DIY LEDs - The write-up - (split again)

[ganjero]

I'm planning on trying LEDs but before I change the light in my big tank I want to try a small setup on my solana.
The tank: Solana 20x20x20 with a real useable area for coral placement of 16x12.
Im thinking in doing a small pendant with heat sink measuring 9x6 and 12 pucks, 60 degree optics, 8 royal blues and 4 whites (not sure what whites).

Would this be enough to keep sps & clams?
Maybe add 40 degree optics in some areas?
Is the 8-4 ratio good?
Should I add any other color in the mix?
What whites should I use?

Any feedback is welcomed.

 

[reefermad619]

Hey fishman, BMB, kcress, and DWZM... Trying to get the placement of my LEDs all set.
Forgive the lack of scetch up, I'm at work and this is what I have to work with...

I'm pretty happy with the layout. It will have 30 LEDs total. 15RB, 5B, 5CW, and 5NW. Let me know what you guys think. And if anyone else wants to chime in, please feel free!

 

[brassmonkyballs]

Thanks Dan....standard 90g 48x18x24? How long is your heatsink...meaning how far apart are those 12 LEDs? i suspect thats the source of banding. Anyhoo...on a 48" tank I have found rows of 18 on a 36" heatsink 9" above the water gets the coverage with 1 row for every 6" of width (and each row spaced 3" apart)...so on a 75 and a 90 3 rows of 18 does the trick nicely....I've built both recently. On those builds we used 34 RB, 6 CW, 10 NW, 4 green. 90 degree optics are used. Reds are up to you but need to be used carefully...2 to 3 in place of same NW.

Hope that helps.w

BMB,

WOW! Your tank looks awesome. I could use some advice. I currently have a linear build over a standard 90g tank with 3 strips of 12 leds, 80 deg optics, 9" above the water, 1 amp on whites, .75 amps on royal blues. I'm planning on adding another strip of 12 and I would like your advice as to what would be the best color mix to add for good coverage and coloration. I have also built a custom controller so I can dim at any level I need to. Also, I currently get some banding due to all the whites lined up whenever I have any surface turbulence, so I will need to move some stuff around. I did the tap and die method so it won't be too hard to move them. I'm going for a mixed reef, probably not many SPS, heavier on the LPS and others.

Here is the actual setup that I have now (more details):
B- Royal Blue (XTE's)
G- Green (XPE's I think)
C- Cool White (XP-G's)
N- Neutral White (XP-G's)

B-C-B-B-N-B-B-C-B-B-N-B (Row 1)
B-N-B-G-C-B-B-N-G-B-C-B (Row 2)
B-C-B-B-N-B-B-C-B-B-N-B (Row 3)

My questions are:
what should my final count be for each color of led? For my 36 LED build I have now I have 22 RB, 6 CW, 6 NW, 2 Gr. So for 48 LED's I should add....
At what point do I need to add red or don't I need them if Ii have enough NW?
Are 80 deg optics good or should I be using 60 deg optics, or a mix?
Any other pointers would be great.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[brassmonkyballs]

Whats it going over reeferman? I found the best thing to do for layout is just put it in an excel spreadsheet and then color the cells of the layout...blue, yellow,etc...makes it alot easier to visualize. I typically lay in the RBs 1st as they fill up most the space and then evenly spread everything else. If I use a separate color like green I lay them right down the center evenly spaced...maybe do that with your blues.

Hey fishman, BMB, kcress, and DWZM... Trying to get the placement of my LEDs all set.
Forgive the lack of scetch up, I'm at work and this is what I have to work with...

I'm pretty happy with the layout. It will have 30 LEDs total. 15RB, 5B, 5CW, and 5NW. Let me know what you guys think. And if anyone else wants to chime in, please feel free!

 

[reefermad619]

This is 1 of 2 panels going over each side of my 180 (6'x2'x2'). Planning on one rock island on each side of tank. The middle 24" of the tank will not have any corals. That I'll light with about 12 LEDs with no optics. On the panels, the LEDs will be space apart about 4" on center in each row and each row about 1.5" apart on center.

 

[wardda]

Lenses?

Lenses?

