"Not sure what you mean here. With 6 LEDs in a 2s3p array, you shouldn't have to adjust anything based on the driver info you gave before. It will be in a constant current mode and will take care of itself."


Thanks for the reply

Its on page 14 catalog page 12 on this link

http://www.meanwell.com/LED_SF.pdf

Say its the most efficient, most expensive, and hardest to hook up.

Like you said probable don't need and to difficult for someone with limited experience. me

Thanks for any help.

Side note did you notice the HLG 100/120/150/185 that have a dimming function coming soon

Evil, can you update your original post in the cree section with some info on the XP-G's and the XP-E's, and how they compare to the trusty XR-E's?

I see what you mean now. Use the first diagram. With only 2 LEDs per string, you can't get that bad out of ballance. The third diagram would be good for very long strings where the differences in voltage from each LED can add up quickly.

I have been waiting on info from Meanwell about the HLG series beyond the little bit of info in the catalog. They haven't been too forthcoming so far. It's not supposed to be out until later this year. Not sure how useful it will be for the majority of our applications, as it's better suited for very large parallel arrays, and will most likely be expensive.


It's about time I updated that isn't it.

Thermal paste or pad? Seems like most of the info I find is for a cpu. Do high quality silver pastes

migrate? I ask because I already bought fasteners which I hate to see not used but I have not yet drilled all

the holes which is a tedious job that would be nice not to do i.e. use thermal adhesive pad. Any

recommendations for adhesive pads or paste for leds? Maybe through a nano-reef contributor? One way to

show your appreciation is with the almighty dollar.

Thanks for any help.

Bolting the LEDs down and using thermal paste offers the best thermal performance, but also the most work. Thermal adhesive pads do work quite well though. I use them a lot for a lot of my recent work, and the performance has been great. After experimenting with them for a while, I ended up getting custom pads made that fit the standard 20mm hex stars, and are now for sale on the Nanotuners site. That's how much I like them

I was wondering if the KR-91, or just the blue and white mix of the KR-92 without the second supply hooked up for the center white LED's are enough for a mixed reef 55 gallon standard tank?

KR92, yes, but with all the LEDs lit up. The center wite LEDs is where that fixture gets the majority of it's light output. I don't think the KR91 is going to be enough for a tank that tall.

Thanks Evil, the light with all LEDS on is quite bright so I thought I'd cut it in half. A 55 is 48 x 13 x 25 so the LED covers the area quite well. I was getting some bleaching and since I cannot control the center light separately this was my thought. I might be able to put the center power supply on a timer too, what are your thoughts?

What were you bleaching?

Mid level LPS were dying back, chalice too. SPS are mostly OK but montipora bleached. LEDs are great, no more algae problems but some corals don't seem to florish. Thanks for all your help by the way.

Have you tried just lifting the fixture up (using a hanging kit) to reduce the intensity? With the fixtures not being adjustable, that's the only option to get light levels in the right range. You could try turning off the center LEDs, but like I said, they produce the bulk of the light.

I did raise it up but I hoped to get more blue and less white, guess this fixture can't do that. Thanks for all the help though.

Just cut your photperiod back to 5 hours, i run a 10 hour MH photoperiod a day and when i make the switch to leds i will just be cutting that back to about 4-5 hours a day

Doing both, thanks.

Ok, I read all 89 pages - really. I only have one question: "How do you put it all together" weren't you promising us that. Just kidding.

What I really want is your thoughts on this:

LEDs mounted about 6 feet over the sandbed of the tank (75 gal, 48x18x21), I think I will need 8 degree lenses. I would like to be able to support an anemone, but lets say anything. I will be using the XR-E in 50/50 cool white and royal blue. You said that futther away the LEDs are the fewer you need. So what kind of spacing would you recommend? Is there anything else I need to think about.

Thanks Evil

It is fewer, but not dramatically. A setup like this will require experimentation.

At that distance with 8 degree optics, you may be able to get away with two 6x5 arrays (either side of the center brace) with 3" spacing. That gets about a 60% overlap so PAR should be fairly even and color should be well blended.

Thanks for your opinion

Hi Evil,

I have an NC6 and just saw your PAR38 lamp and it's awesome! I was thinking of ordering one for my tank, would it work as the primary lighting for an NC6? Could i have LPS, SPS and/or clams in my cube? and if i decide to go to a bigger tank, what's the biggest or deepest tank i could use one unit, instead of multiple lamps, in?

