600w custom full spectrum LED setup

[Fish Stix]

Thought I would share... 5 fixtures total@ 120w each. I am trying to go for a aquamarine Caribbean look rather than the ever popular tank full of windex look.
Fixture 1- 2/1 cw/rb
Fixture 2- lime 567 nm
Fixtures 3,4,5- royal blue 450-465nm, aquamarine 465-485nm, cyan 490-520nm, green 520-535nm, red 620-630nm, deep red 650-670nm, uv 400-410nm, true uv 410-420nm

Rb channel

Aquamarine,cyan,green channel

Red,deep red, uv channel

Lime fixture

 

[Fish Stix]

I figurs anybody needed to see the whites. Still have two fixtures left before putting them on the tank. Updates coming soon.

 

[Fish Stix]

"Figured nobody"...sorry for the triple post but it won't let me edit and I couldn't just let that one slide.

 

[Fish Stix]

One fixture with all channels running

Fixtures 3-5 have fans to keep them cool, but I'm wondering about the two 72" bars...my plan was to install an intake/exhaust fan setup on my canopy. A plausible solution?

 

[zachts]

I'm wondering about the two 72" bars...my plan was to install an intake/exhaust fan setup on my canopy. A plausible solution?

Depends what you used as heatsink, spacing of LEDs, and the drive current you ultimately run them at.......

Under 350mA you can pretty much run them on any piece of aluminum as long as there is air moving around.....

 

[jedimasterben]

Good lawd, what size tank is this going over? lol

Also, if you would have not used cool white, you could have skipped on the red and deep red LEDs, and in addition, lime makes the addition of 530nm green obsolete and you should consider removing them. A 1:1:4:1 ratio of a warm/neutral high-CRI white to lime to royal blue to blue (465-480nm) will get you a bright white with slight blue tone and have excellent color rendering of both fluorescent and non-fluorescent LEDs. Add in just a few cyan (too many can be overpowering) and a bunch of violet and that is all you need, no red, deep red, green, etc.

 

[Fish Stix]

All done... Not quite the look I was going for but I'm fairly pleased with it...contemplating whether I should add more white to the back or leave it as is. It's growing on me...it seems to add an illusion of depth.

I had added the limes because they had a 30 mm difference from the greens and I was hoping that a full 72" bar of them would counter the dark blue windex effect of the royal blues...which it worked as planned. The foreground is exactly as I want it but the background is a little more blue than I would like due to the fixtures getting in the way of the two bars slightly.

Anyhow the lighting was the first step, now I need to get rid of my lionfish and add a protein skimmer and an RO unit in addition to a clean up crew and hopefully I can clear out this unsightly algae....I am fully aware it is bad, and would not post a full tank pic if it weren't for the sake of showing the completed project.

As for the 72" bars I used the heatsinks from a pair of 72" sunbrights I dismantle because screw sunbrights...complete garbage. Im not going to worry about cooling them because they are not getting too hot to the touch.

 

[jedimasterben]

Lime LEDs are very, very different than green LEDs. Green are direct color and very low efficiency, along with a very small spectral half-width, from ~515-545nm. Lime covers from ~505-625nm, encompassing the entire spectral coverage of the 530nm green LEDs and destroying them in efficiency (nearly 200lm/w versus 50lm/w).

You're also using a LOT of them, I think I count 48x? Your tank looks like a standard 125g, 72"x18"x22", you only need at MOST 24x, and I would have just put them on the heatsink with the other LEDs so they blend better and you won't have that horrible gradient from white to blue


Don't worry about how the tank looks. It's PACKED full of rock, but that and the color gradient are the only things 'wrong' with it, algae is a normal part of having a tank. Get a rabbitfish, algae will be a thing of the past

 

[Fish Stix]

When I purchased the limes they were listed as being 566-569 nm, with theirs consistently right at 567... I dunno but its fine either way. I like how it turned out I just need to add more white to the back and I'll be in hog heaven.

I will likely put another 72" b/w in the back or else maybe 3 small fixtures with just one channel each of white on them....around 12 bulbs....or perhaps I could use one of those bulbs that screws into a regular light bulb socket...got some thinking to do...

Rocks are personal preference...I like lots!

Btw it's 180g

 

[jedimasterben]

When I purchased the limes they were listed as being 566-569 nm, with theirs consistently right at 567... I dunno but its fine either way. I like how it turned out I just need to add more white to the back and I'll be in hog heaven.

I will likely put another 72" b/w in the back or else maybe 3 small fixtures with just one channel each of white on them....around 12 bulbs....or perhaps I could use one of those bulbs that screws into a regular light bulb socket...got some thinking to do...

I wasn't meaning they peak anywhere in there, I'm talking about their spectral half-width, which is the spectra they cover with at least 50% of their peak output power. Lime covers everything green does and much more.

 

[Fish Stix]

Oh I see...that's all way deeper than I had planned to get into it

I didn't mean to argue, I was just stating why I chose the ratio I did...I do not profess to be an expert I just tried to get a good mix of nm...perhaps I failed there but nonetheless I am happy with the foreground.

I would like to see if majority of people agree that the deeper blue background is bad or if anybody actually likes it...plus I am open to ideas to maybe fix it...my lfs made custom fixtures for their tanks using 50w leds...they are very small....perhaps a single 50w cw in the back?

 

[jedimasterben]

One LED won't cover a 72" area. You'd need at least 3-4x of them.

 

[Fish Stix]

Sorry i meant 1 in the back of each 2' section...was even tossing around t5s...

 

[Cdodge1]

Pretty sweet. Looks good on the tank. I agree it does seem to add some depth to the aquarium. Would love to see some more shots of the lights in action on the tank!

 

[jedimasterben]

Sorry i meant 1 in the back of each 2' section...was even tossing around t5s...

Gotcha

Probably what I would do is if the back 72" strip only has royal blue, I would switch it up with lime and some of the other LEDs that are on your heatsinks. Strips of LEDs will get you more growth potential than clusters of LEDs in the center of the tank, in addition to more even lighting.


How many of each LED did you end up using?

 

[Fish Stix]

36 rb, 24 Aqua, 3 green,3 cyan ,3 red 3 deep red,6 uv, 6 true uv,27 cw ,9 blue,48 lime.

This is why the back is darker blue...the heat sinks are as high up on the cables as they can go but still hang down so low they block the front bars....a little higher and they would be fine. As is they are about 2" above water level so I dexided to go without optics on the color fixtures.

 

[zachts]

Can't you shorten the cables? or just add a few hooks to the top of the canopy to take some of the slack out of the hanging cables and effectively raise the light a few inches. I think raising the back three fixtures a would lessen the gradation from white to blue and make for a better effect overall, less drastic but still some illusion of depth.

 

[Fish Stix]

Thank you so much for the idea I will try that...perhaps a hook 3" forward and another 3" back from each cable anchor? The cables can't shorten anymore because they have peices that attach them to the heatsinks permanently connected to each end....

 

[zachts]

Thank you so much for the idea I will try that...perhaps a hook 3" forward and another 3" back from each cable anchor? The cables can't shorten anymore because they have peices that attach them to the heatsinks permanently connected to each end....

Sounds like a plan then.

 

[Fish Stix]

So once I get the rear fixtures pulled up, I should be able to keep any corals,anemones,and clams available on the market?