TheFishMan65
New member
Dave not trying to nitpick, but really trying to find answers do you have a reference for 400 watt if close enough? I found this 75 watts is 270 MH (2 XP-G cool white to 1 XP-E royal Blue) here near the bottom
(Another) DIY LED Build - Linear Design
- Thread starter katchupoy
- Start date
daveonbass
New member
just look at the Aquaillumination PAR measurements thread. If the AI module was low enough to the water...AND if it were run at 100% on all colors, it would without a dought be frying all life in the tank. The PAR numbers are there. And they can be scary. But usually LEDs like that are not run at 100% for very long, if ever. So usually one of those modules is tuned more like a 250w MH. But the potential is in it to be more like a 400w MH.
Snap: I'm not going to promise that it would melt the zoas, but that would worry me, it would be on my mind. And also just cause I'm curious again...what kind of SPS are you keeping so far. I'm not going to say it's impossible in a small tank, far from it, itspossible and has/is done, but with daily tweeking and checking to maintain stability. I'm just saying "for me" it's easier now with a larger tank/body of water. But good luck with it either way...
I'd love to see some current (before LED) pics.
Snap: I'm not going to promise that it would melt the zoas, but that would worry me, it would be on my mind. And also just cause I'm curious again...what kind of SPS are you keeping so far. I'm not going to say it's impossible in a small tank, far from it, itspossible and has/is done, but with daily tweeking and checking to maintain stability. I'm just saying "for me" it's easier now with a larger tank/body of water. But good luck with it either way...
I'd love to see some current (before LED) pics.
kcress
New member
1Snapple; Let me suggest this.
Get a big enough heatsink for 6 LEDs.
Buy a XP-G white.
Buy 2 XP-E royal blues.
Design a six LED pattern that will mix the light sufficiently when only half stuffed.
Mount your 3 LEDs appropriately and wire them in series. Get our typical 1 ohm resistor and install it in series with them all.
Now get an adjustable resistor.
This one:
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=AVT25-10-ND
Grab a 12VDC power supply that puts out an amp or 2.
Hook it up thru the adjustable resistor above.
To re-cap.
12VDC supply(+) -> 1 ohm resistor -> adjustable resistor -> LED -> LED -> LED -> 12VDC (-)
Adjust the resistor up to it's maximum resistance/length.
Power it up.
Measure the voltage across the 1 ohm resistor. The voltage you read is exactly the current. It will be something like 0.1A.
Adjust the adjustable resistor shorter until you reach the perceived brightness you had with the old fixture.
Measure the current and jot it down in a log.
Leave it that way for some days. Watch your zoas and see what they think.
Then every month you can up the current 10% until you like it or the zoas cry 'STOP'.
If you top out at an amp and it's not bright enough you add another set of three LEDs hooked up exactly the same way. They will be entirely independent.
I would not hesitate to switch to more interesting and controllable LEDs.
Get a big enough heatsink for 6 LEDs.
Buy a XP-G white.
Buy 2 XP-E royal blues.
Design a six LED pattern that will mix the light sufficiently when only half stuffed.
Mount your 3 LEDs appropriately and wire them in series. Get our typical 1 ohm resistor and install it in series with them all.
Now get an adjustable resistor.
This one:
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=AVT25-10-ND
Grab a 12VDC power supply that puts out an amp or 2.
Hook it up thru the adjustable resistor above.
To re-cap.
12VDC supply(+) -> 1 ohm resistor -> adjustable resistor -> LED -> LED -> LED -> 12VDC (-)
Adjust the resistor up to it's maximum resistance/length.
Power it up.
Measure the voltage across the 1 ohm resistor. The voltage you read is exactly the current. It will be something like 0.1A.
Adjust the adjustable resistor shorter until you reach the perceived brightness you had with the old fixture.
Measure the current and jot it down in a log.
Leave it that way for some days. Watch your zoas and see what they think.
Then every month you can up the current 10% until you like it or the zoas cry 'STOP'.
If you top out at an amp and it's not bright enough you add another set of three LEDs hooked up exactly the same way. They will be entirely independent.
I would not hesitate to switch to more interesting and controllable LEDs.
kcress
New member
Why bother? Run them as I suggested.
Otherwise you can use a:
ELN-30-24
This is too confused for me to come up with an answer....
katchupoy
New member
TheFishMan65, I dont want to mislead anyone when I mentioned (earlier I believe) that the XP-G (12 cw) I have when in full blast is almost similar with my 2x250 watt MH. By look and and by intensity. This is just what is perceived by my own eye and we all know that this is nothing and baseless without "PAR" meter proving it. So to all readers out there, this is just my observation and by no means scientific and accurate.
TheFishMan65
New member
I guess I should ask 2_zoa
Then Daveonbass said something similiar
No all this depends on how much the LEDs are concentrated (they make LED lasers), but I am trying to find info on similiar area of what a MH covers.
However just to clarify katchboy, you think 12 XP-Gs is equivalent to two 250MH or 500 watts of MH? That seems way off (and yes our eyes are terrible judges). How old are your MH bulbs? If you did go from two 250s to 12 XP-G I would like to know how your corals are in a month or so (or has it been that long?).
Then Daveonbass said something similiar
When talking about his build that might be 12 LEDs. This started me trying to do some research since was contray to my understanding. I have poste severl of those, but just trying to get facts from other to try and find a "real" answer.
No all this depends on how much the LEDs are concentrated (they make LED lasers
), but I am trying to find info on similiar area of what a MH covers.However just to clarify katchboy, you think 12 XP-Gs is equivalent to two 250MH or 500 watts of MH? That seems way off (and yes our eyes are terrible judges). How old are your MH bulbs? If you did go from two 250s to 12 XP-G I would like to know how your corals are in a month or so (or has it been that long?).
hey katchupboy would you do me a huge favor and draw up a 3d model of my lighting? with 60 optics on the RB and 80 optics on the CW.
