DIY LED thoughts for Biocube 29

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Hi, I'm new here.

I've got a 29 gallon Coralife Biocube and I plan on replacing the stock lighting with a DIY LED system. I currently have mostly softies and LPS, but a little SPS too. I was hoping some people with more experience could tell me what you think about my plans. The current plan is to buy from LEDGroupBuy. Much of my plans came from here: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/10/aafeature

I currently have 700mA dimmable PWM drivers I plan on driving all/most of the channels with.

According to that article, I should have 45 watts per square meter of 400-440nm and 40 watts per square meter of 440-480nm light. I measured the lighted part of the tank to be about 14" x 19" giving me .17 square meters. This comes out to me needing about 7.65 watts of 400-440nm and 6.8 watts of 440-480.

Here are the LEDs in those ranges I have found, their flux at 700mA, and how many I was thinking about getting.
410nm exotic True Violet: 659mW x 5
430nm exotic Hyper Violet: 880mW x 5
450-455nm CREE XT-E Royal Blue: 1050mW x 5
465-470nm CREE XP-E2 Blue: ??? 73.2lm x 2 (not sure about these)
475nm Exotic Cool Blue: ??? x 2 (not sure about these)
495 Exotic Turquoise: ??? 105lm x 2 (not sure about these)

In addition to these, I was planning on using CREE XT-E neutral white. I figured maybe 6 of them, but I'm not sure. I was told the bin for the neutral white is R5 which the binning data shows 139 lumens for 350mA. I assume it will be around 260 after I push 700mA through it.

I have a 6"x12" heatsink that I think will just barely fit in the hood that I plan on using. I will be making a controller for it after getting the LEDs worked out.

I plan on buying from LEDGroupBuy because they seem to have better bins than the other places I have looked.

What does everyone think? Some suggestions on the longer wavelength blues would be nice too.

Thanks in advance.

 

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Any thoughts?

 

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Bump

 

[perkint]

R5 bin is a flux BIN so tells you the amount of light per watt not the colour (not clear from your post if that's what you meant or not). An XTE R5 at 350mA is 159.5lm and 284lm at 700ma according to Crees Product Comparison Tool:
http://pct.cree.com/dt/index.html

Not sure if you can get the neutral white in a better flux BIN (which may have been what you meant?) but the XPG2, XML2 & XPL are more modern chips and (again, depending on available flux bins in neutral white and purchase price) are worth looking at!

Tim

 

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Tim, thanks for the advice and the link. I haven't seen that. I have just been going off the binning datasheet which has limited information.

 

[monkeyruler90]

wait, whats you're budget for everything?

 

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That's a good question. I was hoping to stay under $150 for the whole project, but these LEDs will put me a little over. Its the violet LEDs that are a little expensive, but I think they are probably worth it. I am making the controller out of parts that cost very little and drivers I found aren't much more, so most of the cost is the $45 heat sink I already bought and the LEDs I need to buy.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

I think you can also try craigslist for a full spectrum dimmable led box, retro fit inside the biocube hood. This might work better and less work.

 

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Do you think those would be much better? I'm new to this, but it seems like many of them lack the near UV spectrum that seems to be important. Also, as far as I can tell, most of those are designed to be placed higher above the tank, although maybe I could replace the lenses. I have considered doing that and looked around a bit, but not found much. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[mussel and hate]

Stick with the DIY you can add or swap out diodes and you will eventually want to.

I reccomend using Makers heatsinks(T-slotted) and BJB solderless connectors. While this adds to the expense, assembly and modification are simplified plus as a bonus your stars remain in like new condition.

 

[window]

Stick with the DIY you can add or swap out diodes and you will eventually want to.

Thanks for the advice. Why do you think I will want to replace them in the future? I'm hoping to make a system that grow anything I ever have.

 

[soulpatch]

Or get a kit like RapidLED that is already made to be a direct fit in the hood, has full spectrum, and still has jumper ports to add more should you wish.

Shamless plug: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2550249


While that is not DIY and there is an enjoyment out of that at least you would have a proven light that many of us in the nano world are using. And it is expandable to suit your needs.

 

[aznflyfisherman]

Check out the nano forum, someone install a full spectrum black box under the 29g biocube, and yes those light will grow lps, sps as well, i use them on my 40 gallon before. I dont think light spread will be a problem.

 

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aznflyfisherman, is this what you are talking about?http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2536705

 

[aznflyfisherman]

This one here.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2463570

 

[zachts]

a single Vero 10 for the whites would be a vast improvement over individual white leds, wide even spread and available in 90+CRI which is a world better for color rendition than the single die LEDs currently avialable.

The nichia LEDs from that source would also be viable and a better option than standard CREE whites IMHO.

 

[mussel and hate]

Thanks for the advice. Why do you think I will want to replace them in the future? I'm hoping to make a system that grow anything I ever have.

As time goes on availability increases and technology improves. When I built my first array I didn't have access to all the diodes available today. I periodically add more. Perhaps you won't feel the same compulsion but I'd be surprised.

 

[mrbigshot]

i used ecoxotic panorama pro leds strips on my biocube 14, the stock reflectors were used to mount the panorama leds heatsinks to. i used a small computer fan to cool them.

rapid led and steve's led both make diy retrofit kits if you want to go that route. it adds considerable cost though because the heatsink alone is almost $50.

 

[jrvelie]

Or get a kit like RapidLED that is already made to be a direct fit in the hood, has full spectrum, and still has jumper ports to add more should you wish.

Shamless plug: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2550249


While that is not DIY and there is an enjoyment out of that at least you would have a proven light that many of us in the nano world are using. And it is expandable to suit your needs.

I 100% agree with soulpatch on this. I put in the Rapid LED and have been very happy so far.

 

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a single Vero 10 for the whites would be a vast improvement over individual white leds, wide even spread and available in 90+CRI which is a world better for color rendition than the single die LEDs currently avialable.

I see that has very high CRI, but in what other ways is it better than using multiple single LEDs? It seems like the light distribution of multiple smaller points of light would be better considering how close the lights are to the top of the water in the Biocube. The Vero 10 has a 120 degree lens, which would certainly cover the bottom of the tank, but it seems like there would be much more shadows. I will look into that more.

As time goes on availability increases and technology improves. When I built my first array I didn't have access to all the diodes available today. I periodically add more. Perhaps you won't feel the same compulsion but I'd be surprised.

mussel and hate, that makes sense. My plan was to tap holes in heat sink and solder the LEDs together, which would not be too much more difficult to replace LEDs in the future if needed and gives me more LED options and lower cost.


So everyone knows, I was looking to buy from led group buy (not clay-boa). Some of their bins seemed better, but I am seeing rapidled near UV LEDS may be more efficient, so I may go atleast partly with them.