LED build for 10g reef using storm controller

[TFish77]

I want to do an led setup for my 10g nano reef. I have compiled what I believe to be all of the materials that I will need. I just wanted to ask and see if I needed any additional materials. I have all the little things already (wire, nuts, bolts, tools, etc) and just want to make sue I have the big stuff covered.

 

LEDS

2 cree xm-l2 cool white $8.77

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/cree-xm-l2-white/

2 cree xp-e2 blue $3.75

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/cree-xp-e2-blue/

2 cree xt-2 royal blue $3.45

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/cree-xt-e-royal-blue/

1 exotic deep red – 660nm $2.24

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/exotic-deep-red-660nm/

exotic turquoise – 495nm $2.70

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/exotic-turquoise-495nm/

exotic cool blue – 475nm $2.25

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/exotic-cool-blue-475nm/

Bulb Price = $39.13

Power Supplies

250w 48w 5.2 a dc power supply $45

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/250w-48v-5-2a-dc-power-supply/

Heatsink

6” heatsink $24.96

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/makersled-designer-heatsink-kit-professional-grade-anodized/

Drivers

6x Meanwell ldd-700h led driver @$7.25 = $43.50

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/meanwell-ldd-700h-led-driver/

Controller

Storm LED Controller $65.43

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/storm-led-controller/

 

 

 

I am planning on putting all the drivers on a blank pcb with the controller and power supply in a project box. I am not sure if the Storm controller can dim all 6 colors individually or if I have to get potentiometers for each one. Let me know thanks.

The arrangement will be like 3 separate 3ups with 2 containing 1 white, 1 blue, and 1 royal and 1 containing the red, cool blue, and turquoise.

[jolee0722]

The storm controller can dim all six colors. Also, where are you buying the storm controller from? If you are buying from coralux.net, then they selll PCB boards that you can mount the LDD drivers on, including a board that can mount a total of six of them. Also, you should just use the cree xp-e2 blue LEDs and not both that and the exotic cool blue. Also, the power supplies from LEDGroupBuy are not very good and many of them break down. And, what do you mean by bulb price? I would also recommend going with neutral whites instead of cool whites and getting more royal blue LEDs. The Nichia that LEDGroupBuy sells is a good option, and this way, you can get rid of the deep red LED and replace it with a few violet LEDs, which you are missing and would definitely help bring out the colors in your corals. What do you mean by the arrangement being like separate 3-ups? Do you plan to unmount and remount the LEDs? I suggest reading these two topics to get a little more understanding about LED spectrums and what not. Read the guide first.

 

 

Updated LED Guide:

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/345478-an-updated-led-guide-v10/

 

 

Jedimasterben's LED build (there are a lot of pages, but it was worth it):

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/323517-ct-7567-the-ledt5-nanobox-hybrid-evil-cluster/

[jedimasterben]

Stay away from cool white, and stay away from the XM-L series.

 

I would use 3x NW, 6x RB, 2x B as your base, and then add to that violet and cyan. If you use XT-E whites, then you'll want to add some red to the mix, as well, the XT-E still have poorer color due to their low CRI.

[frankdontsurf]

Stay away from cool white, and stay away from the XM-L series.

 

I would use 3x NW, 6x RB, 2x B as your base, and then add to that violet and cyan. If you use XT-E whites, then you'll want to add some red to the mix, as well, the XT-E still have poorer color due to their low CRI.

If adding Violet, Cyan and Lime to that base configuration how would you set up the channels?

[TFish77]

I had planned on buying everything from ledgroupbuy just to get it all from one place but am open to better/cheaper options. I also have all the extra electronic equipment I need to mount the drivers and whatnot.

 

I added the cool blue in their because I have read a couple of places about mixing the cool blue, turquoise, and deep red to get a nice white. (This isn't the original link but they talk about it here too. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2142730 ) I was thinking about even taking the blues out entirely and just using all royals but I figured since it was such a small tank and fixture that I should keep it a 1-1 ratio and just dim them accordingly.

 

What would be a better power supply option and where should I purchase it? The reason I chose the 250w is the ability to control 7 different drivers. I planned to add 4 uv (really true violet) leds to another channel as well which I realized I had forgotten.

 

Bulb price is just the total price of just the LEDs. Sorry that was just for me.

