Hi fellow reefers
The goal of this post is to suggest a clean setup to install Kessils over a reef. Having searched the internet for quite a while, I did not find a suitable and esthetic way to install the Kessils along with moonlights over my reef.
My LED Project had the following requirements:
- Allow for remote control (Wifi)
- Allow cloud simulation, weather, lightning and moonlighting simulation
- Use 2 Kessils A360WE as the main lightning (finally leaving the T5s!!)
- Light color and intensity change throughout the day to simulate the sun
The main hardware required for this project:
- (2) Kessil A360WEs (test them when you receive them, I am sure they'll work fine [Kessil only builds quality], but better to know now then on the day when you'll install this over your reef.)
- (1) Kessil Gooseneck - yes that is correct only one!
- (1) Bluefish aquarium controller
- From LEDgroupby: (4) CREE XTE blue LEDS, (6) CREE XTE white leds, (10) Berquist thermal pads, (3) rolls of black wire, bolts and nuts for CREE leds , Coralux 5UP mounting plate for LDD drivers, (2) LDD-500H Meanwell led drivers
- From eplastics.com: (4) acrylic 5.675'' long tubes, 2¼'' OD x .25'' wall
- From mouser.com: Meanwell HLG-60H-48A constant current/voltage driver
- From home depot: (1) 4' long 0,75'' WXW aluminum tube with plastic end plug
- (2) Ajustable height light suspension kit: salvaged from previous light fixture
- (2) 1'' King chain
- (1) 9''X9''X4''H plastic box
- (2) stereo extension cables for the Kessils
Here's the finalized setup before I continue explaining my project:
First thing first, I built the DIY led control box
- Inside the 9X9 box, I installed the Coralux board which can use two 0-5 pmw input to drive the LDD drivers. One LDD driver is for the 4 blue leds, used as moonlight, the other LDD driver is or the 6 white leds used to simulate lightning
- On top of the 9X9 box, I installed the Bluefish controller and the Meanwell HLG power supply. Channel 5 and 6 of the Bluefish must be set to 0-5V inside the box before proceeding.
- Run the power from the Meanwell HLG to the Coralux
- Run a stereo cable from Bluefish Controller channel 5 and 6 (included with the Bluefish light controller) to input 2 and 4 of the Coralux controller where I suggest you install the LDD driver.
Next step is the hardest
Measure and remeasure everything because you won't have a second chance at this.
- On the 4' long aluminum tube, drill 3/4'' holes on one side only (the one with the worst marks should the aluminum tube be damaged. Make sure you have about ¼'' to ½'' left of aluminum between each holes. Those holes will be used to run the power. I actually overheated my hand drill at this step, it would be preferable to use a corded hand drill for the ¾'' holes. Use plastic sheeting underneath the tube to collect aluminum shards from all drilling operations
- Drill holes on top of the aluminum tube where the adjustable cable kit will be installed.
- Locate and mark where you want the moonlight and lightning CREE leds to be installed. Make sure you have enough space between the leds to install the nuts afterward.
- Carefully drill holes for the CREE leds. I actually placed the CREE leds on the aluminum tube, then drilled each hole. Do not glue or bolt the leds at this point
- Install the Berquist on the CREE leds located in the center of the 4' long section. Install those leds BUT do not install the leds located nead the end. In my setup, I had 2 blue CREE leds and 4 white CREE leds in the center.
- Slip the 5¾'' long acrylic tubes on the center CREE leds over the acrylic tube. The acrylic tube is used as a splash guard. It also makes the led fixture look quite better.
- Slip the 1'' King chain one foot from each end (I missed that step with my install and then had to use tye-wrap to install the Kessils
- Install the Berquist on the CREE leds located at then end of the 4' long section. In my setup, I had 1 blue CREE leds and 1 white CREE at each hand.
Next comes the wiring
It is important to know the power to the CREE leds needs to be run in series!
- Using the black wire, run from - to + on each blue led
- From the last negative of the blue leds, run a long wire inside the tube and out of it by about 8'
- From the first positive of the blue leds, run a long wire inside the tube and out of it by about 8' and 6'' (this longer wire will indicate positive!)
- attach the wire inside the aluminum tubing using the ¾'' holes
- Tag the blue led wire running out of the aluminum tubing. I also used tiny tye-wrap at this step to tie the wires together.
- Repeat all the previous steps, but for the white leds this time
Do a test run of the CREE leds by wiring the CREE led wires to the Coralux controller.
To do the test, you will need to register the Bluefish controller over the internet with and IOS or Android device. You need a WIFI for the Bluefish controller to work. This step is really easy and takes about 15 minutes to complete. IOS works fine on my Ipad and Iphone
Here are the parameters for my Bluefish controller
- Channel setup:
* Channel 1: PWM off // Kessil #1 intensity (min 15% max 100% - max could be set lower upon startup and each time new corals are introduced)
* Channel 2: PWM off // Kessil #1 color (min 15% max 80% - could be higher, I like my light a little more on the blue side)
* Channel 3: PWM off // Kessil #2 intensity (min 15% max 100% ). Time shift of 10 minutes
* Channel 4: PWM off // Kessil #2 color (min 15% max 80%)
* Channel 5: PWM on // Moonlight - blue CREE leds (min 0% max 5%)
* Channel 6: PWM on // Moonlight - white CREE leds (min 0% max 77%)
- Location: to your liking, I chose Bora Bora
- Light program
* Morning, midday and evening levels and time to your liking
* Night level at 5% (full moon)
* Special function enabled: Natural Sun power/color curve, Clouds and lunar cycle. I only turn on lightning when I want to do a storm manually.
