2Tall 185g - Build

[Weyrman]

Sorry to hear about the jumper and QT losses. Always a drag to discover those.

 

[Weyrman]

The Stitches:
I acclimated them into the QT and was changing tubing on the canister filter - using a utility knife... to cut the stuck tubing from a barb connection and sliced my thumb open! QT water got blood in it, salt water burns in open wounds BTW and used duct tape to try to stop the bleeding while I did a massive water change in the QT....
Cleaned and peroxided the cut and decided it was urgent care time as I could not stop the bleeding with my MAN tape. After two stitches and Vicodin all was well.

I bled all over the floor in the kitchen and didn't clean it as family rushed me to urgent care; came home to what looked like the OJ Simpson crime scene after my cats and dog walked all through it and all through the tiled house, what a mess!

Anyway, they are doing good in QT and got both to start eating today - Reef Caviar always does the trick! I will post more pic of them when they get paroled.
:beer:

We want pictures of the thumb!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


Seriously though hope it heals well.

 

[bugs713]

Thanks Roy! Healed up good but no pics


DIY LED Project To Begin!

* 12 - XPE 3w Blue
* 36 - XTE 3w Royal Blue
* 24 - XPG 5w Cool White
All 40 Degree Optics
All CREE LED

4 - 6" x 9" Black Anodized Heat sinks
5 - MW ELN-60-48D Dimmable Drivers
1 - MW LPC-60-1050 Constant Current Driver
4 to 8 - Fans (depending on the heat produced)


These will be mounted to a flat panel TV wall mount retractable/swivel arm for easy access to the tank and fixture. This will also give me some placement and angle options.

This built will commence Friday and will post pics throughout. There are a lot of unknowns with this build, but I will figure them out as I go.

:spin2:
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[bugs713]

This is the preliminary layout of the 72 Cree's. It may seem like an odd layout, but I think I have a method to the madness. The colors will be well blended by the time it gets 12" from the bottom. I was planning on all 40 degree optics, but may need to experiment with 60-80 degree optics with the cool whites, we shall see.
What do you think?

 

[Kalakuhan]

I was trying to figure how you would wire them to the power supplies.
are you going 12 for each meanwell? assuming your running meanwells.

 

[Mike92]

I would do more blue in place of royal blues, and switch in some 420 for some of the whites and or rb. I like and equal mix of cool and neutral white for whites but cool white by itself is also a good look. To me a 1:1:1:1 ratio of violet, rb, b, w is just about perfect. Layout looks ok, think you can arrange it so even less of same or similar colors are adjacent though.

How high are you mounting this above the tank? Judging by my 60s I'd only consider 40s if I was mounting the fixture in or just below the ceiling.

 

[bugs713]

Yes, will be doing 12 per Meanwell and wiring will be a challenge, but planning on making this as clean as possible. I may still change this layout,
I hope to have it figured out before I start gluing the Cree's.

If it doesn't work out, I'll buy Radions, get a medical marijuana growing license and use the LED's for hydroponics...:lol2:

 

[Mike92]

Also I found I prefer having cells of leds as close as possible to each other instead of equal spacing. Similar to radion maxspect etc

 

[bugs713]

Here is another general video of tank progress.
Note: the crack you see is not a crack, rather a scratch inside. And the white spot on the Chocolate Mimic is sand (Not Ich) from the high flow AND the Sleeper Goby.
<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WVQ9GdBrAOU" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>

 

[bugs713]

I would do more blue in place of royal blues, and switch in some 420 for some of the whites and or rb. I like and equal mix of cool and neutral white for whites but cool white by itself is also a good look. To me a 1:1:1:1 ratio of violet, rb, b, w is just about perfect. Layout looks ok, think you can arrange it so even less of same or similar colors are adjacent though.

How high are you mounting this above the tank? Judging by my 60s I'd only consider 40s if I was mounting the fixture in or just below the ceiling.

Tank is 38" deep and the fixtures will be another 6 to 12" above that, so 40's will be needed.
Thanks for the input!

 

[evolved]

You're gonna want to use 40deg optics on everything; your tank is way too deep for 80s (and probably 60s as well).

Keep the number of blue/royal blue you have. Too many regular blues and you'll get that horrendous windex look.

Consider adding some neutral whites in, or switching some of your cool whites for neutrals. 8-10 would do plenty. You'll be lacking a lot in the red spectrum without these.

Add some violet diodes on some constant current drivers. I'd do at least 12, no more than 24. These make a HUGE difference in coloration, and are what many manufactured units on the market right now are missing.

I like layouts which space apart the like-colors as much as possible. What you have will probably work, but I think you can get a better blend if you space-out the blues/royal blues as much as possible.

Go click through this when you have a minute: http://www.3reef.com/forums/led-aqu...-v2-0-my-rebuild-apex-integration-137368.html

 

[bugs713]

You're gonna want to use 40deg optics on everything; your tank is way too deep for 80s (and probably 60s as well).

Keep the number of blue/royal blue you have. Too many regular blues and you'll get that horrendous windex look.