 

Any reason for going with the neutral whites over the cool? I personally chose the cools because its what AI uses in their Hydra which I saw in a shop and looked very nice. ( http://www.aquaillumination.com/lighting/hydra/ )

 

The arrangement will be like 3 triangles placed side by side along the heatsink, 2 consisting of the royal, blue, white combo and one having the red, turquoise, and cool blue one. The 4 true violet bulbs will be evenly spaced between the triangles.

 

The idea with my LED build is to make sure I have all the materials needed to get everything to work and I have the capability to cover the majority of the light spectrum important to coral photosynthesis. The reason I am making every color individually dimmable is to be able to adjust the light values based on the corals I have in the tank at the time. After reading stuff like this I realize that attempting to recreate natural light and more importantly the light that penetrates the depth to which the corals are at is a difficult and constantly changing process. I appreciate the help.

Stay away from cool white, and stay away from the XM-L series.

 

I would use 3x NW, 6x RB, 2x B as your base, and then add to that violet and cyan. If you use XT-E whites, then you'll want to add some red to the mix, as well, the XT-E still have poorer color due to their low CRI.

 

Whats wrong with the XM-L series? Which white should I use if the XM-L are bad and the XT-E still have poorer colors.

 

Also I am going to add more royals in the mix and take out some blues. That seems to be a common denominator between suggestions.

[jolee0722]

The Nichia neutral white LEDs that LEDGroupBuy is selling have a high CRI of 90. I would recommend using some of those instead of cool whites following Ben's suggestions. Ben typically recommends the HLG power supply series from meanwell. They are very good, but are more expensive than other power supplies. I would also stick with one blue, probably the xp-e2 blues. Also, check out Steve's LEDs. THey sell rebel es LEDs, which are better than Cree LEDs, and also do custom mounting of their LEDs on 3-up boards. That way, there is less of a disco effect.

[TFish77]

cool I will take a look at Steve's this evening and let you know what I come up with. Any particular reason the rebel es are better than cree? I have just assumed cree are the best because all of the high end fixtures I have seen use cree bulbs.

[jolee0722]

I forgot what the reason was, but it was discussed in another topic.

[Reefkid88]

Check out Steve's leds like suggested above. Rebels have better CRI rating which gets you closer to " real sun replication" and better colors.

 

From what I've come to understand the list is starting to go as follows: rebels,cree and then bridgelux which I personally would never use lol.

 

What're you trying to keep in the tank,coral wise ? Sps,lps,softies ?

[TFish77]

I want it to be a mixed tank and nothing specific. Right now I have a rock of assorted zoas, some green hammer, pulsing xenia, rose tip anenome, coco worm, ricordea mushroom, gsp, orange monti cap, green slimer acro, blue stag, a blueberry gorgonian (non photosynthetic though), and some assorted macros and marine plants. I plan on adding more zos to the one rock, some frogspawn to go with the hammer, and maybe a couple more sps. The tank is only ten gallons and I am lucky enough to have some buddies who have much larger (and nicer) tanks from which they are willing to frag.

 

As I said before I really wanted to make sure I had the lights to cover the full spectrum and then use the storm controller to adjust the levels.

 

Any more thoughts on the storm controller. Is it good, bad, user friendly? I noticed its arduino compatible which I have and am familiar with but I was hoping to not have to do to much extra programming when purchasing it. It looks like the arduino is used to just update the firmware though. Not sure.

[TFish77]

The Nichia neutral white LEDs that LEDGroupBuy is selling have a high CRI of 90. I would recommend using some of those instead of cool whites following Ben's suggestions. Ben typically recommends the HLG power supply series from meanwell. They are very good, but are more expensive than other power supplies. I would also stick with one blue, probably the xp-e2 blues. Also, check out Steve's LEDs. THey sell rebel es LEDs, which are better than Cree LEDs, and also do custom mounting of their LEDs on 3-up boards. That way, there is less of a disco effect.

I definitely think the custom stars from steve's leds are the way to go. The rebels do seem to outperform the crees a bit better too.

 

Also where is the best place to purchase a meanwell power supply from?

[TFish77]

One that can drive 6 different channels.

[Reefkid88]

Okay,so definitely a mixed reef tank. What's your current lighting ?

