Led light advice
- Thread starter tran901
- Start date
I have a DIY led setup running on my 125. It has ben up and running for a while now.
15 x 10w 20k
5 x 10w royal blue
3 x power supply/drivers
heat sinks/aluminum rails
wire
thermal epoxy
I like the color (especially at night with the blues only) and the corals seem to be enjoying it as well. Pretty good growth and no browning out or bleaching now. I had too many whites running at first, and removed several leds. This setup seems to be optimal for my tank. Took a bit of trial/error at first, but I like how it has turned out.
no heat
less power useage
no chiller
never replace (50,000 hours est use)
various color temps available
There are several DIY plans, setups, kits available. If you want a full kit, you can check out RapidLed. They sell a kit that uses 3w, but comes with everything you need. I prefer the 10w bulbs, but I also like to experiment somewhat.
If I can do it, ANYONE can do it.
15 x 10w 20k
5 x 10w royal blue
3 x power supply/drivers
heat sinks/aluminum rails
wire
thermal epoxy
I like the color (especially at night with the blues only) and the corals seem to be enjoying it as well. Pretty good growth and no browning out or bleaching now. I had too many whites running at first, and removed several leds. This setup seems to be optimal for my tank. Took a bit of trial/error at first, but I like how it has turned out.
no heat
less power useage
no chiller
never replace (50,000 hours est use)
various color temps available
There are several DIY plans, setups, kits available. If you want a full kit, you can check out RapidLed. They sell a kit that uses 3w, but comes with everything you need. I prefer the 10w bulbs, but I also like to experiment somewhat.
If I can do it, ANYONE can do it.
Daniel, look at the AI Sols. I just bought the nano version for my new tank and Jay is using the standard ones on his. They are amazing! I cant turn the whites past 60% or it is blinding and would bleach out my black sand. I think they are running about $400 and the controller is $80. Amazing little lights. No heat or evaporation. When I get the money (wife is not paying attention) I am am getting them for my reef tank too.
Yeah I had the same problem. I wanted to go with the DIY and save some money but the nano tank went in my living room. My wife vetoed anything that didnt "look good". If you have a canopy it would be a no brainer to go DIY, they are so cheap. Make sure you get a controller or at least a dimmer. Try to get blues and royal blues there is a lot of difference and together they look awesome.
I didnt use a kit. I ordered everything separately from different places. I also use 10w bulbs instead of the 3w bulbs. Less wire, time, drivers, and overall mess involved. Jabo is spot on tho. If you use a canopy then go DIY. If not, then definitely go pre-fab.
I can help you with ordering everything if you dont want to use a kit. The kit from RapidLed is pretty idiot-proof tho. I just went a different direction with my tank.
I can help you with ordering everything if you dont want to use a kit. The kit from RapidLed is pretty idiot-proof tho. I just went a different direction with my tank.
Inexplicable
New member
I have DIY setups now a couple of my tanks. I started with a 1:1 ratio of cool white to royal blue, but I lost a lot of the warmer colors, so be careful of the all in one RapidLED kits. On my 20 gallon I currently have 6 Cool White, 4 Neutral White, 2 Cool Blue, and 12 Royal Blue, and I really like the color rendering. I'm using 80 degree optics and built a custom canopy elevated 4" above the water surface. I'm running them on two strings in parallel on a dimmable Meanwell ELN-60-48P, so I can dim them to acclimate corals.
I'm getting good growth and can easily keep a clam or SPS in the sandbed at about 60% power. I have about $200 in the fixture/canopy, and I can control the lights with my Hydra Reef Controller. Manual dimming is possible with the ELN-60-48D and a potentiometer. If you had two drivers you could separately dim whites and blues, but I'm happy with mine as-is. I've seen the AI Nano, and while it was impressive, I have nearly twice as much power in my DIY fixture, and it cost less than half as much, while giving better color rendering, at least in my opinion.
