Smoothdog's Multichip LED build

[smoothdog]

This really seems like the way to go for LEDs. What would you recommend for a 6 foot 125 gallon? I plan on keeping some SPS and clams at the bottom. Any input would be appreciated.

Is that tank 24" tall? If so, I think you would be good with 3 100w white and 6 30w or 50w blues, depending on how much blue you like (2 blues flanking each white). With a 90deg lens on the whites they cover about 26 in at the surface at 15" high over the surface. If you set the spread right you can use 60deg optics on the blues to get more intensity from less wattage.

awesome thanks smoothdog.
I want to get maximum bang for buck and dont want to waste. for me buying a 100W chip and only using 50% is not a viable option.
Can you please pm me the link to from whom you bought the chips and drivers? I would really appreciate it.

I got my chips off of ebay. I'll send you the sellers usernames and a link to where I bought my drivers.

Would you say the color of the 20k LED is like a 10K halide or maybe even a little higher?
-J

Yeah, I'd say close to a 10-12k halide. I don't know if leds 'burn in' like halides, but mine seem to have gotten whiter since they've been running for a bit now, of course that could just be me getting used to the change in color, or maybe even that I changed out my very old carbon and pulled out some discoloration in the water.

 

[ziyaadb]

Fantastic thanks mate

 

[firefightered66]

Smoothdog, How are you still likeing your lights? Any problems with the coral? Have you done any changes?

 

[smoothdog]

Love 'em! No problems I've noticed, I'd even say everything looks like it's doing better. The only thing I'd possibly change is using 20w blues and dimming them a bit so they don't run at 100%. That said, the 10w ones were only $5 each so I'll let them go and see how long they last and decide if and when they burn out if it's worth it to upgrade the drivers or just replace them if they burn out.

 

[toromp]

I have thought of doing a build like this, but with MH as well.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

[Damon.Webb22]

Hijacking your idea!!! How many LEDs would I need for a 40g breeder?

 

[smoothdog]

LOL, it wasn't really my idea, but you are more than welcome to it. The 100w, chip was really overkill for my 29g tank, I'm only running it at 35W. It was really more of an experiment. On a 40 breeder I'd do 2 50W white multichips and flank each with 2 20W blues. Use dimmable drivers on each color to dial in the color you like.

 

[Damon.Webb22]

LOL, it wasn't really my idea, but you are more than welcome to it. The 100w, chip was really overkill for my 29g tank, I'm only running it at 35W. It was really more of an experiment. On a 40 breeder I'd do 2 50W white multichips and flank each with 2 20W blues. Use dimmable drivers on each color to dial in the color you like.

Would you go with 10000k or 20000k for the whites? I tried finding articles and what not online describing what's best but dang that is like a needle in a haystack on Google.

Also, would you suggest some sort of setup for "night" lighting or just dim the whites all the way down at night?

::EDIT::
Ok I just want to make sure I don't overspend or not buy enough. I can use 1x100w driver to control both 50w LEDs and 1x100w driver (Cheaper than two 50's or 4 20's) to control all 4 20w LEDs?

 

[Damon.Webb22]

For the life of me...I cannot find a 60 degree lens for the 20w LEDs and a holder that is compatible!!!! Well at least not unless I want to buy 100 at a time...

::EDIT::
See what I do before work? I search for stuff and ask lots of questions!!!

Ok...2 - 50w LEDs cost more than 1 - 100w LED and put out as much LM when combined as far as I can tell. That being said...can't I just use 1 x 50w LED and supplement with blues? Cause if not, it's cheaper to build the rig you did than making one with 2 - 50w 20000k white LEDs and 4 - 20w 452-455nm blue LEDs along with dimmable controllers and heat sink. From my math and what I could find on EBay it will be around $230 before I even get into building materials.

 

[smoothdog]

I used 20k for my white light but had to ask the ebay vendor for it as it wasn't advertised.

You could use the single led with no optics and place it much lower above the water but you will need to protect it well from splashing if you do. The spread with no optics is usually around 120deg so you lose a lot of efficiency and will probably want some kind of hood to block the light that spills out the side too. There was someone in the DIY forums that used a MH reflector to redirect this light back into the tank, but they used a hybrid led.

I had a hard time finding the 60deg lenses the last time I looked too. They've started listing an angle range the lens is good for. I'm sure if you contact the seller on ebay they can steer you to the right lens/reflector combo for 60deg. I'm pretty sure most of the 60 and 90 lenses are the same and the reflector just has a different length to set the angle. I was going to just order a 90deg lens and put a shim in to lengthen the throw from the led to the lens to make the angle tighter. Of course if you don't use an optic on the white light you probably won't want to use them on the blues.