 

I'd go with a 12" heatsink,maybe a little bigger and hang it around 10-12" off the water. For leds if it was me I'd do the following luxeon's from steves:

 

Ch1:10-12 royal blue

Ch2: 6-8 regular blue

Ch3: 8-10 whites (4 neutral white/4 warm white or 5/5 )

Ch4: 6-8 violets ( true and hyper )

Ch5: 6 lime *** if you want to increase the brightness of the whites.

 

Coralux 4up board

2 MW 1000ma LDD drivers

2 MW 700ma LDD drivers

250w PSU

Storm controller

 

As for the storm,it is such a superior controller. I LOVE it compared to the Typhon's I had before it. Such a user friendly controller. It's got 6 individual channels of control,geo location,sun rise,sun set,day and night time settings,lightning,clouds a good all in one controller for just a couple more bucks than the typhon which is basic as you can get.

[jolee0722]

I would say digikey and mouser are your two sources of a lot of DIY materials, even power supplies. The HLG series by meanwell is very good, but rather expensive. You can buy them there. Hopefully Ben will chime in again though, as I don't know much about the power supply department.

[jedimasterben]

Okay,so definitely a mixed reef tank. What's your current lighting ?

 

I'd go with a 12" heatsink,maybe a little bigger and hang it around 10-12" off the water. For leds if it was me I'd do the following luxeon's from steves:

 

Ch1:10-12 royal blue

Ch2: 6-8 regular blue

Ch3: 8-10 whites (4 neutral white/4 warm white or 5/5 )

Ch4: 6-8 violets ( true and hyper )

Ch5: 6 lime *** if you want to increase the brightness of the whites.

 

Coralux 4up board

2 MW 1000ma LDD drivers

2 MW 700ma LDD drivers

250w PSU

Storm controller

 

As for the storm,it is such a superior controller. I LOVE it compared to the Typhon's I had before it. Such a user friendly controller. It's got 6 individual channels of control,geo location,sun rise,sun set,day and night time settings,lightning,clouds a good all in one controller for just a couple more bucks than the typhon which is basic as you can get.

WHOA. Slow your roll, man, you're gonna kill his corals with talk like that LOL

 

At the most, I would use 3x 4000K white, 3x lime, 6x royal blue, 3-6x violet, 2x blue, 2x cyan, and 2x red (these can be omitted if preferable, if you include them, be sure they are on the anti-disco 3up stars along with cyan and blue).

 

For power supply, yes, the HLG is the highest quality choice, being the most efficient and most reliable, and is IP65-67 rated. For the array I mentioned in the sentence above, you'll need an HLG-60H-48 and use 700mA maximum LDD drivers, no need to use any higher. If you ever plan on expanding your array to a larger tank in the future, you can purchase a higher wattage power supply, it won't make a difference other than upfront cost, the LEDs will only pull as much power as they need to.

[Reefkid88]

HAHAHAHA I was figuring into the equation the 18"-20" length,12" talk and what 10" wide for a 10 gallon ? If he hung the light at 10"-12" off the water that's some good height between the light and the water and light and the bottom of the tank.

 

Personally I'd rather go balls to the wall on building the fixture and not put it near it's full potential than build a light and it not be strong enough. Nothing would have to be ran at near full power,but you'd still have room to play with if he say maybe upgraded to a 15 breeder or a 20 tall,ya know ?

 

Like when I go squirrel hunting up north ( which a huge pest and not being killed for food ) why use a .22 when you can have TONS of fun and use a 30/30 or a 30-6 !!?

[TFish77]

Ok so how does lime make the white brighter and do you think its worth it.

 

Do you think my original arrangement using rebels would be enough? From left to right (3-up with 2 Royal and 1 4000k white) (3-up with Deep Red, Turquoise/Cyan, and Cool Blue to make a bright white) (3-up with 2 Royal and 1 4000k white) with 4 violets thrown in there. If I added a couple of limes would that arrangement suffice or should I throw a couple more in there and if so, where?

 

I found the meanwell power supply mentioned here and the drivers here. Onlinecomponents.com seems to be the cheapest place to get parts from. Anyone ever ordered from there before? Also will these be enough to power my array while being able to control all 6 colors individually?

 

Thanks again for all the help.

Also the current lighting is HO T5 with a blue led stunner strip for moonlighting.

[jedimasterben]

Ok so how does lime make the white brighter and do you think its worth it.

