DIY LEDs - The write-up

[TheFishMan65]

Ah, but aren't tides on about a 12 hour schedule? I looked and they are. Here is an example (Ocean City MD, December 09):
4 Low 2:08 AM -0.5
4 High 8:38 AM 4.8
4 Low 3:07 PM -0.2
4 High 8:57 PM 3.3
But apparently tides in the same day can have significantly different highs. 1.5 feet would change the light from 50-100% - depending on when the 3 feet (IIRC) depth was measured.

 

[CJO]

They are since they are based on the moon's gravity. Here are the high and low tides for the approximate location in question on the day the readings were taken:

4/21/2008 3:46 AM 0.90 ft. High
4/21/2008 9:31 AM -0.07 ft. Low
4/21/2008 4:44 PM 2.02 ft. High
4/21/2008 11:47 PM 0.31 ft. Low

http://www.hawaiitides.com/Kona/GetMonthTides.asp

CJ

 

[TheFishMan65]

Well that one foot could make the difference CJ. Thanks for getting the right data.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

A corresponding article, this time about coral coloration:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/10/aafeature2/view

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

An article with an interesting table listing saturation and photoinhibition points for various corals:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/3/aafeature1/view

Note that the saturation points are all more or less around what we're getting in a typical build.

 

[nauticac4]

Forgive me if this has been covered...but has anyone taken a single LED and taken par readings directly below it at varying depths with various optics. I have seen some of the par graphs and tank shots with led numbers however I havent seen data from a single LED

I feel that in the planning stages this information could take the "engineering" of a LED system to the next level. If i had the equipment I'd do it but par meters arent cheap.

 

[garnto]

Hey everyone, I am currently setting up a 20 gallon tank. I plan on doing a FOWLR setup.

my question is, about how much would it cost to do an led setup for a 20 gal tank that is just FOWLR(I would like for coralline to grow decent)


and about how much would it cost to get a setup that would host beginner corals

anyone who could give me guestimations(deff not a word lol), it would be greatly appreciated

 

[SWINGRRRR]

Forgive me if this has been covered...but has anyone taken a single LED and taken par readings directly below it at varying depths with various optics.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1761942 - this is a complete setup though not a single.

my question is, about how much would it cost to do an led setup for a 20 gal tank that is just FOWLR(I would like for coralline to grow decent)
and about how much would it cost to get a setup that would host beginner corals
anyone who could give me guestimations(deff not a word lol), it would be greatly appreciated

Anywhere from $250-$1000.

 

[westmoorenerd]

You can easily make a LED fixture using 12 LEDs for under $150, which should work well on a 20 gallon FOWLR tank.

12 XR-E's (~$5/p): $60
1 ELN-60-48: $25
1 19" Heatsink (3" spacing between LED's): $35

~$120 + misc wires and such.

 

[myers]

First ill say hi all,
I have been following this since before xmas and have read from the start of soundwave's first post.
I originally built a 2' x 10" 50/50fixture out off 5mm leds (about 1000) about 4 year ago, this was to supliment the t5s i had, they worked well for a year and then went very dim, so i started messing with luxeon 3 stars with not much luck.
Then came across this thread so decided to get back into it, so february ordered all the parts and by late march this was built.









This is 50/50 xp-g cw, xr-e rb, 60 of each running on buck pucks and 2 24v 10a cnc power supply's one for blue and one for white, NO OPTICS so 120 in total about 6" 0ff the water, on 2 24"x8" heat sink and 2 12cm fans on each sink.
The tank is 6'x2'x2'.

 

[apfroggy0408]

Are there any exact part numbers listed off of each website so there's no confusion as to which led's to get?

 

[garnto]

You can easily make a LED fixture using 12 LEDs for under $150, which should work well on a 20 gallon FOWLR tank.

12 XR-E's (~$5/p): $60
1 ELN-60-48: $25
1 19" Heatsink (3" spacing between LED's): $35

~$120 + misc wires and such.

the star mounted emitters only offer better heat sinking properties as compared to emitter only correct? or do the stars also make it easier to solder ?


if I wanted to do a mixture of royal blue and white led's, and wanted to be able to dim and tweak the intensity of each color would the best thing for me to get be buckpucks?


1 last question. with the dimmable buckpucks what is the difference in the external dimmable with pot and without pot? obviously 1 has a pot and one does not, but what exactly does the pot offer that no pot does not?

 

[kcress]

Just an emitter is useless to you. They have to be on a board, and if you want to drive them properly they need to be on an aluminum clad board - like a star board.

Buckpucks if you have a DC power supply to use.

I believe you can buy them with the pot already attached. Costs more - more convenient. Unless... You need to have the pot farther away than their leads allow.

 

[wld1783]

Is anyone was using LED Seal. Led Supply and a few others carry it. I'm working my way through the whole thread.

Also is there a DIY link to a 1-10Vdc control for the ELN 60-48D.

 

[westmoorenerd]

the star mounted emitters only offer better heat sinking properties as compared to emitter only correct? or do the stars also make it easier to solder ?


if I wanted to do a mixture of royal blue and white led's, and wanted to be able to dim and tweak the intensity of each color would the best thing for me to get be buckpucks?


1 last question. with the dimmable buckpucks what is the difference in the external dimmable with pot and without pot? obviously 1 has a pot and one does not, but what exactly does the pot offer that no pot does not?

Like kcress said, you need to have the stars on a board for them to work. You can't just put them on a heatsink, or else you would short them all out. If you were wanting to mix your intensities separately it would be better to go with BuckPucks with pots installed (at least with 12 LEDs). If you were to go with 24 LEDs I would suggest 2 ELN's with one color on each.

Kits from Reefledlights.com would suit the bill if you don't want to order pieces separately

LEDsupply.com has good instructions too if you want to go with just buckpucks: http://ledsupply.com/docs/reef-tank_diy-instructions.pdf

 

[garnto]

Just an emitter is useless to you. They have to be on a board, and if you want to drive them properly they need to be on an aluminum clad board - like a star board.

Buckpucks if you have a DC power supply to use.

I believe you can buy them with the pot already attached. Costs more - more convenient. Unless... You need to have the pot farther away than their leads allow.

and what is the easiest way to feed dc to the buckpucks? From what I just read you either need a rectifier or to build a rectifier circuit.

or would there be an easier solution to being able to dim them


I really appreciate the help from all of you!!

 

[kcress]

Most people running Buck Pucks seem to be getting a particular switching power supply - that is a really great value - to power them. Look above in the summaries.

You might also search "buckpuck" as there's been a lot discussion on them. That will help you get up to speed.

 

[TheFishMan65]

The summary back on page 171 has a link to the MPJA power supply buckpuckers tend to use.

 

[westmoorenerd]

Just bumping this thread back up...

 

[staggeringwade]

I'm starting my led build this weekend.
My aquarium is 125 gallon 48"x24"x24".
I'm using 48 leds-maybe more later.
What is the spacing I should be using?
Left to Right?
Front to Back?
I set the heat sinks in 6" from the sides and front.
Using 40 degree optics on the outer edge and 80's in the middle.
I only have 2 each 10"x7" aluminum heat sinks-24 leds per heat sink. Do I need 2 more heat sinks for better spacing?
Thanks,
Wade