 

[Damon.Webb22]

Awesome. Thanks for the info. I finally found a seller with 60 degree reflectors. The seller also has what appear to be really good heat sinks for real cheap as compared to othet sellers. I might go your route and get a 100w LED since that cost is less than two 50s.

::EDIT::
Work is slow tonight so I did some eBay searching. Now I have a question Professor Kirk. You are using 1 x 100w LED and if I remember correctly you said you thought you were running it at about 30% based on the potentiometer location. That being the case, a 100w LED with a normal LM of 9500-10000 would be reduced to producing ~3000LM which is 2k less than a 50w LED running at full power which produces 4000-5000LM. So...since the lumens per meter produced directly effects the depth the light will penetrate, wouldn't 1 50w LED produce the same lighting intensity as a dimmed 100w LED?

 

[smoothdog]

Yep, you could get the same light intensity with the 50w using a 90deg lens. I was only recommending 2 leds due to the length of the tank. To cover the full length a single light will need to be around 18-20 inches above the tank (one inch of height gives 2 inches of coverage with a 90deg lens in a perfect world, in the real world I've found it to be a little less than 2 inches ) and a lot of light will spill over the front and back or you will have a ridiculously tall hood. If you go with no lenses you can place the lights much closer to the tank but will lose a fair amount of intensity. I think it would work using one 50w with no lens but have not actually tested it so I didn't want to recommend it. My thought is to shoot for overkill and dim them down as opposed to not having enough light and then starting over.

On a side note, I put a killawatt meter on my 100w light and I was pretty close in my guess, I'm using 35w. So with the 30w of blues added I'm at 65w and getting about the same par as my old 150w Sun Pod MH with a 14k phoenix bulb.

 

[jtrasap]

One of mine died, think it got wet. One good thing is that he's going to replace it, the bad is I've gotta ship it back to China before he'll send the replacement.

 

[smoothdog]

What, you have to keep electronics dry?

 

[jtrasap]

What, you have to keep electronics dry?

:lol:

 

[djsmallz]

That is a very nice and bright light build you got there

 

[cobra9]

Have you used the par meter on it yet?

 

[firefightered66]

Hello again smoothdog, I am in the process of building a 75 gal. 48l x 18w x 18 w (if I remember right). What would you think about this set up. 20w Blue... 50w white..20w blue....50w white.... 20w blue with 60 deg. optics. Each color will be dimmed using a controller (yet to be built). Would you know which meanwell drivers I would need for pwm dimming. And would this be enough light for anything I want to keep? I plan to hang this about 15" above the tank in DIY canopy with the controller built into it. What are your thoughts?
Thanks,
Ed

 

[smoothdog]

That is a very nice and bright light build you got there

Tks!

Have you used the par meter on it yet?

I have, with the 110w running @ 35W plus 30w of actinic, I'm getting about the same par as 150w Phoenix 14k. The spread is much more even than the sun pod reflector too.

Hello again smoothdog, I am in the process of building a 75 gal. 48l x 18w x 18 w (if I remember right). What would you think about this set up. 20w Blue... 50w white..20w blue....50w white.... 20w blue with 60 deg. optics. Each color will be dimmed using a controller (yet to be built). Would you know which meanwell drivers I would need for pwm dimming. And would this be enough light for anything I want to keep? I plan to hang this about 15" above the tank in DIY canopy with the controller built into it. What are your thoughts?

Thanks,
Ed

were you planning to space them evenly? If so you will get a disco effect. Mine are only about 8in away from the White Light and I still see it a little. I'd do 4 blues and place them close to the whites. 90deg on the whites, 60deg on the blues. You will need to know the amperage / voltage of the leds and how many you want to run per channel in order to pick a driver. I know Apex won't do pwm dimming but reef angel will. Not sure about reef keeper.

 

[cobra9]

So here is what I am possible looking at doing.

over a 5 foot tank. Blues will all be 50watt, 20k whites 100watt, and red/violet 10watt.

will be this config: B, W, B, R/V, B, W, B, R/V, B, W, B

Will be trying 60 degree lenses on the 100watts and 90 degree on the rest to start. Will be ordering the 90 degree for the 100 watts as well just to see which I like better.


All will be on dimable ballest controlled by a controller. The 3 100 watt will be on VGA coolers like you used. Not sure what to use on the 50 watt or 10 watts to keep them from over heating. I am hoping to get similar PAR to 250watt MH/T5 combo's. I hope to only run the LED's at 40-65% power.

The seller said he had red and violet available. If anyone else uses these please post your experience. Looking forward to seeing how these work for folks.