- Special settings: lightning color is channel 6 at 77%, light easing and light preview are on.
Go in the Bluefish controller scene mode and manually test the moonlight and lightning color after running the power wire of the leds to the output 2 and 4 of the Coralux board. You can also test a storm if you want, but only the white leds should flash at this point (like a real lightning flash) . If the moonlight color triggers the lightning and vice versa, you just have to switch the wires from the stereo cable to the Coralux board. If the leds don't come on, may be you have run the wires reverse + and - (like I did at first). Disconnect the leds power wires
The only remaining step is to install this fixture over the tank
- Drill the holes in the ceiling at the required distance
- Install the light fixture adjustable height kit
- Wire the power and stereo cable for the Kessils inside the tubing
- Install the 2 remaining acrylic splash guards over the aluminum tubing and end CREE leds
- Install the Kessils on the 1'' King Chain and connect power and control cables.
- Install the light fixture over the tank
- Run all the power and stereo cable along the Kessil Gooseneck
- Connect Kessil stereo cables to the Channels 1 through 4 on the Bluefish controller
- Connect the Kessils power supplies
- Connect the blue (moonlight) and white (lightning) to the Coralux controller
You can then power everything up. I suggest protecting all power supplies with a UPS battery back up (I use the battery part of the ups only for 1 Tunze nanostream powerhead)
If all went well, you should have completed all running properly instantly. All it needs now is some tweaks in the Bluefish.
2 months after startup, algae has disappeared and my few corals are taking purple and blue colors. I can now start a full sps reef.
I must thank
- Blueword aquarium for their help configuring the Bluefish controller
- Kessil for guidance with the light setup with my size tank
- clay-boa for their technical expertise
Additional pictures (dropbox link) and information are available upon request (some details were missed to make this readable). I was limited to 5 small pictures on reefcentral, so I tried to make the best use of them as possible. I will also post a youtube video shortly for the cloud and lightning simulation!
I hope this thread will give some ideas to reefers out there.
Next post: TDS creep killer box diy project. Project completion late January 2015
Stay tuned!
The goal of this post is to suggest a clean setup to install Kessils over a reef. Having searched the internet for quite a while, I did not find a suitable and esthetic way to install the Kessils along with moonlights over my reef.
My LED Project had the following requirements:
- Allow for remote control (Wifi)
- Allow cloud simulation, weather, lightning and moonlighting simulation
- Use 2 Kessils A360WE as the main lightning (finally leaving the T5s!!)
- Light color and intensity change throughout the day to simulate the sun
The main hardware required for this project:
- (2) Kessil A360WEs (test them when you receive them, I am sure they'll work fine [Kessil only builds quality], but better to know now then on the day when you'll install this over your reef.)
- (1) Kessil Gooseneck - yes that is correct only one!
- (1) Bluefish aquarium controller
- From LEDgroupby: (4) CREE XTE blue LEDS, (6) CREE XTE white leds, (10) Berquist thermal pads, (3) rolls of black wire, bolts and nuts for CREE leds , Coralux 5UP mounting plate for LDD drivers, (2) LDD-500H Meanwell led drivers
- From eplastics.com: (4) acrylic 5.675'' long tubes, 2¼'' OD x .25'' wall
- From mouser.com: Meanwell HLG-60H-48A constant current/voltage driver
- From home depot: (1) 4' long 0,75'' WXW aluminum tube with plastic end plug
- (2) Ajustable height light suspension kit: salvaged from previous light fixture
- (2) 1'' King chain
- (1) 9''X9''X4''H plastic box
- (2) stereo extension cables for the Kessils
Here's the finalized setup before I continue explaining my project:
First thing first, I built the DIY led control box
- Inside the 9X9 box, I installed the Coralux board which can use two 0-5 pmw input to drive the LDD drivers. One LDD driver is for the 4 blue leds, used as moonlight, the other LDD driver is or the 6 white leds used to simulate lightning
- On top of the 9X9 box, I installed the Bluefish controller and the Meanwell HLG power supply. Channel 5 and 6 of the Bluefish must be set to 0-5V inside the box before proceeding.
- Run the power from the Meanwell HLG to the Coralux
- Run a stereo cable from Bluefish Controller channel 5 and 6 (included with the Bluefish light controller) to input 2 and 4 of the Coralux controller where I suggest you install the LDD driver.
Next step is the hardest
Measure and remeasure everything because you won't have a second chance at this.
