My LED/T5 Build with Pictures

[howyegettinon]

Hi, Thought id share my new still in progress LED/T5 build.

I have my tank about 7 months and finally decided to replace the existing T8’s with some LEDs and T5’s so I can start getting some corals and liven up the tank a little bit.

While the original build was LED only, I think I will add two 24w T5’s in also to add more light and slightly adjust the colour. Majority of the stuff came from ebay and some local shops.

Here is what I used and the pricing in case anyone is looking to go down the DIY road

I am using a total 30 mixture of Royal Blue, UV, Cool White and Warm White for the LED’s

2x Black Anodised Aluminium Heatsinks $28 for both
3x Mean Well ELN-60-48D 60W 48v Dimmable Driver $92 for the three
20x CREE XPE Royal Blue LED $33 for the lot
5x Super Actinic Violet Blue LED $10
10x CREE XPE Warm White LED $15
10x CREE XPE Cool White LED $15

Sheet of 3mm acrylic about 40euro from B&Q
The MDF and Plywood was about a 10er

 

[howyegettinon]

The issue I ran into was heat with the LED's at the moment I can only run the blue LED chain, if I turn on the rest of the LED's it gets too hot, so I am waiting for two PC fans to be delivered so i can cool the heatsinks, I will be using "Corsair AF120 Quiet Fans"

Also waiting on 3 pots to dimm the LED's, once I have all that done I will finish the paint and order the two T'5 bulbs.

I will post more pictures as I progress, here is a pic of all the lights turned on, the picture looks alot more purple/violet that it does to the eye.

The water is VERY blue with only the blues running but as soon as you turn on the rest of the light it gets washed out to being baraly visible, so I think I will go with a blue t5 and a white t5 to add a little more blue to the colour

Let me know what yous think :rollface:

What optics would yous recomend? its a 55gal Tank the LED's are about 9-10iches from the water. Was thinking of going with the 60degree ones??

 

[10reefman]

Niice job!

 

[rustyjames]

Looks great. Why do you want optics? I would think 45 leds that close to to water should be plenty of light. If you were going to hang the light 12 to 16 inches above the water I might say 80 degree optics.

 

[mcgyvr]

Are their any holes for airflow in/out of the canopy?

You should mount your fans so they are pulling in fresh air from one side and cut holes so it can blow out the other.
I would cut identical holes in each side and just mount the fans to one side.

FYI.
Using the fans to "pull" air out of the canopy is not a good idea as that air is typically tainted with salt,etc.. and can shorten the life of the fans.. Hence the suggest to have them "pull" fresh air in.


And if you run 100% you are overdriving the LEDs.. 1A MAX for the XPE.. no more.
I would recommend they stay around 700mA max.
And the "actinics" much less than that. The short wavelength will turn the leds brown quickly when running that much current.. 350mA max for those
IMO...

 

[howyegettinon]

The reason i wanted to use optics is to get the best results from the LEDs as some light would still be spilling without the optics.

At the moment I have the lid open slightly to let some fresh air in.

Regarding salt air in the canopy; its sealed from the bottom with a sheet of plexiglass to keep any water away from the LEDs.

I have the drivers for the Blues and whites running at 760mA and the 5 UV with 3 warm whites running at 650mA. The heat is down to having 15 LED on a small heatsink i think.

What i am planning to do with the two fans is to cut out a 120mm hole centre and above each heatsink and have the fans drawing cool air to keep em cool.

 

[howyegettinon]

350mA for the actinics you mean the UVs?

 

[mcgyvr]

What i am planning to do with the two fans is to cut out a 120mm hole centre and above each heatsink and have the fans drawing cool air to keep em cool.

And equally sized exhaust holes for the air to get out right?

 

[mcgyvr]

350mA for the actinics you mean the UVs?

IMO anything sub 450nm should run at a reduced current vs leds of the same series above 450nm.

 

[zachts]

Best place to mount your fans is right on top centered above the heat sink. each one blowing down onto the heatsink. then have exhaust slots in the sides somewhere. (seems counter intuitive since heat rises but is the most efficent way to set it up since you want the coldest air forced over the heatsink fins for the best cooling.) Fans really won't even need to run full power likely. If they are quiet at full speed don't worry about it. If they are a bit loud run them lower voltage or get a spread controller. It won't take much air flow to cool that setup drawing cool air in and over the heatsink.

 

[aiq25]

Are the CREE LED's from eBay (China) actual CREE LED's? I was thinking about buying some eBay because other places are just too expensive for me.

 

[perkint]

Depends on the seller, but some definitely are

Not sure if you are allowed to post links, but i tend to use 2012beautifullife...

Tim

 

[zachts]

Are the CREE LED's from eBay (China) actual CREE LED's? I was thinking about buying some eBay because other places are just too expensive for me.

Ebay is hit and or miss. you never know exactly for sure what you are getting unless you put the chip under a magnifying glass and identify the chip architecture. Course you've already bought them at that point. I would avoid ebay for something as important as the main piece of your lighting build. Sometimes you'll get what you were after at a great deal, other times it's crap.

Try Steve's Leds, He offers a budget line of the new style Semiled chips which are not as robust but still very good (lower current and a bit lower heat tolerance but still very good chips and you know what you're getting and that they were properly mounted.

 

[Saltydrip]

You need to cut a few holes up above the heat sinks. Just drill a few 1" holes in a grid above the sinks and you probably won't need the fans... Ditch the plexy as well. You honistly don't want that there.

 

[zachts]

You need to cut a few holes up above the heat sinks. Just drill a few 1" holes in a grid above the sinks and you probably won't need the fans... Ditch the plexy as well. You honistly don't want that there.

can't tell in the pics but you do need a plexi splash gaurd to protect the leds if they will be anywhere near water. if it's just on the bottom of the box I see no problems leaving it there. Just provide ventilation in the canopy for the leds.

 

[Joesvwbora]

Looks awesome

 

[cnewsome]

Looks great

 

[Saltydrip]

The LEDs are plenty far away from the water. Unless he has some serious splashing going on he would be just fine.

My concern with the plexi being on the bottom of the canopy is tgat its sealing off the top of the water from fresh air. That will increase tank temps as well as interfere with gas exchange. It wasn't about shielding the LEDs as much as letting the water breath.

 

[Dans85]

Are you sure that you need the T5s? Seems like plenty of light with only the leds.

 

[Saltydrip]

In my experience LEDs aren't quite enough. The specific coloration of LEDs tend to leave gaps in the spectrum that T5s fill in. Also LED light is so directional the undersides of corals really suffer and that creats an ugly shadow. Some people get lucky and have no problems but when I turned down my LEDs and added 2 T5s over my 75 things emediatly looked better and started growing like crazy.