Consider adding some neutral whites in, or switching some of your cool whites for neutrals. 8-10 would do plenty. You'll be lacking a lot in the red spectrum without these.

Add some violet diodes on some constant current drivers. I'd do at least 12, no more than 24. These make a HUGE difference in coloration, and are what many manufactured units on the market right now are missing.

I like layouts which space apart the like-colors as much as possible. What you have will probably work, but I think you can get a better blend if you space-out the blues/royal blues as much as possible.

Go click through this when you have a minute: http://www.3reef.com/forums/led-aqu...-v2-0-my-rebuild-apex-integration-137368.html

^^Thank you, excellent info!
I have 10 neutral whites and will switch out some of the CW. I will space out the Blue and RB better as you mentioned. Tonight, I will order at least 12 UV's and add them throughout the four heat sinks, bringing LED count to 84. Will also order another constant current driver to power them.

I have also ordered 4 - 120mm fans, one for each module as I think they will be needed with the number of Cree's on each module.

I read some of your re-build thread, will read the rest tonight.
:thumbsup:

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[Kalakuhan]

Nice video, that sleeper goby is cool, first name that came to mind was Conan. :thumbsup:

 

[Mike92]

Wow, somehow I missed how deep the tank is, yeah you're gonna want 40s or maybe 60s, depends how much of a difference of par you want from top to bottom. Probably 40s.

I agree with pretty much everything evolved said, except I like the "windex" look I guess, just a personal preference thing really. Violets are mandatory, you will lose some color over time without them on certain things. The only reason I can think of that the manufactured units don't use them is to force people to buy upgrades later. I'd use as many as you need to get a good blend with them and use a dimmable driver though.

You're going to want the fixture higher than a foot over the tank most likely with 40s to avoid spotlights in the upper part of the tank. I'd mount the tv wall mount as high as possible and hang the fixtures from it so you can adjust the height if necessary.

You may find this helpful for deciding on a led mix http://www.1023world.net/diy/spectra/
Thanks for posting the build thread evolved.

 

[bugs713]

^^Thanks for the link, cool site!
I'm thinking the use of some 60 or 80 degree optics will help washout some of the spotlighting towards the top of the tank with the dominate 40 optics being used.
I added violet, red/orange and neutral whites and did another prelim layout design. Total Cree count is still 72 and can add more if needed.
Question:
I have 5 - MW ELN-60-48D Dimmable Drivers 1 - MW LPC-60-1050 Constant Current Driver; I was going to use the constant current driver for most of the cool whites as Rapid recommends this driver for best results??
Also, why use a constant current driver for the Violets?

Thanks for the help and input!:thumbsup:

 

[bugs713]

Nice video, that sleeper goby is cool, first name that came to mind was Conan. :thumbsup:

Conan it is!
:thumbsup:

 

[evolved]

I'm thinking the use of some 60 or 80 degree optics will help washout some of the spotlighting towards the top of the tank with the dominate 40 optics being used.

It would certainly help, but you'll sacrifice penetration to the bottom of the tank. If you do this, don't do it on the CWs or RBs.

I added violet, red/orange and neutral whites and did another prelim layout design. Total Cree count is still 72 and can add more if needed.

:thumbsup:
Looks much better now.

Question:
I have 5 - MW ELN-60-48D Dimmable Drivers 1 - MW LPC-60-1050 Constant Current Driver; I was going to use the constant current driver for most of the cool whites as Rapid recommends this driver for best results??

Hmm, that's interesting. Considering your ratio of white:blue, that might be true. I'd still want dimmable on the CW though; it gives you a lot more adjustability, plus you can dim them down for coral acclimation.

Also, why use a constant current driver for the Violets?

They can only handle a max of 750, and they're not super bright (visibly), so you'll end up running them at/near max anyway. Just use a constant 700 and save yourself some trouble and funds.

 

[bugs713]

^^ All makes perfect sense, thanks for your much needed input Hunter!

Violets, red/orange and another D driver is now on order. I'm also going to put the moon light on it own MW dimmable nano driver and experiment with different blues etc to do away with the Windex look I cannot stand! I will use the CC driver for the violets and red/orange.
:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Kalakuhan]

^^ All makes perfect sense, thanks for your much needed input Hunter!

Violets, red/orange and another D driver is now on order. I'm also going to put the moon light on it own MW dimmable nano driver and experiment with different blues etc to do away with the Windex look I cannot stand! I will use the CC driver for the violets and red/orange.
:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Cool, I am going to copy you and put a UV and RO mix with a separate CC power supply.
Was thinking of placing them between my two existing fixtures. Thanks for the ideas.

I can't wait to check them out when i pick up some macro! :beer:

 

[bugs713]

I am hoping to be done with this LED build in the next two weeks and I hope I've ordered my last LED/driver for this build...haha
You could slip in a 10-12 count row of violet, RO mix glued to a 1" wide heat sink and heat should not be a problem as these will only be pulling 500ma or less?

I'll have a big chunk of the Dragons Breath waiting for you Pete!
:thumbsup: