jbird0420
Active member
BTW... OT, but the rabbitfish you sold me a few months back has almost tripled in size.. lol!
Diy led
- Thread starter flworkd
- Start date
Mangodude
The Clown Tang Keeper!
How high off your tank are your LED's? I would be using a canopy but my canopy restricts me to being a max of 6in. above the water. I'm afraid it may be too bright..
Are your LED's at full power?
jbird0420
Active member
I'm going to start my LED build. Currently I have 3x 250w MH's and 2x VHO Actinics on my 180g reef.
I want to keep that "actinic pop" to simulate sunup and sundown effects. As well as built in moonlights.
Thanks to Grouper-I got the custom heatsink 68"x20", (100) white LED and (40) Royal Blue LED, 2 big ballasts, and 1 small ballast. As well as the optics.. All by Fedy
Based upon that a few questions to get me started:
Is a total of 140 LED's enough lighting to replace what I have??
Will the Royal Blue LED's give off the actinic effect?
Where would I find Moonlight led's to fit into the heatsink?? I didn't see any on Fedy's website.
I want to keep that "actinic pop" to simulate sunup and sundown effects. As well as built in moonlights.
Thanks to Grouper-I got the custom heatsink 68"x20", (100) white LED and (40) Royal Blue LED, 2 big ballasts, and 1 small ballast. As well as the optics.. All by Fedy
Based upon that a few questions to get me started:
Is a total of 140 LED's enough lighting to replace what I have??
Will the Royal Blue LED's give off the actinic effect?
Where would I find Moonlight led's to fit into the heatsink?? I didn't see any on Fedy's website.
Rhodes19
New member
Typlus5,
Excellent job. I'd love to do one for my 180 as well. I have a questions though. How did you connect the wires to the LEDs? I saw 2 small holes where the LEDs are. Are those for screws to hold the LEDs to the C channel or is that were the wires went through? Thanks.
Excellent job. I'd love to do one for my 180 as well. I have a questions though. How did you connect the wires to the LEDs? I saw 2 small holes where the LEDs are. Are those for screws to hold the LEDs to the C channel or is that were the wires went through? Thanks.
brassmonkyballs
BMB
The MW should drive it fine IMO
Typlus5
Member
Will do!
How do you like it overall some far, compared to what you had before??
I had 2 x 250w MH with a galaxy ballast and radium bulbs. My actinic supplement came from the 48" ReefBrite. I incorporated the ReefBrite into the array.
I drilled two holes for each LED for the pos/neg wires then attached them with 2 part Artic Epoxy.
My array is currently 14" from the water surface but will adjust down through an acclimation period. I've seen some bleaching reported from others switching to LEDs and trying to go slow with a reduced photoperiod and maximizing my distance for now. When complete I'm planning on about 10" from the surface to reduce spray, corrosion, etc.
They are the FEDY drivers and are not controllable so yes, full power and another reason for the careful acclimation.
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Typlus5
Member
That's because he ate half of my corals that POS! I loved that fish but was incompatible with my wants...coral. I'm sure he had to fend for himself in your tank of fat n' healthies!
letoan
New member
Rhodes19
New member
jbird0420
Active member
I currently have my LED's spaced about 1" apart. I'm thinking about redoing my design and sticking with the 3" apart that where originally planned out on the frame.
What are the advantages and disadvantages to having the leds further spaced apart?
For my build on my 180g mixed reef, I'm replacing (3) 250w DE MH's 15k's and (2) 110w VHO Actinics. I want to maintain that actinic pop for sunup and sundown. Yet, I don't want to shock the corals when I switch to LEDs.
What are the advantages and disadvantages to having the leds further spaced apart?
For my build on my 180g mixed reef, I'm replacing (3) 250w DE MH's 15k's and (2) 110w VHO Actinics. I want to maintain that actinic pop for sunup and sundown. Yet, I don't want to shock the corals when I switch to LEDs.
Typlus5
Member
I would seperate the LEDs as far as your design can handle. Fans will keep everything cool but engineering your array to reduce heat in the first place is the way to go.
I didn't stagger my rear channel LEDs as much as I did the other three and does have a slightly higher temp concentration (3 degrees) than the other three channels. The reason I did this was to keep the LEDs 6" from the rear of the tank.
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I've read some folks were questioning growth of coraline with LEDs, I can attest, it grows just fine. In my case, it seems faster growth vs the metal halides.
I didn't stagger my rear channel LEDs as much as I did the other three and does have a slightly higher temp concentration (3 degrees) than the other three channels. The reason I did this was to keep the LEDs 6" from the rear of the tank.
----break----
I've read some folks were questioning growth of coraline with LEDs, I can attest, it grows just fine. In my case, it seems faster growth vs the metal halides.
jangofat25
New member
Great build - I'm more or less done on my 3 tank gone with the following mix of white to RB 3-4 : 1 (40:12)
My Maxima clam is definately showing improvements in terms of opening since I've had them (hoping it's an improvment!).
SPS' looking happier and Royal blues on their own look stunning on the zoas and LPS at night.
Got a load of surplus white 18k LEDs spare but am over the pond in the UK. Anyone interested, happy to sell and send at cost (PM me).
One thing I can do with your advice on though... lenses or no lenses? Debating this at the moment......
Thanks,
Dan
My Maxima clam is definately showing improvements in terms of opening since I've had them (hoping it's an improvment!).
SPS' looking happier and Royal blues on their own look stunning on the zoas and LPS at night.
Got a load of surplus white 18k LEDs spare but am over the pond in the UK. Anyone interested, happy to sell and send at cost (PM me).
One thing I can do with your advice on though... lenses or no lenses? Debating this at the moment......
Thanks,
Dan
Typlus5
Member
I put lenses (60 degree optics) on the white LEDs only. It pushes the the light nicely down to the bottom of my 24" tank. I don't have par readings to validate but seems quite bright. With the few blues, I'm looking for spread so no optics.
Hey quick question. I want to purchase some 100 watt leds from satis and was wondering which ones should I get. The cool white (9000-12000K) or the cold white (19000K-21000K)? I know people in this thread used cold whites for the 3 watters, so just making sure if I should do the same for 100 watters. If I go with the cold whites, will I still need blue supplementation?
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