BMB,

Thanks for the info. The spacing between the LED's is 3" except for the center where it is 4". I'm thinking of re-configuring them to get the whites out of line. I'm also wondering about changing lenses on the blues, to a tighter optic. Lastly I'm debating adding another row of 12 (8 blue, 4 white). Any additional advice would be appreciated.

• Yes you have the correct 90g dimensions.
• The LED's are 9" above the water.
• The LED's are 31" above the substrate.
• Left to right LED spacing is 3" center to center, on the ends center to glass is about 3", except at the center brace which they are 4"
• Blues are either 3" apart or 6" if there is a white between (left to right)
• Whites are 9" apart (left to right)
• Spacing of rails front to back is: glass to rail 1 is 4", rail 1 center to rail 2 center is 5", rail 2 center to rail 3 center is 5", rail 3 center to glass is 4"

My current thought is to go to 40 or 60 deg lenses on the blues and stay with 80 deg on the whites or possibly drop to 60 deg lenses.

Is there a benefit to go to 40 deg lenses on the blues in the front where the substrate is lower (no major rock formations) and to keep extra light off the front glass?

Any and all comments appreciated.

Dan

Thanks Dan....standard 90g 48x18x24? How long is your heatsink...meaning how far apart are those 12 LEDs? i suspect thats the source of banding. Anyhoo...on a 48" tank I have found rows of 18 on a 36" heatsink 9" above the water gets the coverage with 1 row for every 6" of width (and each row spaced 3" apart)...so on a 75 and a 90 3 rows of 18 does the trick nicely....I've built both recently. On those builds we used 34 RB, 6 CW, 10 NW, 4 green. 90 degree optics are used. Reds are up to you but need to be used carefully...2 to 3 in place of same NW.

Hope that helps.w

 

[brassmonkyballs]

wardda...your individual LEDs are too far apart already...putting tighter optics on them will make it worse from a banding perspective.

12 LEDs spanning across a 48" tank is not nearly enough to cover that length. Add another 12 LEDs but not in an additional row. You need to get the individual LEDs closer together.

The gap in the center is good but get 9 on each side for the center brace in 3 rows and you'll be very surprised. Spacing rows 3" apart works great but with LEDs 2" apart center to center.

I have found a 36"-38" long fixture over a 48" tank works very well with 90 degree lenses at 9" above the water....point being you don't need to get them so close to the glass on each end and can squeeze them closer together.

Anyhow some things to think about.

BMB,

Thanks for the info. The spacing between the LED's is 3" except for the center where it is 4". I'm thinking of re-configuring them to get the whites out of line. I'm also wondering about changing lenses on the blues, to a tighter optic. Lastly I'm debating adding another row of 12 (8 blue, 4 white). Any additional advice would be appreciated.

• Yes you have the correct 90g dimensions.
• The LED's are 9" above the water.
• The LED's are 31" above the substrate.
• Left to right LED spacing is 3" center to center, on the ends center to glass is about 3", except at the center brace which they are 4"
• Blues are either 3" apart or 6" if there is a white between (left to right)
• Whites are 9" apart (left to right)
• Spacing of rails front to back is: glass to rail 1 is 4", rail 1 center to rail 2 center is 5", rail 2 center to rail 3 center is 5", rail 3 center to glass is 4"

My current thought is to go to 40 or 60 deg lenses on the blues and stay with 80 deg on the whites or possibly drop to 60 deg lenses.

Is there a benefit to go to 40 deg lenses on the blues in the front where the substrate is lower (no major rock formations) and to keep extra light off the front glass?

Any and all comments appreciated.

Dan

 

[souperman]

Is is generally accepted that using a 2:1 NW to RB ratio will give enough of the warmer spectrum to avoid having to mix reds or even warm whites? I am thinking about a 48 LED kit from RapidLED with this mix. I am also thinking about running a parallel string of 12 RB on one driver to free up a driver for 8 or so UV LEDs. Would the reduced output of the paralleled driver be worth adding UV spectrum? Would mixing standard blues in be an alternative?

Tank is a standard 90g mixed reef.

