2 gallon pico -LED Lighting Project

[Sunstar]

I am thinking ahead to the summer knowing full well at how much heat my lights currently produce. My tank would cook. So, How many bulbs, what colours would be best for a bit of everything. I am considering involving a red cree as I happen to have one.

 

I would like to make a larger setup but until I actually try my hand at something simple.

considering...

 

2 RB

1 NW

1 Red

 

What else do es I can get them on the budget. I am considering computer heat sinks as I have a few around ane even some that have a decent sized fan on their back.

 

I have been trying to read the various threads but I am often left bermused. So please...help LEDs for idiots here. What sort of wall wart would I need. I took electronics in highschool but the damned teacher was a hockey nut and I couldn't stand the 30 minutes of how about dem habs or leafs before each lesson

 

tank size:

Length: 11 inches

Height: 8 inches

Width: 5.25 inches

volume: about 2 gallons

 

What I am looking for:

 

Good coral colour pop. but visually not too heavy on the blue (hence I am thinking of some way to control the blue output.

What sort of lenses would I need so it does not look like a night club or disco. dancing disco hermits! ra ra Rasputin.... Um no..

 

I can affix it into the tank's hood (when I remove the three CPF bulbs and their holders it'll have airholes galore, the fan in teh back would add extra heat extraction as well as what I put on the heat sink. Glass can be cut to sheild the LEDs from splish splash.

 

So have I come to the right place?

[blasterman]

Don't use the red - please.

 

Well, if you do, just make sure you solder it in a way it's easy to bypass because you'll hate it and end up removing it.

 

Two Cree RB's and a XP-G neutral mounted close together so they are almost touching should look really nice and provide seamless light without the color flicker (disco). If you want to dim with single LEDs you'll probably need to resort to using dimmable bucks and a DC supply since none of our favorite drivers (ELN 48D) will drive a small number of LEDs.

 

IMHO, I'd stick to a conventional plug and go driver you can plug directly into the wall and ignore dimming. Wire the LEDs in series and stick a AC plug on the other end, and that's it. If you end up wanting more actinic / royal blue then just pop off the XP-G and replace it with an elder series Cree or Rebel that's not as bright.

[evilc66]

You haven't come to the right place. You've come to the best place

 

Ditch the red. It will look horrible. Best thing I can suggest for a tank that size is go with 5 LEDs in a single row down the length of the tank. Use 2 neutral white, and 3 royal blues, alternating. If you want to be able to control the color temperature, use two seperate drivers. Buckpucks are a good choice here. A pair of 3023-D-E-700 Buckpucks would do nicely on a 12v 2A power supply. No need for optics.

[Sunstar]

You haven't come to the right place. You've come to the best place

 

Ditch the red. It will look horrible. Best thing I can suggest for a tank that size is go with 5 LEDs in a single row down the length of the tank. Use 2 neutral white, and 3 royal blues, alternating. If you want to be able to control the color temperature, use two seperate drivers. Buckpucks are a good choice here. A pair of 3023-D-E-700 Buckpucks would do nicely on a 12v 2A power supply. No need for optics.

 

I PMed you a while ago in regards to doing a 25 gallon... that'll come once I get an idea of the 2.

 

okay so 5. 3 royals and 2 neutrals 12 volt 2 amp power supply. what sort of things or where would I find one? laptop power supply? mine is 19 volts 1.5 amps(just as a reference)

 

I've seen things that people have used which look like speaker plugs to connect to their systems up. I've been trying to browes the reference thread.

 

While I am in the I'm an idiot and knows zilch. Exactly what is the Par or rather what does this mean? I see it a lot. Par 38 bulbs or par readings but I am not sure I quite grasp the meaning.

 

Most of my issue is: there is so much information here, it's where to start that confuses me, that and everyone knows their stuff so use the acronyms.

 

Okay, so a basic idea of what I need thus far. I will bounce it hard off my husband's head see what he things.

[evilc66]

That 19.5v 1.5A power supply will work. The voltage is higher than necessary, but the driver takes care of that.

 

There are many different connectors that you can use that are cheap and easy to find. 2.5mm barrel connectors are what you are refering to. RCA connectors (like they use for audio/video connections) work well also.

 

PAR can be used in two ways. For PARXX lamps, that stands for Parabolic Aluminized Reflector. It's a designator that harks back to the lamps that these LED lamps were supposed to replace. PAR also stands for Photosythetic Active Radiation. It's a measurement of light to show the growth potential of a light source.

[Sunstar]

you said 2 amps 1.5 is enough for this purpose?

[evilc66]

I always like to budget for more current so that the power supply is never running full tilt, and so that additional things like fans could be added. 1.5A is still greater than the 1.4A that would be needed by the two 700mA Buckpucks.

