My newest project...



A CADLIGHTS 12G

Proposed Mods...

20 Cree's... 10cw's and 10rb's (50/50)
4 Pucks (adjustable)
1 Big Dell Fan (thermostat controled)

All placed inside a Aluminum Pendant I started last night... The black cage will hold the pucks...


This is the pendant with the heat sink... Notice it ports out the side vents...


More to come after it progresses...

Jon...

Interesting. Very industrial.

neato

What can I say evil... except...... That I get the materials free from work...

Never would have guessed that, lol. Interesting indeed.

looks like it can take a bullet or 2

cant wait to see how those LEDs light up the tank

Finally got everything moved over to the CAD 12g... No Cycle and everything is doing great a week after...

Still working on the LED pendant though...

FTS

Well I finally finished my LED build! Below is a list of parts and pic's and a FTS with the LEDS on...

Parts and tools Assembly List
• Custom Aluminum Pendant (Assembled with Rivets and Screws (Aluminum)) FREE
• Heat sink (Custom fabricated by my company machine shop) FREE
• 10 - CW Cree XR-E Q5 Stars $107.04
• 10 - RB Cree XR-E Stars $89.88
• 4 - 3023-D-E-1000P Wired BuckPucks, 1000mA with Potentiometer $79.96
• 1 - Tube Arctic Silver Thermal Compound $6.99
• 1 - Drill Press (Used one from work)
• 1 - 18-8 SS Round Head Phillips Machine Screw 4-40 Thread, 3/8” Length (100 pack) $3.75
• 1 – Nylon 6/6 General Purpose Flat Washers (100 pack) $2.48
• 1- Tap and Drill Set $22.61
• POTRANS 24VDC , 12.5A, Fan Cooled Power Supply $24.95
• 22 Gage wire - 3pack Red,Black,Green 25ft each , Radio Shack - $7.85
• 2 Power supply cords - Free from work
• Wire Nuts, 50ct, TrueValue - $4.00
• Solder and soldering gun – Already owned
• Assembly Labor – Priceless!

TOTAL COST = 386.79+

The LEDS and Pucks and PSU...


The Misc. Parts

Template on HS to punch for Drilling

HS Drilled and Tapped

ALL LEDS Mounted in 50/50 Patern

LEDS all Soldered up!

TEST BURN!

FINISHED!

FTS's...







This is Great! Looks alot Brighter and Better in Person!!!
Very happy with this Build and the light output! Highly recomend this DYI project to all!


UPDATE 6/30/2009
Well I have decided to Build a different Enclosure... The Current one is just to much Bling, Bling! Plus it looks bulky... Just recieved my .25" Plexiglass and am going to build this one...





Well Here is the Finished product...


Bottom shot...



FTS with room lights on and LED's on Max power...


FTS with room lights off and LED's set to Half Power...


FTS...


FTS...

Nicely done!

Thanks Sub!

wow looks good

Nice. Now get it added to the LED project list

nice...nice...

Thanks Evil...

Hmmmm.... Thought I did.... Or did I do it in the wrong one

Thanks Yamato!



Thanks Rehype!

Jon...

For others to see, how much did the build cost ya?

No, you did. I just caught it after I saw this.

Thanks Yamato, guess I forgot to do that... I went ahead and added it to the Parts list in the OP...

But total cost was $386.79

Jon...

Jon, Im so doing that, the leds look awesome, and really changed the view of stock lightning...
congratzz.. best DIY ive seen so far.. =)!!

All these people with DIY LED set ups are really making me want to make one. Your looks really nice, I like that style too, manly.

Hey Nappy... You need to think about doing yours! Thanks for the Complement!



Thanks Jacob...

me likey.....sometimes i miss my cadlights 12 but i don't miss the heat the MH fixture i had over it put off LOL

how many watts was your mh? i am getting a cadlights 12 and will be getting it with a 150watt mh most likely. i know im going to have to get a fan at the very least to keep the heat down, but evaporation worries me too.

it was the coralife clip-on (like the jbj)....think it was 150w?

i made a clear plexi cover drilled w/ a bunch of hole & those stick-on rubber feet at the tank perimeter to elevate it slightly off the tank to keep fish in & also had a 6" desktop clip-on fan to keep temps down.....lost about 1/2g a day in evap

clickable thumbs:

hi again, just wanted to ask ya a couple of questions...

