reefll has calculator on their website. According to it, you need 4-6 pcs.based on the version of light that you based your design on. Not sure if i can post link to this page ,but you shouldn't have problem to find it and use as a guideHow many of those reefll fixtures would be required for a 30(length) x 20(height) x 24(depth) tank ?
Another question, can I go for 24 inch height with these LED fixtures? I would love to go tall but not sure if PAR would be high enough at bottom.....If not reefll, I would be going for the DIY cree setup as I had mentioned earlier... How much PAR can I expect with 40 3w CREE and Philips leds, with 90degree lenses..?
Finally I still don't like the fact that reefll has turqoise, lime and amber in the lights... Those wavelengths are already in abundant in white leds.....Check the spectrum of Cree white below...
Even red is debatable....Only used by shallow water corals... Not sure if I got any........ If not, then adding red would be waste of power. I could even put a Warm White so that I get both 450nm and the red spectrum in a single led.... The hyper red we get is 640nm, which is as good as adding yellow or any other non usefull wavelength. According to the graph we need 680nm RED which is not available. So why bother about red... just pp in a warm white and it should take care of all non useful part of the spectrum....
Below is the spectrum usage by zooxanthalle....
Led driver selection help
- Thread starter royalbijoy
- Start date
You can post they have a sponsor forum here. You can ask more direct questions there. I use their assembly for past 1 year. Amazing color. I have a modified Jarduino controller, but waiting for the new reefll wifi controller as it is easier to program and more intuitive. Although once you dial it in why mess with it after?
royalbijoy
New member
@pwreef, am planning to use Arduino for controlling it. Came across a shield from ledsee called "Arduino 6 channel led shield 0,35-0,7-1A" which sells for 15 Euros.
@ghellin, any sources for those good bins? I am planning for rapidled for all LEDs.
I do agree with what you said about binning. Instead of using all those separate channels, just using a good bin would give me the desired color.
@All, kindly advise if the below selection looks OK. I decided to integrate best of all sides and put minimal reds and greens. There will be four clusters with colors as in the below image. Some logic I tried to incorporate is:
The warm white cluster will have a Green LED and the Neutral white cluster will have RED led.
@ghellin, any sources for those good bins? I am planning for rapidled for all LEDs.
I do agree with what you said about binning. Instead of using all those separate channels, just using a good bin would give me the desired color.
@All, kindly advise if the below selection looks OK. I decided to integrate best of all sides and put minimal reds and greens. There will be four clusters with colors as in the below image. Some logic I tried to incorporate is:
The warm white cluster will have a Green LED and the Neutral white cluster will have RED led.
royalbijoy
New member
Really!!!!! I didn't know that.. Good you told me before I purchased an arduino board. I assumed they would work. Will look for cheaper stormx controller in that case............What would be the cheapest option available? I am not a cloud burst fan nor clouds passing. Just need to assign the percentage intensity for each channel depending on time of the day...
I have never worked on arduino.... If I just purchased an arduino, can I use it as a controller for the PWM inputs of the LDD drivers? Do I need any other hardware along with it.? Being a programmer by profession, I don't think I will have problems writing the code..... Is the voltage from the PWM outputs of arduino sufficient enough for the LDD driver boards?
I have never worked on arduino.... If I just purchased an arduino, can I use it as a controller for the PWM inputs of the LDD drivers? Do I need any other hardware along with it.? Being a programmer by profession, I don't think I will have problems writing the code..... Is the voltage from the PWM outputs of arduino sufficient enough for the LDD driver boards?
The arduino is a perfect fit for either the LEDSee board or the LDDs and the programming is very simple. Plus there's a world of examples out there for free.
Have you decided how you are going to split the LEDs? The LDDs have a max of about 10 to 15 LEDs each and the LEDSees a max of 8 - 10, but this depends on the LEDs and drive current (it's actually a voltage limit per driver - i think it's 30V for the LEDSee and 52V for the LDDs).
Tim
Have you decided how you are going to split the LEDs? The LDDs have a max of about 10 to 15 LEDs each and the LEDSees a max of 8 - 10, but this depends on the LEDs and drive current (it's actually a voltage limit per driver - i think it's 30V for the LEDSee and 52V for the LDDs).
Tim
royalbijoy
New member
8 violet - LDD 700
8 white - LDD 1000
12 RB - LDD 1000
8 blue - LDD 700
4 red/green - LDD 700
That's what I have in mind.
