And the adventure begins... Thanks Thomas!

:lol: I've thought about it, James! Do you have any good links for them? Well, I know you do... would you mind sharing? ;)

Brandon
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15217568#post15217568 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poolkeeper1
Why not wait for the one he builds for his next tank project!! All In fun James.......
Click to expand...
i'm a broke biotch for now so there won't be any more unfinished projects any time soon :(

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15217305#post15217305 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NeveSSL
:lol: I've thought about it, James! Do you have any good links for them? Well, I know you do... would you mind sharing? ;)

Brandon
Click to expand...

well let's see, the main one would be Soundwave's DIY LEDs thread as it contains all the links you'll need. his tank is a 75g & he's using 60 LEDs....30 white & 30 blue. so proportionally that's about 10 LEDs for a 12g....but since you are only gonna do softies & not light-hungry SPS, i think you could get away w/ 6-8. the puckpucks will only push a max of 6 LEDs per buckpuck, so next step would be to figure out if you want to control the blues & whites independently or not. if not, then do 6, if so then do 3-4 per string......also depends on how much you want to spend LOL

you'll need a heatsink to mount the LEDs on....i think 8" x 8" would be good - ~$20

you need the wired buckpucks (i'd suggest the dimmable w/ pot in 700ma) LINK - $20

& then of course the LEDs
Cree X-RE white - $7.49/ea
Cree X-RE royal blue - $7.49/ea

then you need power supply(ies)....depending on how you are running them. if doing 3&3 on one string, then 1 power supply...if doing 3-4 each color independently controllable, then 2 power supplies. take the typ forward voltage (the crees run about 3.3 each) & multiply that by how many LEDs & then add about 2v for headroom to figure out the size power supply needed.

so, if you wanted (6) on one string, then it'd be (3.3*6=19.8+2=21.8)...so a 24v power supply. then since you are running them w/ a 700ma buckpuck, look for a 24v/1a power supply @ MPJA.com

HERE is a 24v/1.8a for $14.95

other odds & ends you'll need is a pc fan to mount on the extruded fins side of the heatsink. it can be wired in w/ the LEDs or run on a seperate wall wart (i probably have something we can put together laying around). you'll also need a project box for maybe mounting the power supply (personal preference), but definately one for the buckpuck(s) & pot for the dimming. also need some wire & soldering items, small screws (i used 6-32), small nylon washers, & a drill & tap in the screw size

.....oh & a cord for the power supply. should take a regular old pc power cord, just not sure which type end (rectangular or trapazoid) shape
 
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btw....that is using the real good stuff.

you could do it budget by skimping on the power supply & going w/ wall warts, but for the price of the power supply, i wouldn't chance it.

the other cost-cutting measure you could do would be in the LEDs. for my DIY moonlights/t5 shimmer fixture, i used cheap ebay LED emmiters (chineese knockoffs of the crees) which would work, but they haven't been as "coral tested" as the crees have (soundwave's tank & several others are THRIVING using the crees)

if interested in going that route, then here are the buy-it-now auctions of the blues & whites i got for mine:

(5) 3watt white - $15.99
(5) 3watt blue - ~$15.00

the drawback here is that the blues have a slighly higher nm frequency (470 vs 455 of the crees) & the whites there is no color temp listed like the crees show as being 6500k
 
Very, very cool. I'm thinking this tank is PERFECT for an LED project. :)

And trust me, I've got a TON of electronic stuff lying around. ;)

Thanks much, James! I'm going to look more into it tonight.

Brandon
 
James... James, man... oh dude... I just checked the datasheet on the dimmable BuckPucks and THOSE THINGS ARE DIMMABLE ON 0-10V circuits! Which means MY RKE/RKL WILL DIM THEM!

This is not good... I see a lighting project in my near future... probably 2... oh snap!

I can see it now... actinics slowly dim on... at about 60% the daylights start and are right behind them. :D Good stuff, man... good stuff.

Brandon
 
Oh yeah, and Andy, I'm good on pumps. I've got a MJ1200 on the return and just picked up a Koralia Nano today at Emerald Bay in place of the MJ900 that was in it. :) Not sure that I'm going to keep it, though... It has a bit off a flimsy mount. We'll see. :)

Dude... these LEDs have got me excited... and I've got a book summary due in 5 hours that I've not even started on... not good... :D

Brandon
 
did you see the quick vid i did of mine??? .....man those f'rs are bright :eek2: LOL

it is kinda hard to tell the dimming part of the blues cause as they got dimmer, the auto-focus on the camera brightened the background LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bb7zon3lXQ

those are the cheap knock-offs....4 whites (broke one soldering) & 5 blues....spaced about 6" apart in pair of colors.....each color is powered by it's own 20v/1a wall wart.....blues are dimmable & whites aren't

....btw if you are gonna do external dimming w/out the pot, then there is a different buckpuck that is just wires that is $4-5 cheaper
 
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Wow, man. That is awesome! Are you just dimming them with a pot?

Seriously... this things have me VERY intrigued.

Brandon
 
yeah....did it for the demo just using 1 wall wart. you can hear me plugging it into the seperate plugs on the project box. the pot is mounted on the project box along w/ seperate 2.5mm female barrel plugs for each LED color string & also have the power plug for the canopy fans in the same box
 
Sweet. How many did you use on your 29g?

I'm planning on building some for the nano and using them for a while to see how I like them. And then, if I'm feeling spiffy, I may make a larger unit (maybe even with optics) for my display tank at home. :)

Brandon
 
the intention is/was to get the blues to the level i liked for moonlights & then leave it there since at 100% they were ENTIRELY too bright for moonlights, but the whites are for t5 "shimmer" supplementation so they need to run WFO all the time
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15220444#post15220444 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NeveSSL
Sweet. How many did you use on your 29g?

I'm planning on building some for the nano and using them for a while to see how I like them. And then, if I'm feeling spiffy, I may make a larger unit (maybe even with optics) for my display tank at home. :)

Brandon
Click to expand...

you might've missed it above in the vid post (i edited it).....4 whites (broke 1 soldering) & 5 whites spaced about 6" apart in pair of colors
 
you might want to just try doing the one for the nano out of the ebay ones since it'd be alot cheaper & then upgrade later if ya want on the nano when you order for the main tank (& use them as the ebay ones as moonlights/shimmer on the main tank)

clickable thumbs:

 
Awesome, man... thanks for all of the info!

I will probably do just what you said. Probably just 5 whites and 5 blues with dimmable BuckPucks to begin with. :)

Brandon
 
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