Zackisback
New member
I'm new to the hobby and I seen one of these multi chip and I think that's what I'm go to with have no what I should get thou for a 40 gallon breeder any suggestions how many what kind where to buy the stuff to make them
Minimalistic multichip DIY LED build
- Thread starter maglofster
- Start date
TropTrea
New member
For a 40 gallon breeder you have a completly different situation your tank is shallow only 16 inches tall and 36" wide. With one light source you would have to basicly raise it fairly high to get a good even light distribution and you can still see some drastic shadows. I personly would recommend at least 3 light sources for tank. Meaning either 3 or more multichips or other LED's.
Where the multi chip is realy nice is when you a tank that is taller than 24" and the taller the better. The high powered multi chips have a main advangtage that they can produce enough light to penetrate deep a tank. For your 40 gallon you only need between 75 and 120 total watts of LED's depending on what corals you want to keep and how high you want to put your lights.
Yes it can be done with a pair of 60 Watt multichips but I don't think you would get the benifits in comparison to the extra cost. Going with 3 multichips you would want something under 50 Watts per unit. With the newer 5 Watt and 10 Watt single chips I think would your best bet for something this shallow.
Now do not get me wrong I have seen some frag tanks with a single light 16" above the tank that did look good. But do you want the light that high?
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clownin about
New member
Howdy folks, I'm building a smaller reef than my current 30" tall 120gal with mostly softies but there is some SPS & I need some multichip advice. The new tank dimensions are as follows: 36Lx26Wx18H (inches).
I am currently using an MH/T5 combo but I'd like to try a multichip this time.
Should I go with 1x50W, 2x50W or 1x100W (or??) & what would be the best driver(s)? I don't think I need dimmers. I was also thinking of adding a couple of royal blues for evening lighting. I bought a used Scythe CPU cooler for the LED's (see pic).
Any ideas for an elegant means of hanging it above the tank? I cant put holes in my ceiling/wall so a freestanding stand or one mounted to the tank stand would be ideal. Something like a dentist's exam lamp stand would be cool, but how could one build an articulating stand like that with standard hardware store supplies?
I am currently using an MH/T5 combo but I'd like to try a multichip this time.
Should I go with 1x50W, 2x50W or 1x100W (or??) & what would be the best driver(s)? I don't think I need dimmers. I was also thinking of adding a couple of royal blues for evening lighting. I bought a used Scythe CPU cooler for the LED's (see pic).
Any ideas for an elegant means of hanging it above the tank? I cant put holes in my ceiling/wall so a freestanding stand or one mounted to the tank stand would be ideal. Something like a dentist's exam lamp stand would be cool, but how could one build an articulating stand like that with standard hardware store supplies?
TropTrea
New member
LPF-25D-12 from meanwell.
It is an adjustable Current driver can be set anywhere from 0 to 2.1 Amps with a simple resistor added on. The max voltage is 12 Volts. There are no preset Current drivers at 2.0 Amps presently in the lower power ranges. The preset drivers are dest at a max of 1400ma. which would gove you roughly 70% of the power for your chip.
TropTrea
New member
You again have a long wide and shallow tank. To get a good coverage of the entire tank one light would have to be roughly 18" or more above the tank. With two units you would have to be roughly 18" above the tank. To get even coverage rather than one or two beams of light. With that height above the tank you would also want to shield the viewer from being able to look directly into the LED's.
I personaly would look at 4 light sources and with the mult chips at even 50 Watts it would be very bright. But with adkustable drivers you could easily bring the light level down to a level you are happy with.
Holy smokes. I felt like I came into this thread with a fair understanding of what LED I wanted. After an hour or two of reading I'm not even sure what my name is anymore.
I have a large tank, 72x32x32. It will be heavily dominated by sps. I can go a max of lets say 22" above the water line before I hit ceiling.
I was going to go with 118 3w cree leds. But wondering if a couple of these 100w dreamchips would be better?
I found this link http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...ion-for-marine-tank-for/903774_740228858.html
Says it come with a dimming ballast too, but I am really unsure what it all means.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I feel like I should go and get my electronics tech certificate, lol.
I have a large tank, 72x32x32. It will be heavily dominated by sps. I can go a max of lets say 22" above the water line before I hit ceiling.