 

[jdwreefer]

For those of you that have osram 660nm reds, what current do you run them at? I'm looking at converting my 120 gal to leds. The plan so far is to use CREE 3w and have 20 RB's, 10 blues, 8 CW, 8 NW, and 2 osram reds. They will be on two 6"x9" black anodized drilled/tapped heat sinks from RapidLed. I'm trying to figure out if I'll need to put the reds on a separate driver. Do the reds look ok being driven at the same level as blues or whites, or do they need to be driven lower?

 

[brassmonkyballs]

Is is generally accepted that using a 2:1 NW to RB ratio will give enough of the warmer spectrum to avoid having to mix reds or even warm whites? I am thinking about a 48 LED kit from RapidLED with this mix. I am also thinking about running a parallel string of 12 RB on one driver to free up a driver for 8 or so UV LEDs. Would the reduced output of the paralleled driver be worth adding UV spectrum? Would mixing standard blues in be an alternative?


Tank is a standard 90g mixed reef.

Generally 2RB to 1 white...and the whites I have found best to be 2 Neutral to 1 Cool and then do without the Red...highly recommend a few greens though.

Haven't messed with UV yet but not sure what you mean. To run parallel you need more than 1 string so "running a parallel string of 12 RB..." is confusing. You could not run 8 UV on the same driver as 12 RB if thats what you mean...they have to be balanced...equal amounts (and type) in each string.

For those of you that have osram 660nm reds, what current do you run them at? I'm looking at converting my 120 gal to leds. The plan so far is to use CREE 3w and have 20 RB's, 10 blues, 8 CW, 8 NW, and 2 osram reds. They will be on two 6"x9" black anodized drilled/tapped heat sinks from RapidLed. I'm trying to figure out if I'll need to put the reds on a separate driver. Do the reds look ok being driven at the same level as blues or whites, or do they need to be driven lower?

Depends on what you run those strings at. I generally run blues on all 1 driver around 900ma and mix in my other colors with the whites. Those other colors I run in the 400-450ma range....if you push those couple reds higher they will likely spot light.

Now...you have a standard 120 I assume which is 48x24x24 ... generally you want to cover the tank with 1 LED for every 16 sq-in of surface area as follows: thats 48x24=1152 Sq-in / 16 sq-in = 72 LEDs. 48 is awefully light in count....and those heatsinks are kinda small to pack 24 LEDs on. Couple pages back is a pic of my 120 with 72 LEDs...FWIW

 

[jdwreefer]

Depends on what you run those strings at. I generally run blues on all 1 driver around 900ma and mix in my other colors with the whites. Those other colors I run in the 400-450ma range....if you push those couple reds higher they will likely spot light.

Now...you have a standard 120 I assume which is 48x24x24 ... generally you want to cover the tank with 1 LED for every 16 sq-in of surface area as follows: thats 48x24=1152 Sq-in / 16 sq-in = 72 LEDs. 48 is awefully light in count....and those heatsinks are kinda small to pack 24 LEDs on. Couple pages back is a pic of my 120 with 72 LEDs...FWIW

I was going to run 4 strings of 12 with meanwell 60-48d with my apex. Only 2 reds would mean one over each side, there wouldn't be optics on the reds of course. I wanted to try them just to add a bit of light in that spectrum. You don't think having one red without an optic in the middle of a 24"x24" area about 12" above the water would cover well?

For the color breakdown it will be one stringe of 12 RB. One string of 8 RB and 4 B. One string of 6 CW and 6 NW. And a string of 6 B, 2 CW, 2 NW, 2 Red.

My tank is actually 110g, 48"x24"x22". It has a coast to coast overflow along the back which comes 4" into the tank. But there are some corals in the back corners, like an acan and cyphastrea, so I do need to light the whole 48"x24" footprint. I thought I could get away with two spotlights and a lower number of leds because of how my my rockwork/coral placement is. It's a mixed tank with a island of RBTAs on the right, and a larger island of SPS on the left. The rockwork is only in an 11"x34" area, and all the high light stuff is up on the rocks. Here's a FTS from a few days ago.

Instead of the rapidled heatsinks I think now I'll get two 8"x12" heatsinks from heatsinkusa.com, and apply the leds with thermal adhesive. That way I have room to add more leds later, and I can spread the leds out a bit more. And I chould around the numbers a bit to try to get 3 parallel strings on an HLG and 6CW/6NW on an ELN so I'd have less drivers.

