LED fixture

chuy marquez

New member
I want to build a LED fixture for my tank but don't know what is best or where to start. If anyone has any ideas please let me hear them. I'm tired of halides producing so much heat. The temp rises as much as 3-4 degrees when they are on.
 
Chuy I will see if I can find the thread for you in the DIY forum and link it here. In the mean time, why don't you mount some fans on the top of your tank to blow across right under the lights. I have no problem at all with heat from the MH lights. I just have a 12vdc fan mounted on top of the tank right under each light.
:wave:
 
Chuy-- rapidleds.com has some pretty nice packages and that's where everyone seems to go. They only have Cree LEDs. They also sell the drivers, voltage thingies, heat sinks, fans etc. In essence, it's a one stop shop to get all your led build going.

The other site that I am interested in is stevesleds.com. They have complete packages for sale: LEDs, optics, drivers, wire, solder, etc. it's complete and rather good price. The downside is the LEDs themselves, they don't use Cree. I dont know what brand they use because there is another led that rivals CREE's output for less money. I wonder if this is the one they use. And no steffen it's not Chinese. Well, I take that back, everything is made in China.

Theres another website that sells everything and will post it when I find it. Also, go to the main forum RC page and go to the diy link. You will find massive amounts of information and how to build a led setup. Thats where i am at constantly since i am going to build a led fixture. Good luck. Hope this helps.
 
I swaped over to the Marineland Reef LED lights and I like them so far. The only down fall is they only have one cord so you have to switch the over to the blue only leds yourself. I have debated on cutting the cord to have to seprate the whites and blues so I can run on a timer but I will wait till the warrenty is out. The best prices I found was on pet soultions.com. I just decide I did not want all the wires from DIY LEDS.
 
I swaped over to the Marineland Reef LED lights and I like them so far. The only down fall is they only have one cord so you have to switch the over to the blue only leds yourself. I have debated on cutting the cord to have to seprate the whites and blues so I can run on a timer but I will wait till the warrenty is out. The best prices I found was on pet soultions.com. I just decide I did not want all the wires from DIY LEDS.

i think he means leds for coral use also, not just fish only display type.
 
Hey P youre right. I thought those Marineland LEDs were for FOWLRS only. Unless they did come out with a newer version.
 
3 watt. They are more powerful of course. But with 1 Watt LED's, the argument is they don't reach as far down into the tank as they should (PAR reading). Although, I have read and seen 1 Watt systems have comparable PAR readings as the 3 Watt.
 
It come out about the same price if you just buy a fixture. You really wont save money. The only up side would be that you could make it just right.
 
The new marine land LEDS will grow coral. I havnt had a problem with them at all. I replaced my metal Halids with them and everthing is doing fine. I have had to move stuff down toward the bottom of my tank at first until the coral got used to the new light. My tank is 260 gallon and I have a varitey of corals and all is well.
 
The new marine land LEDS will grow coral. I havnt had a problem with them at all. I replaced my metal Halids with them and everthing is doing fine. I have had to move stuff down toward the bottom of my tank at first until the coral got used to the new light. My tank is 260 gallon and I have a varitey of corals and all is well.

wow cool. so how many of them fixtures do you have and what size ??? also PICS PLEASE !!!!!
 
DSCF4029.jpg


I supplemented my Fluval Edge last year with a small string of LEDs, I just pulled the trigger on a heatsink, 4 royal blue crees, dimmable drivers and I'm having the guy at Aquarium Concept make me an acrylic hood


Should be sweet
 
I will put Pics out as soon as I get back to el paso my wife is maintaining my tank right now. But I have two of the 36" that exspands to 48". One for each side of my tank. It does fine I am going to put two more on later. I was just skitish of the LEDS at first but now I am a glad I did.
 
Back
Top