40 Breeder LED Design

[mnchartier]

Here is what I have come up with for my sons 40 breeder.

The U Channel is 1"x1" 35" long. There is a 1" space in between the channels.
The fan is a 120mm Silenx (could not find exact one in Sketchups Warehouse). The three drivers are the ELN60-48D, going to be dimmed by an Apex. On the right the I have the fuses and resistors that Kcress has recommended.

The LEDs are going to be 12 XP-E Royal Blues, 12 XP-E Blue, 6 XP-G Cool White, and 6 XP-G Neutral White. They the two blues alternate one then the other, along with the whites will alternate one then the other. I will be running this fixture at about 6-8 inches above the tank with no optics. I do need to add a splash shield to it.

Any concerns or recommendations are welcomed, thank you in advance.

 

[whoahey123]

You need to mix the LEDs together. You can't have all blues on one strip, then all whites, then all blues. You'll going to have stripes in your tank. Zig-zag blue/white/blue/white across all three U channels.

 

[mnchartier]

You need to mix the LEDs together. You can't have all blues on one strip, then all whites, then all blues. You'll going to have stripes in your tank. Zig-zag blue/white/blue/white across all three U channels.

Are you positive about that, not running optics so the spread is pretty wide.

 

[Gold Stripe]

You need to mix the LEDs together. You can't have all blues on one strip, then all whites, then all blues. You'll going to have stripes in your tank. Zig-zag blue/white/blue/white across all three U channels.

Probably not. Maybe if you were running optics and the channels were farther apart you might see some issues with mixing. But in your case with no optics and the LEDs ony 2 inches apart I doubt you will have any issues. The spread is about 120 degrees on these LEDs with no optics.

 

[MarkGP]

That's going to be really blue!

 

[mnchartier]

Yes, I am going for the Radium look which is what I run on my 90 Gal. If I was using XP-E Blues and whites I would run a 1:1 ratio but with the whites being more powerful I am going with a 2:1 ratio.

 

[MarkGP]

I see. So what are the fuses and resistors for. I read Kcress's LED thread and I see he uses them with a power supply. In your case you are using meanwell drivers so where do the resistors come into play?

 

[mnchartier]

Using the resistors as a testing points so I do not need to break a string to get measurements

 

[ezhoops]

mnchartier, would love to see the actual built as I would love to use your build as a guide for mine.

any details would be very helpful and appreciated.

Thanks

BTW did you get the u channel from HD or lowes?

 

[katchupoy]

very cool setup... I too have the linear setup,and also have the blue strips, white and then blue again... I dont see any issue with striping... using 65deg optics 12" off water.

I have 36 LEDs on my 75g, so on your 40 breeder, it would be awesome... Just be carefull on the initial light, it will look dim but can burn corals...

good luck!!!

If you have questions, maybe I can help... Here is my build...

Here is a simple wiring diagram with resistor...

 

[katchupoy]

6-8 inches without optics might be too high... if you are doing splash guard, lower it down to maybe 3".

without optics, there is a lot of wasted light on the side so we will need to lower the light as much as possible.

 

[lucidvtec]

why the need for resitors??? i would think fast acting fuses would be much better

 

[MerDoX]

I don't think 1 fan is enough. You need to get the 1/8" thickness; 1/16" would be too thin. Ratio of 1 royal : 1 cool blue would be like windex color. I would do 18 RB and 6 CB. The current thinking is that there's no benefit of mixing cool and normal whites...just use all normal white since cool white doesn't have much yellow or red spectrum.

Katchupoy, you're using 36 LEDs over a 75G? Are the dimensions 48"L x 15"W x 24"H? I think that's a little too few. Did you take any PAR or flux measurments?

I'm running 48 LEDs over a 40G with no optics. Distance from LEDs to sandbed is 28" and I get PAR of ~250 on the SB. I use 12 XPG CW, 6 XRE NW, 24 XRE RB and 6 XRE CB. After 6 months, I'm very satisfied and everything is doing great, except for my setosa and sunset monti, which are loosing their orange color. Did some research and found out that cool whites are lacking yellow and red spectrum. Normal whites would fix that so I plan to make the switch to all normal whites soon.

 

[mnchartier]

6-8 inches without optics might be too high... if you are doing splash guard, lower it down to maybe 3".

without optics, there is a lot of wasted light on the side so we will need to lower the light as much as possible.

I worked on it this morning and I went from 2.5" spacing to 2" between the LEDs, this should cut down on some spill over. I can run it at anywhere between 1"-8" above. Thanks for your input.

I don't think 1 fan is enough. You need to get the 1/8" thickness; 1/16" would be too thin. Ratio of 1 royal : 1 cool blue would be like windex color. I would do 18 RB and 6 CB. The current thinking is that there's no benefit of mixing cool and normal whites...just use all normal white since cool white doesn't have much yellow or red spectrum.

I just redid the wiring on the drawing and the two types of blues will be on seperate drivers so I can control them to what I like. I appreciate your insight.

Please keep it coming.

 

[katchupoy]

why the need for resitors??? i would think fast acting fuses would be much better

If you are asking me. then resistors are not there to protect anything. Resistors are there so that you can easily check anytime you want what's the amp reading on your circuit. Specially important when youre dialing your SVR2 for the first time. Also to add, this is a common mistake... when checking for amps this way, please put your meter on volts and not amps... and then tap the two ends of the resistor. No need to disconnect anything which is dangerous and cumbersome.

 

[katchupoy]

Katchupoy, you're using 36 LEDs over a 75G? Are the dimensions 48"L x 15"W x 24"H? I think that's a little too few. Did you take any PAR or flux measurments?

I have a 48x18x18 (not sure) 75G standard, and not the tall one. I have a linear system and adding LEDs is not an issue. I just tried 36 (low end) because I only have LPS and Softies. Not much SPS.

I have 200 PAR reading (initial) on the bottom of tank... I do have BB tank so that means its the glass. Im about to take another PAR reading (final) this weekend before I return it to a fellow reefer here at RC. I have my LEDs 12" off the water with 65deg optics. 3x12 configuration, Blue, White and Blue. No fans, LEDs on 1" square bar.

 

[MerDoX]

Nice tank. Those softies look very happy.

 

[mnchartier]

I have my LEDs 12" off the water with 65deg optics. 3x12 configuration, Blue, White and Blue. No fans, LEDs on 1" square bar.

First off beautiful tank.
You are not running a fan on your? Someone above thought the 120mm fan I have there would not be enough.

 

[SnowManSnow]

First off beautiful tank.
You are not running a fan on your? Someone above thought the 120mm fan I have there would not be enough.

i think the 120mm will be enough.. the design flaw I see, though is that it isn't placed in a great spot. If you are just aiming it strait down over .... say... 1/4th of the light's area then that's all you're going to cool.

If possible I would place the fan on the end somewhere and let it blow down the length of the fixture... OR somehow get it up higher over the fixture.

Just my opinion.

b

 

[mnchartier]

i think the 120mm will be enough.. the design flaw I see, though is that it isn't placed in a great spot. If you are just aiming it strait down over .... say... 1/4th of the light's area then that's all you're going to cool.

If possible I would place the fan on the end somewhere and let it blow down the length of the fixture... OR somehow get it up higher over the fixture.

Just my opinion.

b

Thanks for the input, about how high would you place it over the fixture?



Also with the new wiring with the Blue and Royal blues I placed my resisters mid string to make it easier to switch from one strip to the other with the wiring.

After doing more reading last night I think I misread Kcress about the fuses, I believe they are only necessary if running parallel strings can someone confirm this and would there be any downsides to keeping them in?