The light I have now is an ATI 6 bulb sunpower. I've been wanting to go leds for a year, and it's time to replace bulbs so I wanted to put that money towards a new fixture instead. I've never liked t5s either. I think everything looks bland.

 

[souperman]

Generally 2RB to 1 white...and the whites I have found best to be 2 Neutral to 1 Cool and then do without the Red...highly recommend a few greens though.

Haven't messed with UV yet but not sure what you mean. To run parallel you need more than 1 string so "running a parallel string of 12 RB..." is confusing. You could not run 8 UV on the same driver as 12 RB if thats what you mean...they have to be balanced...equal amounts (and type) in each string.

Just to clarify I meant I was considering running 2 parallel strings of 12 on one driver for a total of 24 LEDs.I ended up ordering 2:1 RB to white with 50/50 split for the white NW and CW. I decided to not run any parallel strings for now. If I decide later I want to play with UV, reds, or other colors I will probably just add a driver.

 

[S2minute]

Leds

Leds

Hi folks, i haven't posted in awhile. This comp has been acting up and needs replacement after 6 years :sad2: Anyway, my setup is a series with 24 strings, using Fishmans CAT driver boards. I've been trying now for days to get this to fire up right. I tested each string for diode, short to screw and continuity x3 and everything has been corrected and checks ok. The PS i'm using are 2x sp-320-24 and 1 sp-100-24. I've turned down the trim pots on each all the way.
Before i go further, i must tell you i have 9 strings of 6 RB on one SP-320 and 12 strings of 6 leds on the other sp-320. These 12 strings have 4 RB and 2 white. Each string has its own .1 ohm res. The other sp-100-24 is for 3 strings of 6 XM-Ls which will run at 1.5 MA. I'm using 2 cat drivers to power each of these strings. Fishman told me that according to the documentation, 2 CATs can be paired for 2 amps. I have a res. for each string but i think i'll place a res in each leg. I have not fired up the XM-Ls yet.
On, this lastest attempt, i tested for continuity from the last bridge connector for + for each string to its - side connector and they all check out fine. SO, on this latest attempt i have 3 RB strings hooked up to one of the sp-320s and with trim pot turned all the way down...i get nothing. The 3 strings don't come on...and i have no solid idea as to why. Do i have to turn up the trim on the PS to get the strings to run?? I'm at a loss here and i don't don't really what to do next. Any help please?:wave:

 

[S2minute]

LED Fixture

LED Fixture

I drew up 2 rough sketches to try to explain what i did and ask...what did i do wrong?:wildone: More importently, what do i have to do in order to make it work?? Please help me anyone!.





You can blow up the images because...well you just need to enlarge them :twitch:

 

[lowfi]

I have a couple of newbie questions! Don't shame me... First off, some tank information. I have a standard 90 gallon (48"x18"x24") however here is the weird part. The opening of the top of the tank is only 44"x11.5" with no center brace. The goal of my DIY LED is to fit in at least 48 LED's with a dream of 60 LED's, I want to grow only SPS in this tank. I am planning on using strips of C-channel like in JP's thread, not a solid heat sink.

Ummm question #1...I have read through all the color threads and have no idea where to start. I know you need ~ half of the 48 LED's as RB's, other than that I'm lost. I know some people are in love with UV's, some say greens dont matter and be careful with reds. What color scheme do you guys think i should run for a pheonix 14k look.

Numero dos!- Is there any way if running 4-5 drivers or lines, to not have 4-5 power cords? That is a lot of outlets!

Question 3- Can I mix and match different LED's off of the same driver? Ie; a few NW, a green, a couple reds and some uv's?? --> obviously this is an extreme example.

Question 4- Do I need 4 drivers for 4 strings of 12 LED's or can I use less drivers? I know this is a weird question because it depends on what type of lighting system I want to run...but for what it's worth I would like a dimmable fixture that would be able to be controlled on a typhon-esque controller.

Thanks for all of the help. Once I can figure out the LED color arrangement I'm going to start purchasing all of the stuff.

Thank you thank you!