I was going to go with 118 3w cree leds. But wondering if a couple of these 100w dreamchips would be better?
I found this link http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...ion-for-marine-tank-for/903774_740228858.html
Says it come with a dimming ballast too, but I am really unsure what it all means.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I feel like I should go and get my electronics tech certificate, lol.
For a lot of good info on drivers for any led's read this thread. I followed the thread you on from the start,...good education on led's. Now for the powering of them read ALL of the LDD thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2222702
TropTrea
New member
There are benifits to both the multi 3 watt and the high powered 100 Watt LED's. In my mind with a 24" high tank it is a toss up and presonal prefernece is the big dividing point. If your tank is less than 24" tall the 3 to 10 watt CREE LEds have the advantage. But your tank being 32" tall gives the advantage to the 100 watt LED's to get some good penetration.
Another factor that can be considered is mixing the two. For a 72" long tank you could have three 100 watt multichips with a Dozen smaller chips fo fill in and give a dawn to dusk effect.
banditpowdercoat
New member
Well, Made it to page 115 untill I had to post LOL. I got some 60W(or70W) Brigelux chips a yr and a half ago from a bud at work here who went into importing and selling industrial LED lights. Presently running them no lens's, Didnt even know they existed untill this theread LOL But tank is 60x24x24 Softies and clams. 3 Multichips running at 50W, and 18 Cree Royal Blue No Lenses. I housed in a 3' fixture with custom Parabola Hammertone 95% reflective Alum reflector. I am going dimmable, and purchased another 12 RB Cree's and couple Meanwell dimmable drivers and 60 deg Lenses for All Cree's and the Chips from RapidLED, Then I found this thread.
I'm wondering How do you think this will look on my tank? I like a higher K look when having MH More blue. And I LOVE the POP the corals have when just the RB Crees are on.
Here's a FTS 3 Multichips and 18 RB Crees The 3 headsinks are from 15HP VFD Drives from work here, Great cooling But as you can see, It's reddish right now. I have mapped out the chip and placement of up to 14 CREE on the 3 heatsinks. I plan on making new lights from just those with fans on them in a open top canopy. Present, the HS never get over 95F with that fan blowing across them
BUT, After reading this thread, what would you suggest? I'm liking some of the Pendant style units being shown here with Zalmann Coolers.
What, IF I went Multi Chip, would be good for my tank? I would prob like to add RB Crees too though, I do use them for sunrise/sunset and love the Zoa's Explosion of color
I'm wondering How do you think this will look on my tank? I like a higher K look when having MH More blue. And I LOVE the POP the corals have when just the RB Crees are on.
Here's a FTS 3 Multichips and 18 RB Crees The 3 headsinks are from 15HP VFD Drives from work here, Great cooling But as you can see, It's reddish right now. I have mapped out the chip and placement of up to 14 CREE on the 3 heatsinks. I plan on making new lights from just those with fans on them in a open top canopy. Present, the HS never get over 95F with that fan blowing across them
BUT, After reading this thread, what would you suggest? I'm liking some of the Pendant style units being shown here with Zalmann Coolers.
What, IF I went Multi Chip, would be good for my tank? I would prob like to add RB Crees too though, I do use them for sunrise/sunset and love the Zoa's Explosion of color
TropTrea
New member
Color choice is something that is extremly personal. For more color pop I would increase the ration of Blue. But keep in mind that any people se the red in Royal Blues and do not see the red in True Blue Chips. The Cree Blues and Royal Blues come in Various batch numbers with different wavelenghts. Mailnly the Royal Blues range from 440 nm to 460 nm and the true blues range from 455nm to 470 nm. The 460 nm is thought to be the purest blue with anything below it moving to violet. So selection of chip by batch number if possible from your suppier could help you.
While I'm not a multichip fanatic I have through the years moved to blue and bluer tank. For some reason I get a combo I like because it has more florescent snap then later start looking for even more. With individual chips I find it easier to simply change 2 chips to change my color balance. With your combination of multichips and Royal Blues it will be a matter of just picking the right number of RB or TB to make your eye happy.