It will help a ton.
RB CW RB
RB CW RB. (only doing 1 row of 3 first, then 6 if it feel the need for 6)
Spaced 2 inches from the end of the aluminum and 4 inches apart.
Thanks a ton.
It will help a ton.
RB CW RB
RB CW RB. (only doing 1 row of 3 first, then 6 if it feel the need for 6)
Spaced 2 inches from the end of the aluminum and 4 inches apart.
Thanks a ton.
katchupoy
New member
What tank size? and for what corals? How many LEDs?
mgranato
New member
Awesome build, Katch. Very well done and great write-up... you have inspired :thumbsup:
I'm planning to do these light bars on my SPS tank. Before I place the orders for parts, I'd like to get a few things clarified in my mellon....
1. I'm doing 72 emitters (48 RB, 24 CW), so the easiest would be to do 6 MWs on 12 LEDs each, right?
2. Like you, I want dimming to help acclimate the corals. Will one dimmer (dimming kit like at RapidLED) dim all blues, and one dimmer dim all whites? Or do I need a dimmer for each of the 6 MWs?
3. Is there a drawing/pic that you used to base your wiring on with the terminal block and resistors?
I'm planning to do these light bars on my SPS tank. Before I place the orders for parts, I'd like to get a few things clarified in my mellon....
1. I'm doing 72 emitters (48 RB, 24 CW), so the easiest would be to do 6 MWs on 12 LEDs each, right?
2. Like you, I want dimming to help acclimate the corals. Will one dimmer (dimming kit like at RapidLED) dim all blues, and one dimmer dim all whites? Or do I need a dimmer for each of the 6 MWs?
3. Is there a drawing/pic that you used to base your wiring on with the terminal block and resistors?
^^^^^
I bilieve your can use one dimmer for each color. You will need a dimmer controller as well as a 10 v power supply to hook into the dimmer ready units.
On a similar note. Can a mix in a few blues on my mainly white strips, and run them through the same controller and dimmer switch. I whant to have 48leds, 28 RB and 20 White. So I would have 2 blocks of 12 RB, then 2 blocks of 10 whites with 2 RB.
I bilieve your can use one dimmer for each color. You will need a dimmer controller as well as a 10 v power supply to hook into the dimmer ready units.
On a similar note. Can a mix in a few blues on my mainly white strips, and run them through the same controller and dimmer switch. I whant to have 48leds, 28 RB and 20 White. So I would have 2 blocks of 12 RB, then 2 blocks of 10 whites with 2 RB.
I see all the LED gurus are over here 
Guess I'll post my questions!
I have a new 65g setup with canopy. Undecided on exact corals but don't want to be limited by choice because of lighting. I currently have (4) 24" VHO fixtures. I plan on keeping these to use for my Actinics and possibly upgrading the bulbs to 36" if I can fit them in the canopy. That will give me the option to use 2 or 3 36" Actinic bulbs. I'll probably stick with 3 if I have to stay with 24" bulbs.
So that leaves the white lighting and it's hard to get a good opinion or answer on a recommendation. I want to use LEDs for the white lighting, probably 10k color temp. All of the par readings and power outputs I'm finding are for a mix of white and blues for the LED fixtures.
How many white LEDs would be recommended if I'm only using them for the 10k color range? The tank is 36"w x 18"d x 24"h and has about 21" from water level to sand bed. Using the general formula posted a while back it would be 36*18 / 36 LEDs = 18 which seems to be a pretty good number but this includes the blue LEDs right? If I went with 36*18 / 24 LEDs = 27 but this does not include my VHO Actinics.
Also, any recommendations on which type of LED or optics would be great. I do want them to be dimable. I'm thinking about keeping the right and left side separate so I can dim each half on it's own (which would work well with my rock work plan)
Thoughts or opinions?
Guess I'll post my questions! I have a new 65g setup with canopy. Undecided on exact corals but don't want to be limited by choice because of lighting. I currently have (4) 24" VHO fixtures. I plan on keeping these to use for my Actinics and possibly upgrading the bulbs to 36" if I can fit them in the canopy. That will give me the option to use 2 or 3 36" Actinic bulbs. I'll probably stick with 3 if I have to stay with 24" bulbs.
So that leaves the white lighting and it's hard to get a good opinion or answer on a recommendation. I want to use LEDs for the white lighting, probably 10k color temp. All of the par readings and power outputs I'm finding are for a mix of white and blues for the LED fixtures.
How many white LEDs would be recommended if I'm only using them for the 10k color range? The tank is 36"w x 18"d x 24"h and has about 21" from water level to sand bed. Using the general formula posted a while back it would be 36*18 / 36 LEDs = 18 which seems to be a pretty good number but this includes the blue LEDs right? If I went with 36*18 / 24 LEDs = 27 but this does not include my VHO Actinics.
Also, any recommendations on which type of LED or optics would be great. I do want them to be dimable. I'm thinking about keeping the right and left side separate so I can dim each half on it's own (which would work well with my rock work plan)
Thoughts or opinions?
Last edited:
TheFishMan65
New member
NIck 18 or 24 would probably work IMHO. What driver are you planning to use? If it is the meanwell then go with 24 and see if you like it. If it is the buckpucks (not too many of those anymore) then try 18. I would get dimmable ones since you will probably have too much light at least to start.
Nick if you are sticking with the actinics, I would think just doing a standard number of white leds would be fine. Going off 48 for a 48 x 18 tank using the 60 to 40 rb to white ratio, would translate to 16 to 20 white led's. That is just a guess, need your actual tank dimensions.