Which kelvin rating is better, or more useful, and which optics do you recommend?

Could i use a Reefkeeper Lite to automate the light, or it's better to use a cheap mechanical timer?

Thanks!

Hello Evil, et al,

I have scrapped my 40Breeder idea, and have decided to go with a 50 Gallon AGA. the aquarium dimensions are 36x18x18. Based on these dimensions (2 inches higher than the 40B), how many LEDS would i need and at what optics? and what heatsink size would you deem appropriate for this tank? Please note that I would like to be able to keep anything, i.e. LPS, SPS, softies, anemones, etc.


I greatly value your opinions. Thank you kindly in advance,

PACMAN.

They can certainly be used for an NC6. 60 degree optics would be good for a tank like that. The biggest tank that I would use a single lamp on is an NC12/BC14/AP12, or a tank of similar dimensions.

For color temp, that's totally up to you. PAR is no different, so it up to personal preference.

Thanks a lot Evil!

I was thinking of a bigger upgrade, like an NC24, NC28, BC29 or 20H AGA, maybe the 40 degree optics would work for these? In any case, an upgrade like that is still some ways off for me.

Thanks again!

Wrong way around. The tighter the lens angle the less coverage you get, but higher PAR.

Mmm... but i get higher intensity right? from your article i understand that 40 degree optics gives about 250w MH, and an NC28 being deeper would need more intensity, to compensate for the tighter angle i could just hang the lamp a little higher, or would it be better a 60 or 80 degree angle to cover more area, even if it reduces light intensity? Maybe i could keep LPS or SPS higher in the tank and closer to the bottom low-light soft corals

Sorry for the onslaught of questions, i lack the technical knowledge for these sort of thing

You would have to hang the 40 degree lamp very high over the tank to reduce intensity enough for an NC6. The 60's will still be enough for an NC24/NC28, but you will need more of them for the coverage.

All right

Thanks a lot Evil, i'll consider what you said when i order a lamp.

One last question, regarding the 80 degree optics, would it reduce the light intensity too much? Maybe for softies and LPS would be ok in an NC28?

Thanks!

Evil, thanks so much for putting so much time into everyone's LED build! Its amazing to me how you always take the time to answer everyone's questions and give great advice! I've been playing with a little 5.5 gallon that has now been upgraded to a 7.5 but I just have crappy CF lights for now. I'm about to set up a 55 as well. hopefully in the next month or so. I already have a CF fixture that i'll be using for now that I got from a friend until I can upgrade to something bigger. I think my plan right now is to have a 20L for a frag tank, with LED lights, my 55 display with a couple MH bulbs. I will be getting my brother in law's help on the LED set up cause he's an electrical engineer and i'm just a restaurant manager. lol...but We've already been looking at this thread for inspiration! one time I found the thread that has links to lots of people's set ups, and hopefully I can find that again one day! sorry for the randomness...i had surgery today and i'm on narcotics. thanks. bye. lol

Might be a bit low to get the coverage you are looking for.


No worries. You know where to come when you get started.

Hey guys,
I need a little help with power supplies. I would rather not use one of the huge and bulky MPJA power supply's but I am having a hard time finding something that looks like a laptop charger.

I will be running two units...

12 LED all 3W with 1000mA buckspucks
24 LED all 3W with 1000mA buckpucks

What type of power supply will I need?

-Dave

For 12 LEDs, 24v and 2.2A or greater. For 24 LEDs, 24v and 4.2A or greater.

Hello,

My led system has been running for 2 weeks now, I must say that I love it ! I have a couple questions about it :
- I have an equal number of blue and white leds. I've been running the blue ones at 80% of full power and the white ones at 60% (I like the blue-ish color a lot). Now I'm wondering if it has effects on PAR if I increase/decrease the blue ones ? Would I have the same PAR readings if blue leds were at 40% and white ones at 60% than if the blue leds were at 60% and white ones at 60% ?

- the temp sensor (DS18B20) that is attached to the heatsink returns around 40 degree celsius. Am I good with this temperature or is it too hot ?