- On the 4' long aluminum tube, drill 3/4'' holes on one side only (the one with the worst marks should the aluminum tube be damaged. Make sure you have about ¼'' to ½'' left of aluminum between each holes. Those holes will be used to run the power. I actually overheated my hand drill at this step, it would be preferable to use a corded hand drill for the ¾'' holes. Use plastic sheeting underneath the tube to collect aluminum shards from all drilling operations
- Drill holes on top of the aluminum tube where the adjustable cable kit will be installed.
- Locate and mark where you want the moonlight and lightning CREE leds to be installed. Make sure you have enough space between the leds to install the nuts afterward.
- Carefully drill holes for the CREE leds. I actually placed the CREE leds on the aluminum tube, then drilled each hole. Do not glue or bolt the leds at this point
- Install the Berquist on the CREE leds located in the center of the 4' long section. Install those leds BUT do not install the leds located nead the end. In my setup, I had 2 blue CREE leds and 4 white CREE leds in the center.
- Slip the 5¾'' long acrylic tubes on the center CREE leds over the acrylic tube. The acrylic tube is used as a splash guard. It also makes the led fixture look quite better.
- Slip the 1'' King chain one foot from each end (I missed that step with my install and then had to use tye-wrap to install the Kessils
- Install the Berquist on the CREE leds located at then end of the 4' long section. In my setup, I had 1 blue CREE leds and 1 white CREE at each hand.
Next comes the wiring
It is important to know the power to the CREE leds needs to be run in series!
- Using the black wire, run from - to + on each blue led
- From the last negative of the blue leds, run a long wire inside the tube and out of it by about 8'
- From the first positive of the blue leds, run a long wire inside the tube and out of it by about 8' and 6'' (this longer wire will indicate positive!)
- attach the wire inside the aluminum tubing using the ¾'' holes
- Tag the blue led wire running out of the aluminum tubing. I also used tiny tye-wrap at this step to tie the wires together.
- Repeat all the previous steps, but for the white leds this time
Do a test run of the CREE leds by wiring the CREE led wires to the Coralux controller.
To do the test, you will need to register the Bluefish controller over the internet with and IOS or Android device. You need a WIFI for the Bluefish controller to work. This step is really easy and takes about 15 minutes to complete. IOS works fine on my Ipad and Iphone
Here are the parameters for my Bluefish controller
- Channel setup:
* Channel 1: PWM off // Kessil #1 intensity (min 15% max 100% - max could be set lower upon startup and each time new corals are introduced)
* Channel 2: PWM off // Kessil #1 color (min 15% max 80% - could be higher, I like my light a little more on the blue side)
* Channel 3: PWM off // Kessil #2 intensity (min 15% max 100% ). Time shift of 10 minutes
* Channel 4: PWM off // Kessil #2 color (min 15% max 80%)
* Channel 5: PWM on // Moonlight - blue CREE leds (min 0% max 5%)
* Channel 6: PWM on // Moonlight - white CREE leds (min 0% max 77%)
- Location: to your liking, I chose Bora Bora
- Light program
* Morning, midday and evening levels and time to your liking
* Night level at 5% (full moon)
* Special function enabled: Natural Sun power/color curve, Clouds and lunar cycle. I only turn on lightning when I want to do a storm manually.
- Special settings: lightning color is channel 6 at 77%, light easing and light preview are on.
Go in the Bluefish controller scene mode and manually test the moonlight and lightning color after running the power wire of the leds to the output 2 and 4 of the Coralux board. You can also test a storm if you want, but only the white leds should flash at this point (like a real lightning flash) . If the moonlight color triggers the lightning and vice versa, you just have to switch the wires from the stereo cable to the Coralux board. If the leds don't come on, may be you have run the wires reverse + and - (like I did at first). Disconnect the leds power wires
The only remaining step is to install this fixture over the tank
- Drill the holes in the ceiling at the required distance
- Install the light fixture adjustable height kit
- Wire the power and stereo cable for the Kessils inside the tubing
- Install the 2 remaining acrylic splash guards over the aluminum tubing and end CREE leds
- Install the Kessils on the 1'' King Chain and connect power and control cables.
- Install the light fixture over the tank
- Run all the power and stereo cable along the Kessil Gooseneck
- Connect Kessil stereo cables to the Channels 1 through 4 on the Bluefish controller
- Connect the Kessils power supplies
- Connect the blue (moonlight) and white (lightning) to the Coralux controller
You can then power everything up. I suggest protecting all power supplies with a UPS battery back up (I use the battery part of the ups only for 1 Tunze nanostream powerhead)
If all went well, you should have completed all running properly instantly. All it needs now is some tweaks in the Bluefish.
2 months after startup, algae has disappeared and my few corals are taking purple and blue colors. I can now start a full sps reef.
I must thank
- Blueword aquarium for their help configuring the Bluefish controller
- Kessil for guidance with the light setup with my size tank
- clay-boa for their technical expertise
Additional pictures (dropbox link) and information are available upon request (some details were missed to make this readable). I was limited to 5 small pictures on reefcentral, so I tried to make the best use of them as possible. I will also post a youtube video shortly for the cloud and lightning simulation!
I hope this thread will give some ideas to reefers out there.
Next post: TDS creep killer box diy project. Project completion late January 2015
Stay tuned!