There are quite a few threads here on RC about custom LED fixtures, many of which can be made by the average person with a cheap soldering iron.
I'm getting good growth and can easily keep a clam or SPS in the sandbed at about 60% power. I have about $200 in the fixture/canopy, and I can control the lights with my Hydra Reef Controller. Manual dimming is possible with the ELN-60-48D and a potentiometer. If you had two drivers you could separately dim whites and blues, but I'm happy with mine as-is. I've seen the AI Nano, and while it was impressive, I have nearly twice as much power in my DIY fixture, and it cost less than half as much, while giving better color rendering, at least in my opinion.
There are quite a few threads here on RC about custom LED fixtures, many of which can be made by the average person with a cheap soldering iron.
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Inexplicable, Can you explain the different optics. I cant seem to find a good explanation anywhere about the difference. I understand 80 degree and 40 degree. Is it just how wide the light is dispersed from the bulb? Does one make the light penetrate further?
I wish I had a canopy to try out one of these DIY builds!
I wish I had a canopy to try out one of these DIY builds!
gflat65
New member
I've been running some DIY's for about 9 months now and am happy. Over my frag tank (72x30x14), I'm running (24) 3W Cree cool whites and (24) 3W RB's on Meanwell ELN 60-48D's. I've got (4) sets of (12) on the 6"x8.5" heat sinks running nearly the length of the tank. Some dim spots around the edges, but that allows for lower light corals.
Also running (40) 3W over my wife's 75 (1:1 CB to RB). I've got it split on (2)-12"x8.5" heat sinks. Good coverage, but leaves a little more dim on the outer edges.
I'm running the whites at ~60% (softie side of frag tank), ~60% over wife's 75 (may go up a little), and ~75% over SPS side of frag tank. RB's at 100%.
The degree on optics controls the spread. Most Cree's come off the LED with 125-130 degrees of spread. The 80 deg focus to +/-40 deg off the center. Generally, the more penetration you need (deeper water column), the smaller the degree optic. I run 80's over both setups I've retro'd already and that seems to be fine.
Also running (40) 3W over my wife's 75 (1:1 CB to RB). I've got it split on (2)-12"x8.5" heat sinks. Good coverage, but leaves a little more dim on the outer edges.
I'm running the whites at ~60% (softie side of frag tank), ~60% over wife's 75 (may go up a little), and ~75% over SPS side of frag tank. RB's at 100%.
The degree on optics controls the spread. Most Cree's come off the LED with 125-130 degrees of spread. The 80 deg focus to +/-40 deg off the center. Generally, the more penetration you need (deeper water column), the smaller the degree optic. I run 80's over both setups I've retro'd already and that seems to be fine.
Inexplicable
New member
LED optics are typically rated at FWHM (full width, half maximum). Basically this means that a maximum light value is measured directly under the LED, and then measurements are progressively taken away from that point until half of the maximum value is reached. This distance corresponds to the half maximum value, and the angle of spread to reach that distance is measured. So for an 80 degree optic, at 40 degrees off center there will still be half of the maximum light intensity, with some residual light trailing off further away.
The consequence of this is that tighter optics penetrate more and have a higher intensity directly under the diode. This plays a role in mounting height for the LEDs based on distance to corals. Since my 20 gallon is relatively short, I use mainly 80 degree optics and a low mounting height (4") for a nice even coverage and no "spotlighting" effects. However, for my 120 gallon half cylinder I'm going to use 40 or 55 degree optics since the tank is so deep.
According to my research, some general rules of thumb for mounting height above water based on optics are:
No optics ...... 2-4"
80 degree ..... 4-16"
60 degree ..... 16-22"
40 degree ..... 24-26"
However, if you have a deep tank you can mount it close to get more PAR at deeper levels, but too close and you can see the individual beams of color in the water, hence the "spotlighting" effect. There is a lot of variability as LED manufacturers are constantly putting out new and better products.