Thank you guys for your advice

PAR will change the same when you lower the blues as you would see when you lower the whites. They produce about the same PAR overall.

40C is fine, and you should get a nice long life from the LEDs with that.

So... after reading ..and reading... and reading.. I am a little lost. I want to run with

Mean Well LPC-35-700W constant current drivers ( I don't want the dimming option for now) with Cree XR-E Q5 Emitter on Premium Star (228LM at 1A) and Royal Blue CREE LED Emitter (20mm 3.2~3.4V)

I want to run as many as I can in series\parallel strings . Any suggestions ?!? I am currently running a 30g but building a 125g mixed reef right now (we are turning the 30g into a horse tank) Also if I am making pendants for the 125 (in a hood) how far should I place it over the water? (without optics) Thanks guys!!

Forgot to add. I want 2 -24 led pendants so I guess my actual question is how many drivers do I need ?

I strongly suggest against using parallel strings. Keep everything series. As a result, you will be limited to 13 LEDs per driver.

You will need optics on the 125g, even for a mixed reef. That is, if it's a standard AGA tank.

Cool.. then I can run 2 26 led pendants . planing on 13 rblue on 1 driver an 10 cwhite and 3 rblue on the other driver per pendant. The blue strings on a timer for dusk/dawn and all of them to be on for the day photo period. I have a hamilton tech MH w/t5 actinic fixture now but I like the led look the most. The royal blue cree's are the best looking actinic lighting accent. Thanks evil

Would 2 PAR38's with 60 degree optics over a biocube 29 be enough to keep SPS everywhere?

Hey Evil,
Any idea on the backorder time for your PAR38s?
Thanks!

Should be perfect.


Not sure on an exact date. We have a ton on order with the manufacturer and were expecting them to show up any time now.

Cool, I'll put my order in this week then.

Evil, I may have gotten lucky and found 2 par38s locally... but they are 80 degree optics. Would that be a problem on my biocube 29? I can hang them lower.

Thanks so much.

Evil, I was wondering if u have seen the new marineland LED fixtures and what u thought about them?

Evil,
I was thinking about putting the PAR38 lamps on my 44x24x21 tank. I have a couple of inches of sand and most of my corals(frags) are on the LR not on the bottom of the tank. I was hoping to get by with 5 lamps. Maybe 3-12K and 2-20K, I want a slightly blue cast but not Windex blue. Not being able to see the difference between the 12k and the 20k makes it difficult to decide. Also do I need optics? I can put the lights any distance from the water from 0 to 24". Look forward to your comments.
John

It could work, but you may be limited to what you can keep down low in the tank. Push comes to shove, you can always change out the optics.


Fish only. Not enough for a reef.


Start with 5, but the optics will depend on what you plan to keep. With a 21" tall tank, you are right on the borderline for 40s or 60s and it will depend on you livestock as to what I recommend. Also, you may find that with a 24" wide tank, you may need more lamps to fill in some areas. If you keep the lamp mount flexible (like track lighting), then adding lamps is no big deal and you can change the setup as you like, or as funds allow.

Thanks Evil. I attached a picture (I thnk) that shows my tank so you can get a better idea of what I am trying to do. Most of my coral will be on the rocks not on the sand, So far no LPS but ;maybe someday.

Click to view attachment

LPS has the same basic lighting requirements as softies. Sps will need more. You should be fine with 60 degree optics and still be able to keep sps in the upper portions of the tank. Like I said, start with 5 and work from there.

How about the color temp. I am concerned that the 20K may be too blue, but I like a little blue.

It's a tough call. 12Ks are a very crisp white. You don't notice too much blue, but you get the pop in the colors. The 20K is more like a Phoenix 14K. I think you will be ok with the 3 12Ks and the 2 20Ks if you like a little blue.

The bulbs have a white bezel and face. Can that be removed and painted, white is not my color.

The new 21W lamps all have chrome trim rings. The lens holder is still white. It's just plastic, so it can be painted. Just don't get any paint on the lenses.

Evil,
I am starting a 10 gallon frag tank and I have a 150MH over it now but I want to add use LED's for the heat issues. I was thinking about using 12 Premium LED Do-It-Yourself Retrofit Kit from RapidLED. I am wanting to keep a few sps frags toward the top. Is 12 led's enough for some sps's? or do I need more? Thanks