diy led

[madman01]

Hey guys and gals Im starting a shallow reef project. Now I'm gonna start with my lighting. First I have access. To a tone of 1 watt leds that are GE tetra power white specs are 66 lumens with 110 angle lens. 6500k. And I also have blue half watt led 467 nm 4 lumens. They are no where near as powerful but I have many. I used these with a freshwater planted but not sure bout a shallow reef. can any led gurus chime in the tank will be 12 inches in depth

 

[mkj]

not great led colors but may work depending on type of blue your talking about. Hopefully they close to 450. probably need to have light right on the rim say 1-2inch above to work and have many more blues than those whites. Color rendition will be like windex with your colors though.

 

[madman01]

Thanx for the reply. I'm guessing I'll do some experimenting

 

[beolson25]

The other problem I see is that you are going to need A LOT of these low power LEDs. If you are planning on a DIY for Drivers and Heatsinks and such it may be worth putting the extra money in up front rather than having a sub-par product you eventually have to replace.

I know people are pretty crazy about people buying the CREE LEDs on Ebay(Fear that they are not truly CREE) but I just bought 50 XT-E CREE LEDs(as stated by seller) for less than 100$.

Link provided below.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/231257898292?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&var=530484990717&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Assuming 1:1 (White:Blue) ratio you would need ~ 75:150 of the LEDs you mentioned
Assuming 1:2 (White:Blue) ratio you would need ~ 50:200 of the LEDs you mentioned

This is assuming
3 x 1w = 1 x 3w
and ...
6 x .5w = 1 x 3w

Just imagine having to deal with all of those LEDs on a heatsink ...


Just a thought... take it or leave it ..