Joe's DIY LED AGA MiniBow 7 nano

[RTMA]

Hey guys. I wanted to do a small scale proof of concept for the LED stuff we were talking about.

I ordered / used the following:

Stock AGA Mini Bow 7 (had from years ago)
24v 5A Power supply from Ebay
6 Cree XP-RE R2 from Deal Extreme
6 Cree Blue from Deal Extreme
3 Cree Royal Blue from LEDsupply
2 Dimmable Wired Buckpucks from LEDsupply
2 VGA coolers from Ebay with 80mm fans to server as the heatsinks.
Small syringe of Arctic Silver

My plan was to keep it as stock as possible. Hiding everything inside the lamp hood. I also wanted to be able to disassemble the Crees if I ever needed to replace or use them for another build. I also wanted to use the stock holes and on off switch

Here are some pictures.

Heatsinks w/ fans

Fan Removed

Drilled for Screws. I used a box of 8-32 sheet metal screws. With aluminum so thin It worked very well. I also used nylon washers because the screw heads were pretty large.

Here is one of the heatsinks wired to test the WG Crees. I used some 220 grit sandpaper to clean the oxidation off the pads before soldering.

Here are both wired up.

Here they are running on top of the glass shield of the Minibow

What they look like from inside the Minibow.

Top down, notice the two pentiometers mounted on the left side for color adjustment.

Hood lifted.

No water... Penguin 150 & Remora Nano skimmer installed. I used the Remora so I could also hid the 50 watt Stealth heater inside the water return chamber. Works pretty well, as long as there is power.

To be continued....

 

[RTMA]

Here is water with rock from my 15 gallon QT tank. I went with course agro sand.

Added my orange plate, Xenia rock and Bubbletip. Plan on getting a small pair of B&W or Ocelleris for the Bubble tip.

Things to note.

These LEDS are very bright. The adjustable POTS are fantastic. The color can be tweaked perfectly. The LEDsupply Royal Blues and regular Blues from Dealextreme both do a wonderful job of the blue spectrum. It is VERY hard to tell the difference. The shimmer effect is much better than my halides on my 75. The shimmer is unbelievable. Also love how there is very little light spill other than in the tank when the cover is all the way on.

Up next - Add a 40mm to the side to draw in more cool air. The sinks do get hot when on full power, but not hot enough to burn. You can still touch them , but I'd like to get it a little cooler. Need to do some cable management. There is plenty of room in the hood, just need to make it "look" neater.

I think next time, or maybe a little later I will separate the blues and whites so I can use two timers to get a dawn/ dusk effect. now to stash some cash for the Arduino....

Sorry for the grainy photos, they were taken with my Iphone.

 

[Kdocimo90]

looks great joe. I'm thinking I'll set something like this up when I move on campus up at Storrs.

 

[RTMA]

looks great joe.

Thanks Kev.

...when I move on campus up at Storrs.

4 Awesome years of my life spent there...of course it is totally different now. I was there during the plastic coated library years, 92-96. They Build a library and not factor in the weight of the books...rofl.


Here is a video of the tank while adjusting the leds...

<embed width="440" height="420" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://v5.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=ftppt&s=5">

 

[terahz]

Joe, well done! See, I told you it was easy

From the photos I can't tell if there is a splash guard in place. Make sure to add one if there isn't. And yes do put a fan to move the air out of the hood, you will keep the LEDs much cooler that way (even without fans on the heatsinks).

If you want more shimmer, just point the powerhead at the surface and watch

What current are the buckpucks and how much are they dimmed? 12 LEDs for 7G tank is quite a lot, you probably can remove one of the fixtures and go by with only 6.

 

[RTMA]

Joe, well done! See, I told you it was easy

From the photos I can't tell if there is a splash guard in place. Make sure to add one if there isn't. And yes do put a fan to move the air out of the hood, you will keep the LEDs much cooler that way (even without fans on the heatsinks).

Yep - it has glass splash guard built into the cover. I just sit the leds onto of it. I'll make some feet for it so that it sits on the feat and not the actual led domes.

I have some 40mm fans I am gonna pull out of an old hard drive cooler that should work great.

If you want more shimmer, just point the powerhead at the surface and watch

Thats why the shimmer is awesome, it is right above the HOB Penguin 150. Crazy surface agitation.

What current are the buckpucks and how much are they dimmed? 12 LEDs for 7G tank is quite a lot, you probably can remove one of the fixtures and go by with only 6.

Blues are 700ma and the Whites are 1000ma. I don't know the actual current as I don't have a multimeter that works. I got out my old radio shack digital multimeter I used to use when I raced R/C cars 20 years ago, but alas its broken.

I have no way of telling what % are dimmed, I just use the potentiometer until it looks good.

I'll have to wait until I get the Arduino stuff going to really tell

 

[RTMA]

Here are some updated pics of the new 40mm fans installed in the hood. I added a small toggle switch to turn on or off the fans. 1.5" holesaw does the trick for these fans.

Finished and mounted. Chrome grills for these fans is on its way too.

I should have bought the two little knobs for the potentiometers, would have looked better.


Also the MJ900 intake ate my Bubble tip... I'm gonna have to rethink the Remora nano skimmer or do a fuge on the back. It's great but a bit large for this sized aquarium. Anyone try one of those skilters? I would rather keep the skimming.

 

[terahz]

Sorry about the Bubble tip... wait, you had an anemone in a 7G tank? Isn't that too small ?

I was reading abut the Remora nano for a very long time. It has mixed to good reviews. I was about to get it, when i decided to go with the eshopps in-sump skimmer (since I made my own fuge/sump). They have HOB models and are the same price as the Remora, but rated for 75 - 100G.

 

[RTMA]

lol I did. It would have been fine with a clown or two. Those LEDS are certainly enough of light.

The Remora has performed very well for me actually. It was great on my 15. But the 7 is a bit small for the unsightly mj 900. I'd like a HOB with a built in pump like the nano skimmer from rio. I'm also contemplating building a HOB fuge where I could hang the remora on. Or I could just remove it and do weekly WCs...

 

[tank o tang]

Looks great. Keep us updated on the progress.

 

[Obi-dad]

Looks great. I had the same thing happen to a bubble tip many years ago (quite the mess). I ended up putting sponge filters on the powerhead intakes to prevent them from getting sucked in - they can wander occasionally, and float about the tank.

 

[fiddly_foo]

Nice looking nano you got there Ilove the diiferent colors you can get out of those led's from 6.5k to 22k nice can't wait to see it with some corals...

 

[RTMA]

Here are some updated shots.

FTS

Lower half

PPE, Maxima & Pinks

More Zoas - Purple Death (thanks Bobby) Reds with green mouths, Goochers (closed), Devil
's Armor in back and baby PPE on tile.

More Zoas - unamed I think.

Jolly Green Giant pally

 

[RTMA]

Removed the Remora and used a older Koralia 1. Weekly 2 gallon water changes should suffice.

 

[scolley]

Great bit of DIY work Joe! Looks really nice, and love the pots. Oh, yea.. and thanks for that video. Good demonstration of the range of light.

But since this looks so nice, I've gotta ask... were you going to tell us what it set you back? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[RTMA]

Sure, I'll itemize everything and post it tomorrow. Ballpark was around 150 or so.

 

[RTMA]

Broken down and LEDs re-purposed.

 

[fiddly_foo]

Like that frag tank takes uo no space and gets the job done very well.. COOL stuff.... Brian