Is there much much difference from the stock lightning?
What other benefits have you seen from the leds? heat-evaporation-wise...

Hello Nappy... Yes there is a difference .. I want to say 50% brighter and defiantly MH quality without the Heat issues...

With the stock lighting my tank temps were 79-80degs with a fan blowing on the tank with a ambient room Temp of 77deg...

Now with LED’s... The CAD stays a constant 77.7 +/- .2deg, with no fan! I was very impressed!!!!!!

Evaporation has changed since I don’t have a fan blowing on it... so it is much less...

Plus… LEDS last Years and Years and Years and Years and Years and YEARS!

MH and T5’s need to be replaced every 6 to 8 months

Very nicely done! I wouldn't be surprised if nearly all nano tanks have LEDs as standard in a few years.

It's a possibility

Added my first Zoa Colony... Green Goblins Aussie's from Aquatic Auctions...

Opon arival Aclaimation...


AA Auction Picture...


In tank... Wish I had a better Camera the colors are just like AA's


They opened up within 10 minutes... I'm really digging them!

I highly recomend AA! great packaging and shipping! Customer Service AAA+++

Latest FTS - 7/31/2009


Newest FTS w/Zoa's added 8/3/09

Sweet! I would try that fixture out if I had the cash but for now I think I'll have to change my pcs instead

New "Drops of the Sun" Aussie's from AA added 08/18/09

Rescued this guy from Petco... He was in a tank with 3 Bursa Triggers... He was pretty beat up and managed to get the Petco guy to sell him to me for $9.99... He is doing great after 3 days... His tail has started to heal...

Black & White Ocellaris Clownfish?

Yup Black ocellaris, good deal $40+ dollar fish. Your tank is lookin good, love the zoos.

Thanks for the confirmation on the clown and complement MGD!


Zoa's are cool!

wow, really cool. looking to do just about the same thing. i really like this tank and the finnex m9 tank, thinking this one is cooler though. great job on the led's too.

Thanks 121... CAD's are great... But I can say the Finnex is a great tank also...

Added a Tunze Osmo ATO... Here are some pictures...

Setup...


Rails setup in Middle Chamber...


This is Butthead the BiColor Blenny...


ButtHead with his new Buddy...


Thanks for looking!

I want to add an ATO to my cad12... I'm topping off morning and night daily. I'll have to look at that one.

Its a nice Unit and worth the $185...It tops off about a gallon a week...

Very nice setup. I love your LED build, it's very impressive. You got a great deal on your onyx clown and he looks good too. I paid $120 + tax for my pair.

Thanks Opy... The LED's are great! The Black Clown was pretty beat up when I got him... His dorsal and tail fins are all healed up now...

I only by salt from Petco and swore to never buy a fish from them, but when I saw him in the tank with those triggers picking on him I had to save him...

Nice job on the LED setup, I might have to build one for myself one day. Those are very nice Zoas that you have there, very good colors.

i like.....but i do request moar fts' please....

Here you go... FTS[


Also a Media rack I built last night that goes in 1st Chamber (Overflow)

Great looking scape! The new LED box makes the setup with the CAD tank look great... imitation may be the sincerest for of flattery as I think I'll copy some things that you've done here! I just bought the CAD 9g today and I'm going to order up parts to start my LED for it. I was surprised to see that you used 20 Crees for a 12g. What would you recommend based on your build? Are you running the fixture dialed back a ton or are you happy with the output? I'll be posting my copycat build soon.

Thanks for the complements!

I went with 20 to get max coverage with minimal shadowing...

When I first fired it up on the tank I ran it at 50% of the max output but now it runs at 100%.

I do turn it down a bit when I take FTS pictures to prevent WhiteOut... These babies a BRIGHT!

Again Thanks!

Jon...

Your tank is looking great. Nice job on the media rack too. Hows the clown doing? He looks happy. Isnt it nice to save a life? Nice zoas too btw .

Thanks Opy!

He is doing great... All healed up... he seems to be best buddies with my BiColor its cool to watch them interact with each other...

Jon...

Awesome looking setup so far. I'm stoked to see it progress.

This setup is sweet!