So you are saying I just need a Arduino and the LDD to control the dimming? Will I need any shields or voltage converters for the LDD drivers to be controlled using the arduino? Any specific aduino that I should be looking for , or the mini arduino also works?
8 white - LDD 1000
12 RB - LDD 1000
8 blue - LDD 700
4 red/green - LDD 700
That's what I have in mind.
So you are saying I just need a Arduino and the LDD to control the dimming? Will I need any shields or voltage converters for the LDD drivers to be controlled using the arduino? Any specific aduino that I should be looking for , or the mini arduino also works?
The LDD takes the arduino PWM output without any conversion. The cheapo arduino (nano V3) has 6 PWM outputs and would do the job nicely if you're just after running a clock (RTC), the drivers and maybe a temp probe or two. No shields needed. If you want a screen you can get ones for a few quid which will still work with the arduino nano and still have enough pins left to connect a mini joystick for user input 
Tim
Tim
formula409
New member
I've had a heap of those ledsee boards and 2/4 are dead now, on one 2 channels bloo up and now pwm won't dim the other 4
On the other board that died I lost 3 channels down one side of the board but the other side is fine
On the other hand the 2 that are still going have been smashing it for over a year no issues
I have replaced the drivers with ldds which seem very hardy
On the other board that died I lost 3 channels down one side of the board but the other side is fine
On the other hand the 2 that are still going have been smashing it for over a year no issues
I have replaced the drivers with ldds which seem very hardy
LDDs are the better choice IMO. Can handle more LEDs, have better documentation available pre-sale (is there even a datasheet for the LEDSee ones?), and are individually plug & play, so if one fails, you just swap it. Cost a little more than the LEDSee ones, but worth it (again, IMO).
Tim
Tim
jedimasterben
LED world domination!
Ok, so I missed a bit of the party lol.
If you're wanting to stick with individual '3w' class LEDs, I'd look to do the following:
12x 4000K 85CRI Rebel ES
24x royal blue Rebel ES
6x blue Rebel or Rebel ES
6x cyan Rebel
12x lime Rebel ES
12-24x violet
I'd stress that RapidLED, while they have come a long way, still has some of the most ****-poor binning available for their LEDs, especially when it comes to Philips chips. Their violets also have relatively poor output, I would stick with your original post's choice of the 'exotic' 430nm from LGB, as they have much higher output so you're getting more for your money.
I agree with the 'don't start with garbage' posted above regarding the use of cool white as your base and making up for it with a dozen colors like commercially-available fixtures do now, but I would stress NOT to exclude lime from your array, it would be a very poor decision on your part. Lime significantly increases visible brightness, which is lacking in LED-only arrays due to their nature.
Even though you like to have a more 'natural' looking light, you will want, at minimum, double the amount of royal blue than neutral white. 1:1 would keep the color temperature very low, in the 7-8000K range. 1:2 keeps it in the 12,000K range, which IMHO is about perfect. You can fine-tune the look of the light by varying the currents to the lime and white LEDs and find what looks best to you. I personally prefer a 50/50 mix of high-CRI white and lime.
You don't need green (they just don't have a place in an LED array, especially now that lime is on the table) and deep red just isn't necessary, and typically is just distracting due to it's extremely narrow spectral output along with their typically high output.
If you're wanting to stick with individual '3w' class LEDs, I'd look to do the following:
12x 4000K 85CRI Rebel ES
24x royal blue Rebel ES
6x blue Rebel or Rebel ES
6x cyan Rebel
12x lime Rebel ES
12-24x violet
I'd stress that RapidLED, while they have come a long way, still has some of the most ****-poor binning available for their LEDs, especially when it comes to Philips chips. Their violets also have relatively poor output, I would stick with your original post's choice of the 'exotic' 430nm from LGB, as they have much higher output so you're getting more for your money.
I agree with the 'don't start with garbage' posted above regarding the use of cool white as your base and making up for it with a dozen colors like commercially-available fixtures do now, but I would stress NOT to exclude lime from your array, it would be a very poor decision on your part. Lime significantly increases visible brightness, which is lacking in LED-only arrays due to their nature.
Even though you like to have a more 'natural' looking light, you will want, at minimum, double the amount of royal blue than neutral white. 1:1 would keep the color temperature very low, in the 7-8000K range. 1:2 keeps it in the 12,000K range, which IMHO is about perfect. You can fine-tune the look of the light by varying the currents to the lime and white LEDs and find what looks best to you. I personally prefer a 50/50 mix of high-CRI white and lime.
