Introduction
Hi guys! So I'm going to my experience building a LED light unit for my 110G Juwel freshwater tank. I was going to wait until it was all finished and post a full build log but I am starting to get antsy
Going to post what I finished so far and what the end plan is, will update the post as the build goes along. There has already been a considerable amount of changes from the original plan and it also got a bit more expensive than expected but hopefully it will end up being a good light unit though and with some more blues maybe even reef ready for the future.
Why?
Because I want to!
And I was feeling that the unit that comes with the Juwel tank (T5 4 x 54W) was a bit on the weak side for my taste. Plus the unit uses a custom length for the tubes which limits the choice of tubes somewhat. I think most would argue that the light should be enough for the tank and I am aware of this. Still I feel that it is a bit lacking on the substrate and growing carpet plants is somewhat of a pain, especially after I added a lot of driftwood to the tank that don't reflect much light and darkens the water somewhat.
Why LEDS
Originally I just planned to add some more T5 tubes but the stock light units takes a lot of space and I could not fit any more in there in a good way, also though about MH but I don't want anything above the tank spreading light and I would prefer a closed tank, got three jumpy cats and a noise sensitive girlfriend (and I got noise allergy myself).
So I turned my attention to LEDs and got hooked the more I read about it. Somewhat of a pain to get into but it is starting to sink in now but for from an expert of course.
The color control and dimming with a controller was also something that really appealed to my inner tech-nerd.
Goals
Really strong light
Nice finish on the build
Low noise
As little tech visible as possible
Dimmable (the more functions the better)
Should fit the tank design and not draw attention away from the tank itself
Startup phase
I don't know how many papers I have written on or how many times I have changed my mind but it is a lot!
I think I have gone through each and every premade fixture there is. From the most expensive to the half DIY setups. They were either too expensive, for reefs, weak or too ugly so I decided/realized I will have to do it myself. I was originally going to go with a makersled heat sink even though it was silver colored. But I could not get an exact length cut and the shipping would have been monstrous.
Then by chance when doing some googling on LED drivers I stumbled upon a thread at reefcentral where O2Surplus was building a LED unit and was using Bridgelux Vero leds and I was hooked in a second. Not only that but he had also built his own LED driver boards which I found totally awesome.
Decisions made
After reading through O2Surplus thread and creating a thread or two here on the plantedtank I finally decided, big thanks to O2surplus, gus6464 and jeffkrol for some really valuable input and ideas. Without them I most likely would have skipped the project all together.
Parts used
Heat sink (Black anodized) from Birmingham Aluminum UK. Measuring 1490x250x80 (mm)
Bluefish LED Controller
3 LED driver boards from O2Surplus
6 Bridgelux Vero 18, 5600K, 90 CRI, 31W
4 Bridgelux Vero 18, 3000K, 97 CRI, 31W
12 Philips Luxeon ES True Cool BLUE 3 Watt
12 Philips Luxeon ES Deep Red 3 Watt LEDs
12 Philips Luxeon ES Cyan 3 Watt LEDs
12 Philips Luxeon ES Lime 3 Watt LEDs
6 Exotic Hyper Violet LED - 430nm
6 Exotic True Violet LED - 405nm
clay-boa PSU, 500W, 10,4A (Received broken)
MeanWell RSP500-48, 500W, 10,4A (Replaced the above one)
MeanWell SE350-48, 350W, 7,3A
HTPC Case for the components
Mixed Wiring 0,25 mm2 "“ 0,75 mm2
Control cable 0,25 mm2 (34 leads)
D-Sub connectors 37 pin
2 VIP Switches
Small electronic box for the heat sink (to house the d-sub)
80 mm Fan
Nuts and bolts
Thermal Paste
Performance
So this will yield 526 Watts of LED light which I think most would consider insane. Putting this down in the tank would result in a disaster so I am aware of that, no worries!
I have oversized it just for the simple reason that I do not want to run the stuff near its max hoping this will result in it running a lot cooler, reducing noise and enhancing lifetime.
For those not familiar with the Bluefish controller, it has 6 PWM channels, WIFI, weather simulation and dimming support. The Veros will go on one channel and then one channel each for the different color-leds (the violet ones will be on the same channel).
The 500 watt psu will supply the Veros with power and the 350 watt PSU will supply the color leds.
3 of O2surplus boards will be driving the whole show (15 drivers total), each Vero will be needing a separate driver.
Building (assembly)
So the first orders arrived *yay* \o/
The MeanWell SE350-48 PSU and the clay-boa 500 Watt PSU
The Bluefish LED Controller did not expect it to be so small for some reason.
All the LEDS, white round ones are the Vero 18s and then the colored ones are on the stars. The connector on the upper right will be attached to the box for the mains in. Black box underneath it is a 48 to 5Volt transformer for the fan. Underneath that is the EZ cables for the Veros no need to solder on the Veros themselves, the cables will be soldered though.
The Veros again, to the left 5600K ones and to the right the four 3000K ones.
Some mixed colored leds, sorted.
And the Violet ones.
Closer look on the mystery box and connector. Also some of the lenses I ordered to the left (not sure if I will use any though).
Here is the HTPC box (Silverstone Milo ml04b) that will be used to house the PSUs, Controller and Driver boards. Just to keep it neat and tidy. I will be using a D-Sub connector so the LED unit can easily be detached if it or the electronics box needs some work done to it. Stripped all of stuff inside the box and turned it into an empty shell. The box will be standing vertical inside the cabinet with the underside towards the stands sidewall and the meshed part towards the wall.
