DIY LEDs - The write-up

[widmer]

what exactly are you trying to tell me?

LOL this was also my reaction. But yea, it sounds like an excellent application to use them, as a little UV sterilizer. Though I'm not necessarily convinced a UV sterilizer is good for much outside of curing pea green water in a FW tank, alas this is a topic for another thread...

 

[The Grim Reefer]

No water yet but have a pic of the LED's over the tank with sand and rock

 

[redhanded77]

Im thinking of building a led fixture for a 75g tank, and i was wondering if 96 leds (48 xpg white and 48 xre royal blue) setup at every 3 inches front to back and side to side would be suffecient enough to keep sps. Im not sure on what height it will be hung at, I guess it will depend on coverage and PAR numbers. What would you guys recommend?

 

[bourbeaue]

How many LEDs would you recommend for a 60X18X30 with SPS ?

thanks

 

[laverda]

well duh..
hence in the sump

Sorry, I though you meant for tank lighting as a lot of people have been asking about adding UV to their LED builds in this thread.

I do not use a UV except in my QT tank. If run a UV now and you have heat issues the UV LED's could be a big help. Instead of completely surrounding the UV bulb, you could have water on one side of the LEDs and the back open to air for cooling.

 

[TheFishMan65]

The general rule is 1 LED for 10-20 square inches of surface area. Higher density for SPS lower density for fish.

So a 75 should be fine with 43-86.
A 60x18 would need 54-108.
These are only recommendation from reading since I am still working on my rig sigh.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Has anybody tried these? Less than 1$ a watt...

http://www.satisled.com/20w-higer-power-led-445450nm-extreme-royal-blue-for-reef-lighting_p255.html

http://leddna.com/high-power-50w-white-12000k-led-lamp-40004500lm-2426v_p341.html

Very poor efficiency compared to the commonly used choices of LED. That doesn't make them "bad," just not efficient.

No water yet but have a pic of the LED's over the tank with sand and rock

Interesting - looks very pinkish. Are those colors accurate to what you see in real life?

Im thinking of building a led fixture for a 75g tank, and i was wondering if 96 leds (48 xpg white and 48 xre royal blue) setup at every 3 inches front to back and side to side would be suffecient enough to keep sps. Im not sure on what height it will be hung at, I guess it will depend on coverage and PAR numbers. What would you guys recommend?

96 of those LEDs will be A TON!!!!! on a 75g, unless you're planning on running at a really low drive current. Like, enough light that you'll sear the flesh off even the most light-demanding corals. You'd probably be better off around 48 total, not 48 of each. And if you're mixing XP-G (cool?) white with XR-E royal blue, you'll probably want more of the RBs than the whites, unless you like a very white tank.

 

[TheFishMan65]

DWZM,
"96 of those LEDs will be A TON!!!!!"
Are we changing the recommendations? A 75 is 48x18 at 48x20 then 96 would be at the high end. I also realize the XP-G are brighter and will lower this some. I am just wondering if I am out of date here.
Thanks

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

The "10 - 20 square inches per LED" rule originated after I'd done the math on all the builds I could find: large, small, intense, dim, everything in between. It was also back when XR-E were the standard. So, yeah, I suppose it is a touch out of date - or, at least, we've found an example where the extreme is pretty extreme. At the time I did that math, Soundwave's original build of 48 XR-E on a 75g was considered a little on the dim side. Today, if you put 48 LEDs on a 75g and were using XP-G for the whites, you'd probably be pretty "average" for a typical mixed reef tank. At any rate, I think 96 LEDs on a 75 is pretty extreme!

 

[Taqpol]

No water yet but have a pic of the LED's over the tank with sand and rock

Very pink. If you have photoshop, have you tried adjusting the tint as well as the white balance?

 

[TheFishMan65]

I am planning the massive post for page 200 (easy to remember). So see if you agree
XR-E is 1 for 10-20 square inches (24 blue : 24 white).
If you use XP-G then you need 1/3 fewer white for a 60/40 split (24 blue : 16 white. Blue should still be the same count I think.
So for a typical XP-G it should be 1 for every 12-24 square inches.

Anything else you think I should update?
Anyone else think I need update/add something?

 

[CJO]

I'd like to update my section somewhat. I'll try to get to it today and send you the update.

CJ

 

[DannyHennig]

Hey guys, chasing some feedback. I was about to order this:


2x 5.9-9HS-12DT Drilled and Tapped 5.9" x 9" Heat Sink for 12 LEDs
$24.00 $96.00

24x XPG-65-LENS-WHITE CREE XP-G R5 Cool White 3W LED with 65 degree White Lens $191.20

24x RB-425-CREE-LENS-BLACK CREE XR-E Royal Blue 3W LED with Black Lens $148.50

2x LPC-35-700W Mean Well LPC-35-700W constant current driver $32.00

2x LPC-60-1050 Mean Well LPC-60-1050 constant current driver $52.00

But judging by the above post, ill need a lot more blues. Using the drivers I have chosen, Im guessing my only choice is to grab another driver, heatsink and more blue leds. Im trying to keep the leds in seperate 12led fixtures to allow for flexible positioning over the tank. This is for a 3x2.5 footpring with 4x24w t5 supplmentation. In the next few months I will be upgrading to a 5x4 footprint where I will double the amount of LEDs.

Any advice?

 

[TheFishMan65]

You might consider running the XP-G on the 700 and the RB on the 1050 with a full amp. This may make up the color difference.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Rather than getting another driver and more blues, you might be able to get away with fewer cool whites and more blues. What lamps will you put in the T5 rig? That'll effect what you want to use for LEDs, as well.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Just to give you an idea I am running 52 XRE royal blues with 24 XPG Cool whites and 8 XRE warm whites all running on LPC 35-700's and that is perhaps a little more white than I would like. A friend who runs 4 overdriven T5's using 2 Blue Plus and 2 Purple plus which isn't very blue at all thinks my LED needs more blue light. Those XPG's, even driven at the same current as the XRE's really overpower them.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Very pink. If you have photoshop, have you tried adjusting the tint as well as the white balance?

Don't have shop, it isn't that pink at all. I'll have to play around and see if I can tweak the picture to make it more accurate but if you look at the color of the dead coraline on the back wall it is pretty accurate.

 

[onetrickpony]

Just to give you an idea I am running 52 XRE royal blues with 24 XPG Cool whites and 8 XRE warm whites all running on LPC 35-700's and that is perhaps a little more white than I would like. A friend who runs 4 overdriven T5's using 2 Blue Plus and 2 Purple plus which isn't very blue at all thinks my LED needs more blue light. Those XPG's, even driven at the same current as the XRE's really overpower them.

Grim,
You say your setup is a little more white than you like,
What would your compare your LEds too, 10k ?

Thanks

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Very pink. If you have photoshop, have you tried adjusting the tint as well as the white balance?

This is closer as far as showing the amount of blue. There is more yellow that this shows but with my cheesey software there is no way I can get it right. The rock looks very neutral colored. There are some rust colored areas in it that show up really well and the beige colors look right.

 

[The Grim Reefer]

Grim,
You say your setup is a little more white than you like,
What would your compare your LEds too, 10k ?

Thanks

About Phoenix 14K halidish. I would like just a little more blue but will wait until there is water in the tank to decide. I am thinking switching out maybe 4 cool whites at most, not a huge change.