Sean

 

[zachts]

Ummm question #1...I have read through all the color threads and have no idea where to start. I know you need ~ half of the 48 LED's as RB's, other than that I'm lost. I know some people are in love with UV's, some say greens dont matter and be careful with reds. What color scheme do you guys think i should run for a pheonix 14k look.

As a starting point I'd leave out the reds, and greens and other colors and start with 48 leds. Work your way up from there if you decide your not satisfied with the resulting color. A good place to start would be:
32 Royal Blue
6 Cool White
6 Neutral White
4 warm white

If you wanted to play with other colors the UVs would be the place to start. if nothing else they create a very cool dawn dusk effect and there is some supporting evidence that they help to build red coloration in corals. I'd treat them as an add on string of 12 though on thier own driver.

Numero dos!- Is there any way if running 4-5 drivers or lines, to not have 4-5 power cords? That is a lot of outlets!

You can wire multiple drivers to one power cord. if your use dimmers to control them they could all share one heavy duty power cord if you wanted. or just one cord for white and one cord for blue.

Question 3- Can I mix and match different LED's off of the same driver? Ie; a few NW, a green, a couple reds and some uv's?? --> obviously this is an extreme example.

yes, any combination on a string. just pay attention to the lowest max currant of the leds in the string and use that to set the string.

Question 4- Do I need 4 drivers for 4 strings of 12 LED's or can I use less drivers? I know this is a weird question because it depends on what type of lighting system I want to run...but for what it's worth I would like a dimmable fixture that would be able to be controlled on a typhon-esque controller.

You could run just two drivers if you wanted to run parrallel strings. two strings of 12 per driver. each string on the same driver must be identical though, ie. same number of each color. If doing this though you can't run the LEDs at quite as high a drive current. But there are countless ways you could set things up to maximise the use of your drivers. Using the above leds I suggested I would consider this setup: assumes using meanwell eln 60-48 series drivers

Driver 1: two parrallel strings of 12 royal blue leds (typically you'd be seeing around 650ma driver current per string)

Driver 2: 4 cool whites and the remaining 8 royal blue. (note that you must set the string by the lower drive current of the blue leds. typically no more than 900ma for Cree)

Driver 3: remaining whites ( running at 1300ma assuming cree xp-g)

using dimmers this would give you good flexibility on tweaking the color to you liking.

as I mentioned earlier though you could use only two drivers if you wanted. or any of a thousand different driver combos as there are dozens of different driver models to choose from depending on your goals.

hope this helps.

 

[lowfi]

Wow, what a fantastic response. Cheers for that!

Can you run an Apex with both the ELN-60-48D and ELN-60-48P?? I thinking about going with the P due to the fact that I can program it to a typhon led controller later on...!

 

[lowfi]

So here is the lighting arrangement I've come up with from the proposed ratio of LED's (see above)

RB RB RB CW RB WW RB CW RB RB RB RB
NW RB CW RB NW RB NW RB CW RB RB NW
RB WW RB NW RB WW RB NW RB WW RB RB
RB RB RB RB CW RB CW RB RB RB RB RB

How's that look...sorry, I couldnt figure out how to upload my Excel makeup.

Cheers,

Low

 

[lowfi]

Bump, trying to buy these this weekend! Would love to hear everyone's opinion. Thanks!

 

[wardda]

Bump, trying to buy these this weekend! Would love to hear everyone's opinion. Thanks!

Just for another data point, I have a 90g and just finished my led build with 48 leds. I got advice from everyone under the sun and got about as many different answers. I started out with a 36 build and then added another 12. I went with:

24 Royal Blues (RB)
8 Blues (B)
10 Neutral Whites (N)
6 Cool Whites (C)

I added the blues in the last 12 added and I like how it moved the color from purpleish to more of a deep blue, but as always that is a personal preference. I had also had 2 greens in the mix and removed them and like the color better without.

Here is the config I did, which is also linear.
RB C B RB N RB RB N RB B C RB
RB RB N RB B C RB B N RB RB N
N B RB N RB RB N RB RB C B RB
RB C RB B N RB RB C B RB N RB

I also have them 9" above the water with 60 deg optics on the two rows in the front where my substrate doesn't have much rock over it and then 80 deg optics in the back two rows where they are over rock structures.

As most people say a lot of this is personal preference.... Good Luck.