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2 gallon pico -LED Lighting Project


Sunstar

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Looks like there is some plate glass between the LEDs and the water, mounted on the fixed portion of the hood.

 

The color on that maxi mini looks fantastic. Like it so far? Make sure you turn it down low to start, and slowly increase the intensity over the next few weeks. Wouldn't want to irritate that lovely nem.

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I got a plate of glass between the tank/filter and the lights. The glass is wider than the tank, so it does cover the filters. Here is hoping that they don't go to rust with this. I was making absolute sure I had glass to protect the LEDs. The way the back wall falls and covers it, the led's should be quite protected. I made sure I got it when I was out today. I tried to cut some glass, but it turned out ot be tempered. the peice of glass I got cut only cost me 6 dollars and I waited about 5 minutes for it. Caugth the bus home, then picked up my bike from the repair shop and rode home.

 

I love it, evil.. It shimmers and sparkles. It makes my other tank look "dead". I can't wait to repeat this project for my 25 gallon long tank :3

 

I will check and replace the screws on the heatsink periodically.

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I love the way the royal blues make the silicone seams fluoresce.

 

that's my tacky DIY overflow(surface skimmer) that I had tossed together. never really noticed the glowy silicon. fortunatekly the tank itself is done in black.

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Doesn't really matter. It just has to be connected to the center pin, and one of the outer pin. The difference between the two outer pins is the direction of rotation that increases and decreases the brightness.

 

Sorry for the interruption but do you need to ground the pot?

 

Sunstar, nice job, looks awesome!

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I thought I would add:

 

I am loving how "sunny" the tank looks. The Neutral whites seem to be a sun-like tinge to it that when coupled with the blues looks like a bright cheerful day. Has sort of felt confusing to look outside and see overcast when after looking at the sunny day in the tank.

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I had issues this week with A: the female plug in part breaking and needing to replace, but also the power supply harfed and needed replacing as well.

 

In the mean time, I ordered the LED, but I will order buck pucks at a later date. to expand my system from two channels to 6.

 

Below is an image of the colours I intend to use - using dimable pucks - so I can adjust or remove colours. I know before I was told to avoid red. I am curious about what it can do. I also read that lime can make light seem brighter. I forgot what the value of cyan was but I am including it for slags and gags. I am also going to include the ultra violet.

 

I am going to work around my existing middle row. Royal Blue and Neutral whites

 

Front row will have the Cyan and Lime, back row will include Red and Ultra violet.

 

plan.jpg

 

I will work out wiring later.

 

I intend to colour code my wires. I want to get red for the red row, violet for the violet so on and so forth. I admit this is gonna be very tight working in this cabinet. I will need a significantly longer project box. While I was working inside of it, it was very clean and good. So I am delighted that it did not get corroded or anything.

 

I am cross posting this in my tank thread.

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Okay I have the LED's

 

two of each:

Cyan

Lime

Deep Red

Ultra Violet 410 420

 

Each colour will be on its own dimmer so if I don't like it, I can dim it off. Right now its an experiment.

 

I do not have the bucks yet. I will get them before the autumn and hopefully have this together by the end of autumn.

 

I bought these from rapid LED.

 

I need to find a re latively inexpensive buckpuck supplier.

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Are you committed to using the Buckpucks? The Meanwell LDD-H is cheaper and more reliable, but dimming is pwm only.

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Buckpucks are smaller. this system is tiny and i Know I can get bucks in it. Anything else I ha ve seen has been way too large. I od have meanwell stuff, but I could not use it in my current system. If I had this on a larger tank, then I could utilise them.

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Fair enough :) Next time around though, look into those LDDs. They are pretty good for them money and don't have all the limitations that the Buckpucks had.

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LDD's are a series of DC drivers from Meanwell, similar in function to the Buckpucks, but more reliable. They are split into two groups; the LDD-L has versions from 300-700mA up to 36v input, while the LDD-H has versions from 300-1000mA and up to 52v input. They both are dimmable via 5v pwm (sorry, no analog dimming), small, and very cheap (LDD-H's go for under $8 each). So, with the LDD-H, you get twice the LED capacity of a Buckpuck for half the price, with greater reliability at higher currents (Buckpucks are horribly unreliable at 1000mA)

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You forgot the ldd-1000L and LDD-1500L evil. Though those are less common and the size of the LDDH

Which is why I didn't mention them. No need to add to the confusion seeing as they are rarely used.

 

What are the dimensions of these LDD drivers?

Datasheets are your friend ;)

 

LDD-H

 

LDD-L

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