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Firebirdude's LEDed Sumped-out 29g Biocube!


firebirdude

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yayae! Finally just about finished with my build. Took more work than I had planned...plus school took more work than I had planned too.

 

29g Biocube

~20g sump

Rio 1100 return pump

Koralia 1 powerhead

Bubble Magus NAC3+ skimmer

12 CREE XR-E Q5 cool white/12 CREE XR-E royal blue/2 Prolight UV LEDs = more PAR than I will EVER need

2 XR-E Q5 cool white LEDs w/80 degree optics in the cabinet for fuge lighting

 

I'll write up a mini how-to/item list at a later date. But I just wanted to get these pics up here for all to see. I used CREE XR-E Cool White and Royal Blue LEDs mounted on a metal star board. Life is guaranteed at 50,000 hours before they reach under 70% of original intensity. Running them 12 hours a day would yield 11.4 years of use! And they'd still have nearly 3/4 of their original output anyway! So no more buying bulbs annually!!

 

Basically I just gutted the stock Biocube hood, filed down the screw pegs in the center, hacked out a huge aluminum heatsink to fit in the middle, planned where I wanted each LED being sure to mix up the cool white and royal blue, drilled and tapped two screw holes per LED, buffed the area below the LED, placed a dab of thermal compound on the back of the star board and screwed each LED into place. Then soldered 6 LEDs in series to a Buckpuck 24VDC LED driver. The drivers are fully variable in intensity and are powered by 24VDC power supplies down in the cabinet (pics of that later). There are two power supplies. One for each color so I can set them on different timers. Being fully variable allows me to adjust the over all color temp to just about anything I want! I cut a hole in the center of the hood and recessed out a little bit of the heatsink in order to slap a 120mm fan dead center. Should take care of the heat easily and quietly. EDIT: I have now had the lights running for hours in my 80 degree apartment. I swear.... I don't think the lights add a single degree of heat.

 

Guess that's a quick run down of what I did. So without further ado ....

 

Here's the hood finished, minus the UV LEDs I have planned (Haven't arrived yet)

hoodfinished.jpg

ledsoff.jpg

hoodtop.jpg

 

LEDs on for the first time!

ledson.jpg

 

Now for some pics over my newly cycled tank!!!!!!

Here's all the LEDs on full tilt:

fulltiltfront.jpg

fulltiltside.jpg

 

Here's just the whites:

whitefront.jpg

whitesidep.jpg

 

Here's just the blues:

bluefrontu.jpg

blueside.jpg

 

And here's both on 50% power:

allhalffront.jpg

allhalfside.jpg

 

 

In terms of brightness, the pics don't do it justice. I took a step back and snapped a pic of my new night light. lol

glowingcube.jpg

 

Here's a quick video of the lights while I vary some of the overall light temp colors. Sorry the video quality sucks, but just to give everyone an idea. The video goes from all LEDs on full, then 6 blues out, all blues out, 6 whites out, then back to the beginning all on full. Again, fully variable. So anywhere in the middle is possible. Camera doesn't pick this up for #@%$ though...

Firebirdude's LED lights

 

Here's the goods underneath. I've just got everything up and running, so I'll be doing some, much needed, wire management back there. The green bucket to the right is the ATO reservoir.

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That's a Rio 1100 pump hard-plumbed to the back of the cabinet, then flexible tubing up to the bulkhead. Black flexible tubing into the sump too. The capped off line with the ball valve was something I designed to help with water changes. Keep the valve closed, unscrew the cap, screw on a separate small L-shaped PVC piece I have, open the valve and allow the pump to drain water into my awaiting bucket. When the water level is just above the top of the Rio pump, close the valve and recap. Fish shouldn't even realize anything is happening. Refilling with fresh saltwater should be easy due to the low height. I'll just siphon it in. The wiring/etc to the left of the pump is an ATO setup. Bottom float switch does the work, the top switch is a safety. The skimmer is a Bubble Magus NAC 3+. I had to shove a small pill bottle over the airline inlet due to excessive noise. Works great now. The flexible white tubing coming along side the Rio's outlet is the collection cup drain. That's actually a plug on the end. With some work, I can get the skimmer's cup off to drain, but this tube should be much easier. Cheato will go in the chamber on the right (below the lights obviously). The little plastic screen I have to the right of the Rio pump is just to keep the cheato ball from being sucked into the pump.

 

I just finished mounting up the fuge lights, so I snapped a couple pics before install. 80 degree optics are shown in the second pic. Just a small aluminum heatsink square, screwed to a super ghetto bracket I just made in my apartment. Two holes in the bracket used to screw this to the shelf in the cabinet. :

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dsc01267c.jpg

 

I'm sure everyone wants to see what's in the power box.

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That's two 24VDC power supplies, a small 12VDC power supply, an 120AC LED driver, the relay for the ATO, all cooled by two 120mm fans in a push/pull configuration. The switch on the front just turns the fuge lights on and off. They'll be on a timer, but just in case I want to turn them on/off at any other time. The wiring looks like it just goes through the side of the power box, but it's actually two connectors. With this, I can pull the whole power box out of the cabinet, disconnect the wiring from the box and do whatever I need to do. It's not gorgeous, but all the connections are soldered and heatshrinked. I have full faith in it's operation and safety.

