Complete LED System in progress!

S

sflorlando

Member
Hello All,

I have jumped head first into the LED movement. My hope is go completely LED without the use of any inefficient Halides, CFL, etc. I have already started with my DIY Actinics, http://www.o-r-c-a.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=5751 Just completed my LED Fuge light (still need to add fans, runs pretty hot!)
sumpled.jpg

and Here is a few pics of my DIY in progress.
ledfixture.jpg
 
ya its a fun project....this was my first attempt at soldering and was a good learning experience. anyone need any help planning or doing it...id love to share my tiny bit of knowledge

Ken
 
I would like to try and plan out a fixture for about 4 feet of my 125g frag tank tank.
Already have 250w MH on one side that covers good 2 feet at least but rest is still unlit so it's either I'm going to buy another T5 fixture with about 6 bulbs or maybe try some LEDs, just not sure how many I really would need to get a good coverage while staying fairly cheap.
It's about 48" by 16" area with 10" of water depth the way I've set up lowest level of eggcrate. How many of those LEDs do you think I'd need to be able to grow anything.
 
im in no way an expert...but following the threads on this site i believe 2 sets of 24 LED's with optics should do the trick. Im replacing my metal halide 2 x250 watts with only one LED fixture since I will also be using a light rail. Should be quite a difference in electricity once I get it all implemented. And also Hopefully dont need to replace buls for 5+ years.

This is going on my display tank (tech 120) 48 inch by 24 inch by i think 30 inch tall.

Ken
 
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How much do you think 48 LEDs will run me if i do all the soldering etc myself? like drivers, leds, heatsink etc.
 
LED's are expensive getting into. $5 a LED, $20 Drivers, heatsinks, wires, etc...but of course there are other factors..like bulb replacements, energy efficiency, etc. Take for instance my CFL that i use in my sump. Each use 22 watts and they work great for a few months and then i find that they need to be replaced. At almost $20 each Im hoping LED's will work better and be cheaper in the long run.

My halide bulbs need to be replaced. They have definitely dimed over the last few months and spending another $150 on bulbs that again will need to be replaced in another 8 months kind of upsets me. I like the idea of set it and forget it...hopefully it works out!
 
Yeah. Bulb changes are surely something I'm not looking forward to :)

Less heat and energy does sound very attractive as well as no bulb changes. One thing I'm not 100% set on as of yet tho is how well do they actually supply light to the corals. While I'm sure they are bright but is it really proper spectrum?
 
I just got back from The Living Reef and he has a 55 setup with all LEDs. It looks killer. It has only been setup for a week and half but everything looks good. Even the Flame Tip Bubble Anemone he has in it. LEDs look like they are going to be awesome!
 
Ya good point about LEDs not being the right spectrum. Who really knows. I do know that DIY LED's (and proprietary systems like the Solaris) have been used successfully in a lot of tanks. I guess we will see!
 
I have a two bank fixture I built for my 5' 70 gallon. I built my own drivers and everything, but I haven't had time to write up a review yet or finish the fixture so I can't really comment as to how it will support life.

The beauty of led's is you can change the color spectrum with the number of different combination you use at least with an diy fixture.

Mine is going to consist of two 14x7 fixtures in a 5x6+2 configuration. I figure that this will give me coverage up to about 18 inches by 12 inches per fixture and I have some low lighting lps that will benefit from not being directly under the light while the sps will love it.

Again I can't comment to the way the final product will turn out, but it has a been a stright forward and fun project.

BTW if someone would like a NCP 3066 drive board and parts to go with it. I had a couple of extra I would be happy to let go for what I spent on them. Something like 10 bucks. There is a diy driver thread on reef central here.
 
Well mixing whites and blues only helps us really making a color better looking for us :). If neither white or blue LED produce correct wave lengths it still would be bad. But as far as I did some searching I guess not many people post results of their LED tanks after about a year etc. But some report issues with SPS going brown apparently after a while, not just a month or so but more like 6-12 months. And of course there are some that show good results, but there just doesn't seem enough data atm at least from a quick search on RC :)
 
Heres a pic of the light mover being tested.
144f3561.jpg


Canopy will need to be redone since the light mover needs to be mounted quite a bit higher.
0eae3600.jpg
 
Seems like if you move it higher and turn it the other way, I assume we see shorter side in the picture, you could light whole tank from the middle? Or does that not give enough light?
Also I wonder how corals react at being in the low light like half the time with fixture moving. I guess if photo period is long enough, ie run it for like 14 hours instead of 9 when whole tank is lit all the time, it would be still good.
 
hmm thats a good idea...Right now the photo period is like 9 hours....i can adjust it once the corals are acclimated. My halides were really old and this thing is sooo incredibly bright.

I am currently running without optics...i like your idea about turning them so they go the long way. Might need to play around with that.

Ken
 
I have read a little bit about light movers I don't think you need to increase your light cycle when you run them. If I remember correctly it kind of simulates clouds and I believe i makes the growth better because the corals get more light from different angles not just the top thus increasing exposure to the light. I could be way off but I believe I read that some where on here.
 
that sounds right but way he got it set up right now there are times when half the tank goes fairly dark. I dont think usually they move around quite that much.
 
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