Kitten Luna helps out with the box
Kitten Juno also very helpful
Hi guys! So I'm going to my experience building a LED light unit for my 110G Juwel freshwater tank. I was going to wait until it was all finished and post a full build log but I am starting to get antsy
Going to post what I finished so far and what the end plan is, will update the post as the build goes along. There has already been a considerable amount of changes from the original plan and it also got a bit more expensive than expected but hopefully it will end up being a good light unit though and with some more blues maybe even reef ready for the future.
Why?
Because I want to!
And I was feeling that the unit that comes with the Juwel tank (T5 4 x 54W) was a bit on the weak side for my taste. Plus the unit uses a custom length for the tubes which limits the choice of tubes somewhat. I think most would argue that the light should be enough for the tank and I am aware of this. Still I feel that it is a bit lacking on the substrate and growing carpet plants is somewhat of a pain, especially after I added a lot of driftwood to the tank that don't reflect much light and darkens the water somewhat.
Why LEDS
Originally I just planned to add some more T5 tubes but the stock light units takes a lot of space and I could not fit any more in there in a good way, also though about MH but I don't want anything above the tank spreading light and I would prefer a closed tank, got three jumpy cats and a noise sensitive girlfriend (and I got noise allergy myself).
So I turned my attention to LEDs and got hooked the more I read about it. Somewhat of a pain to get into but it is starting to sink in now but for from an expert of course.
The color control and dimming with a controller was also something that really appealed to my inner tech-nerd.
Goals
Really strong light
Nice finish on the build
Low noise
As little tech visible as possible
Dimmable (the more functions the better)
Should fit the tank design and not draw attention away from the tank itself
Startup phase
I don't know how many papers I have written on or how many times I have changed my mind but it is a lot!
I think I have gone through each and every premade fixture there is. From the most expensive to the half DIY setups. They were either too expensive, for reefs, weak or too ugly so I decided/realized I will have to do it myself. I was originally going to go with a makersled heat sink even though it was silver colored. But I could not get an exact length cut and the shipping would have been monstrous.
Then by chance when doing some googling on LED drivers I stumbled upon a thread at reefcentral where O2Surplus was building a LED unit and was using Bridgelux Vero leds and I was hooked in a second. Not only that but he had also built his own LED driver boards which I found totally awesome.
Decisions made
After reading through O2Surplus thread and creating a thread or two here on the plantedtank I finally decided, big thanks to O2surplus, gus6464 and jeffkrol for some really valuable input and ideas. Without them I most likely would have skipped the project all together.
Parts used
Heat sink (Black anodized) from Birmingham Aluminum UK. Measuring 1490x250x80 (mm)
Bluefish LED Controller
3 LED driver boards from O2Surplus
6 Bridgelux Vero 18, 5600K, 90 CRI, 31W
4 Bridgelux Vero 18, 3000K, 97 CRI, 31W
12 Philips Luxeon ES True Cool BLUE 3 Watt
12 Philips Luxeon ES Deep Red 3 Watt LEDs
12 Philips Luxeon ES Cyan 3 Watt LEDs
12 Philips Luxeon ES Lime 3 Watt LEDs
6 Exotic Hyper Violet LED - 430nm
6 Exotic True Violet LED - 405nm
clay-boa PSU, 500W, 10,4A (Received broken)
MeanWell RSP500-48, 500W, 10,4A (Replaced the above one)
MeanWell SE350-48, 350W, 7,3A
HTPC Case for the components
Mixed Wiring 0,25 mm2 "“ 0,75 mm2
Control cable 0,25 mm2 (34 leads)
D-Sub connectors 37 pin
2 VIP Switches
Small electronic box for the heat sink (to house the d-sub)
80 mm Fan
Nuts and bolts
Thermal Paste
Performance
So this will yield 526 Watts of LED light which I think most would consider insane. Putting this down in the tank would result in a disaster so I am aware of that, no worries!
I have oversized it just for the simple reason that I do not want to run the stuff near its max hoping this will result in it running a lot cooler, reducing noise and enhancing lifetime.
For those not familiar with the Bluefish controller, it has 6 PWM channels, WIFI, weather simulation and dimming support. The Veros will go on one channel and then one channel each for the different color-leds (the violet ones will be on the same channel).
The 500 watt psu will supply the Veros with power and the 350 watt PSU will supply the color leds.
3 of O2surplus boards will be driving the whole show (15 drivers total), each Vero will be needing a separate driver.
Building (assembly)
So the first orders arrived *yay* \o/
The MeanWell SE350-48 PSU and the clay-boa 500 Watt PSU
The Bluefish LED Controller did not expect it to be so small for some reason.
All the LEDS, white round ones are the Vero 18s and then the colored ones are on the stars. The connector on the upper right will be attached to the box for the mains in. Black box underneath it is a 48 to 5Volt transformer for the fan. Underneath that is the EZ cables for the Veros no need to solder on the Veros themselves, the cables will be soldered though.
The Veros again, to the left 5600K ones and to the right the four 3000K ones.
Some mixed colored leds, sorted.
And the Violet ones.
Closer look on the mystery box and connector. Also some of the lenses I ordered to the left (not sure if I will use any though).
Here is the HTPC box (Silverstone Milo ml04b) that will be used to house the PSUs, Controller and Driver boards. Just to keep it neat and tidy. I will be using a D-Sub connector so the LED unit can easily be detached if it or the electronics box needs some work done to it. Stripped all of stuff inside the box and turned it into an empty shell. The box will be standing vertical inside the cabinet with the underside towards the stands sidewall and the meshed part towards the wall.
Kitten Luna helps out with the box
Kitten Juno also very helpful
