DIY LEDs - The write-up

[XSiVE]

I would definitely suggest playing with the far reaches of the tint control, but I would also like to point out some of the more subjective aspects of all of this. First of all, my LED system is different then some of the common ones here as I run 12 RB, 10 CW, and 2 NW XR-E's per fixture. Second as I pointed out above my system is fairly new and the corals haven't been under this light for a "long amount of time". Once I get my husbandry dialed in and the corals have been under consistent light for > 6 months I would like to take pictures again and compare.

yeah it hasnt been long that mine have been under LED either and they are just starting to color up nicely... the issue is I cant get the shot with the camera to prove it, or when I take the pic it looks purple instead of white. LOL.

 

[Taqpol]

I found that purple instead of white is DEFINITELY a tint as opposed to white balance issue.

 

[wardda]

OK, so for those of us that are following this I'm going to ask for someone to dumb it down and give a recommendation. For someone looking to cover a standard 55g what is the new general rule of thumb of the combo of LED's. I know this is personal preference but I'm looking for something simple like listed below with maybe some if you like more yellow use a few xya or if neutral white is now recommended or ....

12 Cree XPG's Cool White bin ?
24 Cree XRE Royal Blue bin ?

And does anyone know if there are any group buys going on now? And if not how does one go about starting one and where do you recommend buying from?

Thanks in advance there is just so much info out there, actually is there a static post anywhere that has the current recommendation or standard guidance, it seems everywhere I look there are hundreds of posts which are great for a resource but hard to locate the most current basics...

 

[TheFishMan65]

Look on page 171 and there is a summary. For a group buy ETG is probably your best bet.

36 LED would probably be good 14/22 would match the suggested 40%/60%.

[EDIT]
LED count could probably be +- 12 depending on what you want to keep light loving corals or fish only

 

[supateddy]

I've been reading through this thread (admittedly not every page, that would take a while) and have seen a bunch of people using optics to help focus the light from the LEDs. I was wondering if anyone has tried just setting the LEDs in the bottom of a T5 reflector. It would help focus the light downward, while avoiding the spotlighting effect of the optics. If you got real creative you could even use the metal reflector as a heat sink.

Any ideas? Anyone tried it? Or has it been tried and failed?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

It would help focus the light downward

Actually, it won't.

T5 lamps emit light in ALL directions, more or less equally. HP LEDs, even without optics, are highly directional - they emit light in a cone, in a single direction. A T5 reflector would do next to nothing for an HP LED, since only a very tiny portion of the light leaving the LED (like, 2 or 3 % probably) would even hit the reflector. Meanwhile, when you put a T5 lamp in a T5 reflector, probably 30 - 40% of the light leaving the lamp hits the reflector.

LED optics will only cause spotlighting if you use optics too tight for your design. If you use correct optics, you won't get that "problem." If the widest optics you can find aren't wide enough, just use bare LEDs.

 

[CJO]

The Sunset Monti was by far the hardest to photograph, but I think this is primarily due to shading. To my eyes the whole coral looks more like the the bottom, darker part of the photo where the red/orange is darker then at the top left and the polyps are more green instead of yellow/green. Can you post a photo of yours?

I'll try to get one up tomorrow.

CJ

 

[Reef_Matrix29]

Actually, it won't.

T5 lamps emit light in ALL directions, more or less equally. HP LEDs, even without optics, are highly directional - they emit light in a cone, in a single direction. A T5 reflector would do next to nothing for an HP LED, since only a very tiny portion of the light leaving the LED (like, 2 or 3 % probably) would even hit the reflector. Meanwhile, when you put a T5 lamp in a T5 reflector, probably 30 - 40% of the light leaving the lamp hits the reflector.

LED optics will only cause spotlighting if you use optics too tight for your design. If you use correct optics, you won't get that "problem." If the widest optics you can find aren't wide enough, just use bare LEDs.

