stephen.davis.
New member
Finished my LED light for my 55gal tank.
10 Cree xpe royal blues
10 Cree xte 6500k whites
46" x 2" heatsink
2 x 50w dimmable drivers.
To start i dont like the look of hanging lights. Not sure why just distracting. I also enjoy playing with leds and thats why i went this direction.
A few things about my tank. Its a older used 55gal, this is my first saltwater tank so trying something small to see if i have the dedication to make it work.
Our house is very small and space is limited so i opted not to have a sump. Because of this my coralife skimmer hands on the side of my tank which is a big reason i decided to build my own light.
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I decided on cree xpe and xte. The cool whites i can run at 1.5A and the royal blues at 1A.
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I used a 46" x 2" x .5" heatsink. Used artic silver 2 part thermal adhesive to mount them.
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The front cover is 6" x 49" x .090 aluminum. I also used the artic silver to mount the heatsink to this aluminum sheet. The LEDs are about 2" off the top of the tank with no optics.
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Then i added some brackets to the back. This made it stable and also acts as a mounting point for my drivers.
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The drivers fit nicely with the dimmers mounted to the back side of the plate. I have not finished up my wire work yet so forgive the messy look. For now im using my multimeter to see my exact amperage settings. I have toyed with the idea of adding built in amp displays for both channels.
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Im at the end of cycling my tank so right now i have no fish or coral in the tank.
Im new to the forum, and using taptalk and photobucket so i apologize if i made any mistakes in uploading these pictures.
10 Cree xpe royal blues
10 Cree xte 6500k whites
46" x 2" heatsink
2 x 50w dimmable drivers.
To start i dont like the look of hanging lights. Not sure why just distracting. I also enjoy playing with leds and thats why i went this direction.
A few things about my tank. Its a older used 55gal, this is my first saltwater tank so trying something small to see if i have the dedication to make it work.
Our house is very small and space is limited so i opted not to have a sump. Because of this my coralife skimmer hands on the side of my tank which is a big reason i decided to build my own light.
![20160303_075214_zpsugxle86g.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5BURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1377.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2Fcudalover1982%2Fmedia%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160303_075214_zpsugxle86g.jpg.html%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fi1377.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fah49%2Fcudalover1982%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160303_075214_zpsugxle86g.jpg&hash=324ac6bb06acd5c97f0e1e67bd5df566)
I decided on cree xpe and xte. The cool whites i can run at 1.5A and the royal blues at 1A.
![20160303_133922_zpswrajhsuq.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5BURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1377.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2Fcudalover1982%2Fmedia%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160303_133922_zpswrajhsuq.jpg.html%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fi1377.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fah49%2Fcudalover1982%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160303_133922_zpswrajhsuq.jpg&hash=00144a780e62ed93ea8354017a97b671)
I used a 46" x 2" x .5" heatsink. Used artic silver 2 part thermal adhesive to mount them.
![20160307_203140_zpsj8typtyq.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5BURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1377.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2Fcudalover1982%2Fmedia%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160307_203140_zpsj8typtyq.jpg.html%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fi1377.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fah49%2Fcudalover1982%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160307_203140_zpsj8typtyq.jpg&hash=b78bf7121985224ee6bffd04bfdeeb1c)
The front cover is 6" x 49" x .090 aluminum. I also used the artic silver to mount the heatsink to this aluminum sheet. The LEDs are about 2" off the top of the tank with no optics.
![20160308_193637_zpspvb57hxo.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5BURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1377.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2Fcudalover1982%2Fmedia%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160308_193637_zpspvb57hxo.jpg.html%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fi1377.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fah49%2Fcudalover1982%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160308_193637_zpspvb57hxo.jpg&hash=f7e767db0dfb8d8d46ec41f8b94b3c93)
Then i added some brackets to the back. This made it stable and also acts as a mounting point for my drivers.
![20160309_054219_zpso0i2ehog.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5BURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1377.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2Fcudalover1982%2Fmedia%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160309_054219_zpso0i2ehog.jpg.html%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fi1377.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fah49%2Fcudalover1982%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160309_054219_zpso0i2ehog.jpg&hash=bc78b15868667ea0fa3c0af677235375)
The drivers fit nicely with the dimmers mounted to the back side of the plate. I have not finished up my wire work yet so forgive the messy look. For now im using my multimeter to see my exact amperage settings. I have toyed with the idea of adding built in amp displays for both channels.
![20160309_054201_zps3zacyf4e.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5BURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1377.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2Fcudalover1982%2Fmedia%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160309_054201_zps3zacyf4e.jpg.html%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fi1377.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fah49%2Fcudalover1982%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160309_054201_zps3zacyf4e.jpg&hash=280da9b97f6485295a6b32d4bfaf9847)
![20160308_214538_zps06qscmyj.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5BURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1377.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2Fcudalover1982%2Fmedia%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160308_214538_zps06qscmyj.jpg.html%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fi1377.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fah49%2Fcudalover1982%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2F20160308_214538_zps06qscmyj.jpg&hash=d87a49e930c5574cbc92262768f10a91)
![FB_IMG_1457529526925_zpsvyjlwqpa.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5BURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1377.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2Fcudalover1982%2Fmedia%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2FFB_IMG_1457529526925_zpsvyjlwqpa.jpg.html%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fi1377.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fah49%2Fcudalover1982%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2FFB_IMG_1457529526925_zpsvyjlwqpa.jpg&hash=3f14785a05241a43ed25b19a5854491d)
![FB_IMG_1457529520297_zpsnrou37dn.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5BURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1377.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2Fcudalover1982%2Fmedia%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2FFB_IMG_1457529520297_zpsnrou37dn.jpg.html%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fi1377.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fah49%2Fcudalover1982%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2FFB_IMG_1457529520297_zpsnrou37dn.jpg&hash=6cc90d56b63d84097cb6baa1265a9071)
Im at the end of cycling my tank so right now i have no fish or coral in the tank.
Im new to the forum, and using taptalk and photobucket so i apologize if i made any mistakes in uploading these pictures.