 

dsc01279ha.jpg

 

For the LED lighting in the hood AND sump:

Heatsink = ~$30

1000mA wired w/dimming pot buckpuck LED driver x 4 = $85 shipped

700mA wired no dimming buckpuck LED driver (for UV) = $17.50 shipped

700mA Xitanium AC input LED driver (for fuge) = $30.50 shipped

Q5 Cool White and Royal Blue CREE XR-E LEDs x 26 = $156

80 degree XR-E optics (bought 6, don't think I'll need em) x 6 = $6

Prolights 3W UV LEDs x 2 = $27.39 shipped

120VAC to 24VDC 6.5amp power supply x 2 = $32 shipped

6ft AC power cord x 3 = $9 shipped

Heatshrink tubing (Blue and black) = $2.50 for both shipped

4-40 1/2" stainless steel panhead screws = $3.53 shipped

#4 Nylon washers = $2.44 shipped

9-pin pre-wired connector = $4.10 shipped

4-conductor riser cable = $3.10 shipped

Female flag connectors = $5.10 shipped

Strain reliefs for AC power cords = $2.90 shipped

25' 22awg Blue stranded wire = $4.60 shipped

25' 22awg White stranded wire = $4.60 shipped

120mm fan guard x 2 = $3.20 shipped

1" double sided tape = $4.10 shipped

SPST rocker switch = $3.39 shipped

120mm fan guard with filter = $4.20 shipped

120mm fans for power box x 2 = $20.18 shipped

120mm fans for cabinet and hood (these are not recommended) x 2 = $22.38 shipped

1/8" ID pointer knobs (pack of 5) = $14.40 shipped

6' flat Aluminum bar = ~$12

4-40 drill bit and tap set (Lowes - kept breaking them and returning them LOL) = ~$12

6" x 6" x 12" = cabinet with lid = ~$20 home depot

Thin solder = Had

Soldering iron/gun = Had both

Thermal compound = Had

3M electrical tape = Had

 

Grand total = $542.11

Jesus %$#@& %@#

 

For ATO setup:

Aquahub Premium ATO kit = $40

4-pin pre-wired connector = $2.75 shipped

6' Spare AC power cord = $1

Aqualifter pump

Prefilter

Black flexible tubing

Bucket

 

Well now that's I've totaled just about everything up.... that's damned expensive. BUT it is a truly awesome lighting setup. Intensity and color are completely variable, there is little/no heat added to the tank, and you never EVER have to replace bulbs again. In that last advantage, it may end up paying for itself over time. And in that same advantage, you never have to worry about old bulbs skewing their spectrum.

 

Also I'd like to note that after I started my project, Nanotuners has released a LED retrofit kit as well. $450 is the normal price and that kit can't hold a candle to mine in terms of intensity. It also has no dimming capabilities and no ability to control the blue/whites separately. That kit also does not include things I have listed above such as fuge lights, large fans, optics, UV lighting, etc.

 

Big thanks to Evil and Jerome!

 

UPDATE 24Jan10: Just a couple things I've done that haven't gotten pics of. The UV LEDs are installed. No problems there. Cheato is in the sump. I've put in a Hammer coral with about 17-18 heads and 4 heads of green candy cane coral. Also picked up two baby black & white clowns. They're doing well.

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  • 2 months later...
firebirdude
Hey your lighting setup is quite slick any way you can go in a little more depth of everything you got in the little box?
That's two 24VDC power supplies, a small 12VDC power supply, an 120AC LED driver, the relay for the ATO, all cooled by two 120mm fans in a push/pull configuration. The switch on the front just turns the fuge lights on and off. They'll be on a timer, but just in case I want to turn them on/off at any other time. The wiring looks like it just goes through the side of the power box, but it's actually two connectors. With this, I can pull the whole power box out of the cabinet, disconnect the wiring from the box and do whatever I need to do. It's not gorgeous, but all the connections are soldered and heatshrinked. I have full faith in it's operation and safety.
What more would you like to know? One 24VDC power supply is for the blue LEDs and one is for the white LEDs. All the fans in the box and hood are also powered off the blue the 12VDC power supply. Since the blue LEDs would be the first lights on and last ones off, the fans will always be running when any lights are on (which exception of the fuge lights). The fuge LEDs are powered by the smaller AC driver. They are low power and don't produce much heat. It's been fine without the fans running.

 

Also, I've got some update pics with corals. I'll post em up when I get home.

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What more would you like to know? One 24VDC power supply is for the blue LEDs and one is for the white LEDs. All the fans in the box and hood are also powered off the blue the 12VDC power supply. Since the blue LEDs would be the first lights on and last ones off, the fans will always be running when any lights are on (which exception of the fuge lights). The fuge LEDs are powered by the smaller AC driver. They are low power and don't produce much heat. It's been fine without the fans running.

 

Also, I've got some update pics with corals. I'll post em up when I get home.

 

That's pretty much what I wanted to know. I couldnt figure out where the LED drivers were in the box then realized when I reread the piece you quoted, read what you just wrote, and relooked at all the pictures I found them in the canopy. I hadn't know they were that small lol. I would really like to replace the stock lights in my Biocube with LEDs, but I think I am going to drill the back and add a sump first. What is the dimensions of that sump you have under there and whats the thickness of the acrylic if you know 1/4 or 3/8? Also how do you like that Bubble Magus skimmer? I have a the BM160 on my 90 gallon and love it.

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  • 1 month later...

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