[Sunstar]

Right. I can add more fans to my current wall wart splice as long as the amps do not exceed it and they uset he same volts.

[Sunstar]

I am looking at Deal Extreme for LED's but they do not seem to indicate what sort of whites or blues that they are. does anyone know where I can find the LED I need without killing my already virtually empty bankbook?

[Sunstar]

My husband found this ready to go sort of kit.

 

http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-61/06-...mium-LED/Detail

 

How does this sound? is the driver okay or should I look for something else?.

[redfishsc]

The kit you linked is fine. Not dimmable, but fine.

[Sunstar]

The kit you linked is fine. Not dimmable, but fine.

 

I think I could get the dimmer later. If I can see if they'll sub out the CW for NW. Thanks for the input. I'll see what a few others think and make my decision.

[Sunstar]

hate to bump the topic but any other comments or thoughts on that set?

 

and what are: Cree XP-G R5 LEDs <-- are those good?

[doctaq]

they are white leds and are just about the best cool whites

[Sunstar]

for my application, would I still be better to get say the neutral w hites?

 

I asked them if they'd be willing to switch out the cool whites for neutral whites and they would.

[Sunstar]

While I think of this question, I'll add.

 

Exactly why neutral white over cool white.

 

what are the pros and cons. the cool whites are about 10k and the neutrals 6500k(approx)

 

Why would I go three blue and two whites rather than 3 whites and 2 blue. I know I would like to try a couple sps frags in this tank other than the brown one I have had for most of 2 years.

[doctaq]

cool whites are closer to 6500k and neutrals would probably be like 4500 or something

[Mustang Boy]

it depends on the Bin of the cool white to the color spectrum of white it is.

 

also the preference towards neutral whites is because they make the warmer colors of the corals stand out more like the reds and yellows and oranges, people have commented that under just CW and RB that the warmer colors are as pronounced as in other forms of lighting so the cure for this has been to use warmer colored whites.

 

 

and as for how many of each color it depends on how blue you want your tank, if you are using dimmable drivers it will make the decision a little easier since you can dim each color individually to get the perfect color that you like.

[Sunstar]

What about the brightness that is required for coral growth and flourishing? I run 4 T5HO on my 10 gallon 2 actinic and 2 10k total of about 80 watts give or take. stuff is growing well. I've seen teh power of these bulbs. the thing I am wondering is how much difference in coral growth would there be with the 64k as opposed to the 10k of the cool whites.

[Mustang Boy]

in T5HO it isn't a problem of the colors as it is with the LEDs because LEDs have a very narrow color spectrum where has T5HO and MH bulbs have wide color spectrums so they fill in the warmer colors easier.

 

the CW LEDs will give you more output but even with the output of the NW LEDs you will have more than enough light to happily grow corals in your pico.

[malawian]

keep in mind cool white is VERY white, not a nice bluish white like most of us have in our tanks (like the combination of 10k and actinic)

 

imo you should use some Royal blue

 

also, i think you should dim...it lets you control color balance AND it lets you turn down your LEDs which may be too bright for your corals.

[Sunstar]

So a mix of cool white-NW and RB

[Sunstar]

I ordered my Stuff for my DIY. Got a bit more than necessary as I will use the parts in a later project.

 

Rapid LED

Adjusted Kit.

 

* 2 Neutral White Cree XP-G R5 LEDs

* 4 Royal Blue Cree XR-E LEDs

* 3 Cree XR-E Lenses 40 (White I hope)

* 1 Mean Well LPC-35-700W driver <-- Not using this for this project.

* 1 Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive

* 2 water resistant wire nuts

* 1 power cord

* 5 pieces of pre-cut wire (If I need more I can buy more locally)

 

Adding on some

XPG 40Degree Lenses

1 Extra XP-G Neutral White LED

1 4.25" x 9" Aluminum Heat Sink

 

From LED Supply

 

2 x 3023-D-E-700PmA BuckPuck Features:

1 x 12VDC, 2.5A, 30-Watt Power Supply

2 x Aluminum Potentiometer Turn Knob

 

I'll get a few m ore things like switches and whatnot locally. I will get my mum to cut me a peice of glass for the splash guard.

[Sunstar]

Ah hah! I drew out a sort of idea. Based off the other ideas that I used.

 

Okay keeping in mind that there is alredy a venting fan in the back, I figured I could add two m ore fans that would either blow up or blow in to draw heat and air into the cabinet and of course the onedrawing out. The one that draws out actually works wonders on my 3 CPF screw in bulbs because before I had the fan drawing out, they became extremely hot.

 

Once I remove the CPF bulbs there will be three large holes in the frame of the lid, this would act as easier ventalation. I keep a thermometer in my hood to observe the temperature within.

 

[Mustang Boy]

unless you plan on mounting the LEDs really high above the tank you wont need any optics especially not something really tight like 40 degree optics.