Question, I'm looking at some optics, and they all seem to say they can adjust to different angles. If you have a reflector attached to the led, how do you adjust the lens to get different angles, and how do you figure the angle you have it set to? do you measure the light circle say on the floor at a given height? Thank you for any input.---Rick
jsjonesrdh
New member
Typically you don't adjust the lens itself, you can make some adjustments by varying the height like you said. The angles for the lenses are listed and you can find the diameter of the bottom cone at your anticipated height to the bottom of the tank
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
Thanks for the reply. The lenses I see for sale say for example, adjustable from 10 to 90 degrees. I have read if you adjust the distance between the led and lens, it would change the degree angle. The part I don't understand is, if you attach a reflector to the led, I thought you then attached the lens to the reflector. How do you adjust the distance between the lens and led if the lens is glued to the reflector?
mr.wilson
.Registered Member
I have not seen adjustable lenses like you describe (10-90˚). If you move place the lens at the default location, against the reflector, it will give you the preset angle, let's say 90˚ for example. If you moved the lens away from the reflector, it would focus the beam more (smaller footprint), but I can't realistically see getting a 10˚ angle out of it. You would have to build a cylinder for the lens to travel in so light didn't leak out of the sides.
Dome lenses are cheap, so you can buy some 60, 90 or 120 lenses and decide which one is best for your application... or you can read through this thread closer and see what other people are using for tanks similar to yours. Most of the builds here are small tanks that are only 20" tall, so often lenses are not even needed, while a 3' deep tank will likely need 60˚ lenses. The footprint of the tank (coverage) also comes into play, as well as the type of corals you want to keep and intensity of the chis themselves.
You will find everything between 5w - 300w multichips so lens selection is very specific to intensity and coverage. Sometimes you are better to use a smaller chip with a tighter lens, and other times you go with a higher wattage and wider lens.
It's a good idea to use some kind of lens as it protects the multichip and keeps heat away from the water.
Dome lenses are cheap, so you can buy some 60, 90 or 120 lenses and decide which one is best for your application... or you can read through this thread closer and see what other people are using for tanks similar to yours. Most of the builds here are small tanks that are only 20" tall, so often lenses are not even needed, while a 3' deep tank will likely need 60˚ lenses. The footprint of the tank (coverage) also comes into play, as well as the type of corals you want to keep and intensity of the chis themselves.
You will find everything between 5w - 300w multichips so lens selection is very specific to intensity and coverage. Sometimes you are better to use a smaller chip with a tighter lens, and other times you go with a higher wattage and wider lens.
It's a good idea to use some kind of lens as it protects the multichip and keeps heat away from the water.
Hi Mr.Wilson, I think the lenses I'm looking at might be called dome lenses. Here is what I'm looking at. http://www.satisled.com/optical-glass-lenses-for-power-led-spotlight-1090-degree-adjustable-100mm_p321.html
I don't see how you would adjust it once its attached to a reflector. The seller shows reflectors to go with their lenses, but I don't understand how you would adjust the angle to somewhere between 10 and 90 degrees? Maybe I'm not understanding the meaning of their listing?
I don't see how you would adjust it once its attached to a reflector. The seller shows reflectors to go with their lenses, but I don't understand how you would adjust the angle to somewhere between 10 and 90 degrees? Maybe I'm not understanding the meaning of their listing?
mr.wilson
.Registered Member
I think it's a bad translation. They mean you can order them from 10-90˚. While you could change the distance from the chip to the lens to narrow the beam in theory, it isn't practical.
The Blue Moon Aquatics multichip has an adjustable lens, but it doesn't have a housing to stop light from shooting out the sides before it reaches the lens.
http://www.bluemoonaquatics.com/BMA_P100.php
The Blue Moon Aquatics multichip has an adjustable lens, but it doesn't have a housing to stop light from shooting out the sides before it reaches the lens.
http://www.bluemoonaquatics.com/BMA_P100.php
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mr.wilson
.Registered Member
If you look at the bluemoon link I posted, you can see how they did it. I've seen these lights in person and there is a lot of uplight reflected off of the back of the lens and spilling directly out of the side of the reflector.
You would have to build a tube like what you would find with a telephoto lens, as it is the same principal. It's a lot more simple and compact to just change fixed dome lenses, especially with the low cost.
You would have to build a tube like what you would find with a telephoto lens, as it is the same principal. It's a lot more simple and compact to just change fixed dome lenses, especially with the low cost.