+1

Also, trying to use a reflector as a heatsink is inadvisable, as the reflector is thin aluminum so that you can shape it; I can't imagine that it would dissipate too much from the LED. So you would just end up with burnt out LEDs and highly non-reflected light as der_wille pointed out.

 

[Reef_Man]

Plasma Reef Lighting

Plasma Reef Lighting

I tried to find anything on plasma in this thread but did not but certainly think this will be a popular method of lighting, albeit a bit expensive at first but like all technologies it'll come down in price as it's demanded more. Just a bit of info and not trying to sidetrack this thread, there is no sidetrack if no one makes a big deal of it. There is only this one su[plier who is making aquarium lighting as they are the only ones who have the technology to do so with, check it out........

http://www.straylightoptical.com/products.jsf

 

[TheFishMan65]

Here is a link to a plasma thread
Plasma light... the future?
IIRC, they got very inefficient as you dialed them down toward blue. That one starts at 5300k and is only 58 lumens/watt. I think that would make them 1/3 as efficient as LEDs. And as a side note at $1000 I will stick with LEDs.

I do agree it will be interesting to see where these go

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

One of my LFSs has a plasma light. It's OK. Nothing that blew me away. The thing I really don't like is that while the "dimming" alters power consumption, as with LEDs, it impacts both intensity and spectrum, unlike LEDs. There's no way to control intensity and spectrum separately.

 

[CJO]

The Sunset Monti was by far the hardest to photograph, but I think this is primarily due to shading. To my eyes the whole coral looks more like the the bottom, darker part of the photo where the red/orange is darker then at the top left and the polyps are more green instead of yellow/green. Can you post a photo of yours?

Here you go:

CJ

 

[mike_cmu04]

I am in the process of setting up my 92 gallon corner tank and was wondering how many led's it would take. I plan on keeping mainly sps.

 

[yeldarbj]

I am in the process of setting up my 92 gallon corner tank and was wondering how many led's it would take. I plan on keeping mainly sps.

I've got a 105g corner tank that I'm slowly converting from T5 to LED. I'll ultimately have about 70-80 LEDs. In the next day or so, I'll complete my 2nd phase which will result in 44 LEDs (mix of XR-E RB's, XP-G cool whites, and XR-E neutral whites) to go along with 2 - 36" T5's.

Depending on your tank dimensions and how you plan on mounting them, I would guess somewhere around 70 would be about right.

 

[Eltonka]

Im in the final part which is selecting power supplies for the buckpucks

I am going to do
(3) Luxeons I Royal Blue

 

[Eltonka]

I apologize about the previous post, some how i posted before completing it
.
I need some advice on the power supplies for the following Buck Pucks setups

I was looking at a 24v 500mA power supply or Wall wart for the BuckPuck below. Will this be ok? Any recommendations on difference power supplies or wall warts? I believe I can get lower voltage but considering on getting 2 more lights. Will it be ok at 24V in the meantime?
350mA BuckPuck External Dimming with Pot
Will run 3 Luxeon I Royal Blue 1 Watt lights

I was looking at a 24v 1.8A power supply or Wall wart for the BuckPuck below, Will that be ok?
700mA BuckPuck
will be running 5 Luxeon III White 3 Watt lights

 

[TheFishMan65]

I am not sure of the forward volage for luxeon, but 24 seems awful high. 5 luxeon at say 3.5 volts is 17.5. That means the buckpuck will drop 6.5 volts at 700ma. That seems like an wful lot which means it will get hot. The blue will drop even more voltage, but at less current.

 

[Eltonka]

So maybe should go with a 18v or 20v for the whites and a 15v for the blues
I do believe that luxeons are 3.5 forward volts

 

[TheFishMan65]

I think you will be happier with that. Also just out of curiosity why 5:3 white to royal blue? I think most poeple find they want more blue.

 

[mike_cmu04]

When using aluminum u channel what thickness do you need and does it require fans?