You don't need green (they just don't have a place in an LED array, especially now that lime is on the table) and deep red just isn't necessary, and typically is just distracting due to it's extremely narrow spectral output along with their typically high output.
royalbijoy
New member
Thanks for adding in another dimension, @jedimasterben
royalbijoy
New member
finally, which would be better Neutral white or Warm white? I see conflicting reviews on both.... People say NW is achievable using RB and green and WW using RB and Red. I would use 1 Cool White and one of either WW or NW per cluster....
jedimasterben
LED world domination!
White LEDs are made using a royal blue LED as the base and then applying phosphor to them, with different mixes providing vastly different spectral characteristics. If you took one royal blue LED and one green LED it would not look anything like a neutral white LED. Even if you took a quality RGB LED and configured it to look to our eye like a neutral white LED, it would be nothing like it, as it is still simply one blue, one green, and one red LED in one package and all three still having the same short spectral half-width.
I would stress to avoid cool white altogether. They have no place over a reef tank.
ghellin
New member
Check out Cutter for your LEDs. As above binning is everything. I just picked up the nichia NW which are binned at 90+ CRI, and some Cree warm whites that are 90+ CRI. You can choose your specific bins and get the color you want.
My order shipped last Monday from Australia and I had it Wednesday afternoon. Not bad 2 day free ship from around the world.
My order shipped last Monday from Australia and I had it Wednesday afternoon. Not bad 2 day free ship from around the world.
royalbijoy
New member
Okay, I am ditching cool white altogether and replacing them with Neutral white and arm white 1:1.
Another question regarding to power supply, what params should I be looking at while buying power supply? I see dimmable and non dimmable versions. I thought the drivers were the only thing which required this dimmable and non dimmable feature. Looks like power supplies too have this feature. What is advantage of a dimmable power supply? How do I dim them? If I have a dimmable LDD driver, will I still need a dimmable power supply?
I understand I need to have a power supply with voltage higher than the total of all LEDS in a string + some buffer for drivers. Loooks like 12 is the max number of leds I will be having in a string and so 48v power supply would suffice.
44 LEDs go into the system and so >132 watts is the power rating of power supply. How much buffer will I need for this? Will a 150w power supply be enough?
Finally, Can I power each LDD in parallel from a single port of a high watt power supply? or should the power be taken from individual ports of the power supply, one for each LDD driver running a string?
Another question regarding to power supply, what params should I be looking at while buying power supply? I see dimmable and non dimmable versions. I thought the drivers were the only thing which required this dimmable and non dimmable feature. Looks like power supplies too have this feature. What is advantage of a dimmable power supply? How do I dim them? If I have a dimmable LDD driver, will I still need a dimmable power supply?
I understand I need to have a power supply with voltage higher than the total of all LEDS in a string + some buffer for drivers. Loooks like 12 is the max number of leds I will be having in a string and so 48v power supply would suffice.
44 LEDs go into the system and so >132 watts is the power rating of power supply. How much buffer will I need for this? Will a 150w power supply be enough?
Finally, Can I power each LDD in parallel from a single port of a high watt power supply? or should the power be taken from individual ports of the power supply, one for each LDD driver running a string?
The power supply needs to give at least the voltage required by the LDDs which will be the voltage of the LED string plus 3V irrespective of dimming level. So yeah, the LDDs handle all the dimming.
I'd want a bit more headroom than that in the PSU personally - I'd go for at least 20% more than I intended to use.
You can wire all LDDs from one connection, but if you do remember that all your current is going thru that one connection so make sure that you don't exceed the rating of any wire you use. If you use multiple connections you spread the load a bit.
Tim
I'd want a bit more headroom than that in the PSU personally - I'd go for at least 20% more than I intended to use.
You can wire all LDDs from one connection, but if you do remember that all your current is going thru that one connection so make sure that you don't exceed the rating of any wire you use. If you use multiple connections you spread the load a bit.
Tim
royalbijoy
New member
Where do I get the High CRI Cree LEDs from, in US?(online)
@jedimasterben, why do you suggest the lime for? Isn't that a no growth spectrum for corals?
@jedimasterben, why do you suggest the lime for? Isn't that a no growth spectrum for corals?
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jedimasterben
LED world domination!
What model? Cree has dozens of LED lines.
