look incredible and they are all I use in displays now. With them the added colors are simply not needed.

With how much more efficient Luxeons are I could easily get away with 28 LEDs total, although I might do a 35 LED setup and go with no optics.

$170 10" x 46" heatsink shipped

$104.65 35 luxeons at $2.99 each

$77.86 Stevesled drivers for a 35 LED setup

$15 for good thermal adhesive

$5 for wire, although honestly ethernet wire works like a charm and I have tons of it, so thats being generous.

So while my original fixture cost over $750 by the time I was done, I could now make a better fixture for ~$375, one that would have more light, better coverage, better colors and better drivers (plug and play basically with arudino controllers) for half the price.

It would obviously be even less if I went with the 28 LED build, which would probably be about the same amount of light I have now.