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/346477-luxeon-rebel-es-lime-pics-and-par/

[TFish77]

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/346477-luxeon-rebel-es-lime-pics-and-par/

Very nice. So what do you think about the setup I mentioned above plus 4 limes?

 

Also would that same power supply be able to individually drive 7 colors?

[jedimasterben]

Like when I go squirrel hunting up north ( which a huge pest and not being killed for food ) why use a .22 when you can have TONS of fun and use a 30/30 or a 30-6 !!?

 

Overkill is one thing, but at some point the initial cost begins to far outweigh the benefits of running them low Ok so how does lime make the white brighter and do you think its worth it.

 

Do you think my original arrangement using rebels would be enough? From left to right (3-up with 2 Royal and 1 4000k white) (3-up with Deep Red, Turquoise/Cyan, and Cool Blue to make a bright white) (3-up with 2 Royal and 1 4000k white) with 4 violets thrown in there. If I added a couple of limes would that arrangement suffice or should I throw a couple more in there and if so, where?

 

I found the meanwell power supply mentioned here and the drivers here. Onlinecomponents.com seems to be the cheapest place to get parts from. Anyone ever ordered from there before? Also will these be enough to power my array while being able to control all 6 colors individually?

 

Thanks again for all the help.

Very nice. So what do you think about the setup I mentioned above plus 4 limes?

 

Also would that same power supply be able to individually drive 7 colors?

Power supplies are sized by wattage, each LED at 700mA uses around 2w (2.5w for violet). Make sure the power supply gives more wattage than they're consuming and you're good to go.

 

Still the combo I recommend:

 

3x 4000K white, 3x lime, 6x royal blue, 3-6x violet, 2x blue, 2x cyan, and 2x red (these can be omitted if preferable, if you include them, be sure they are on the anti-disco 3up stars along with cyan and blue).

[TFish77]

 

Overkill is one thing, but at some point the initial cost begins to far outweigh the benefits of running them low :)Ok so how does lime make the white brighter and do you think its worth it.

 

Power supplies are sized by wattage, each LED at 700mA uses around 2w (2.5w for violet). Make sure the power supply gives more wattage than they're consuming and you're good to go.

 

Still the combo I recommend:

I was just using ohms law to make sure I had the right power supplies.

 

Ok I am going to defer to your knowledge when it comes to the number and color of leds. FYI your setup looks really nice.

 

Alright so using your suggested colors I came up with this - ( 3x 3-ups with 1 4000k white, 1 lime, and 1 royal ) (3x 3-ups with 1 blue, 1 cyan, and 1 red) (4 equally spaced violets) ( 2 other royals equally spaced) I left off one royal just for symmetry. I plan on putting all of these on a 12" heatsink and powering them with the meanwell drivers and power supplies.

 

Ben have you ever worked with or heard of onlinecomponents.com. They have the best prices I have found but I see mixed review for ordering from them and their shipping process. I can just use mouser but its a lot more expensive. Any recommendations where I should make the final purchase would be helpful.

 

Thank you again for all you help, especially you Ben. I really do appreciate it. I just want to make sure I have everything I need before I go buying everything.

 

FYI LED group buy got their first rebel leds but its only Blue. http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/phillips-luxeon/

[jedimasterben]

I was just using ohms law to make sure I had the right power supplies.

 

Ok I am going to defer to your knowledge when it comes to the number and color of leds. FYI your setup looks really nice.

 

Alright so using your suggested colors I came up with this - ( 3x 3-ups with 1 4000k white, 1 lime, and 1 royal ) (3x 3-ups with 1 blue, 1 cyan, and 1 red) (4 equally spaced violets) ( 2 other royals equally spaced) I left off one royal just for symmetry. I plan on putting all of these on a 12" heatsink and powering them with the meanwell drivers and power supplies.

You want a minimum of double the amount of royal blue that you do 'white' LEDs, so for every 4K or lime, you want two royal blue, and for every about 4 royals you want one blue.

Ben have you ever worked with or heard of onlinecomponents.com. They have the best prices I have found but I see mixed review for ordering from them and their shipping process. I can just use mouser but its a lot more expensive. Any recommendations where I should make the final purchase would be helpful.

Onlinecomponents is legit, as is Digikey, TRC, Jameco, and all are authorized Meanwell distributors.

 

FYI LED group buy got their first rebel leds but its only Blue. http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/phillips-luxeon/

The only other M available is in white, and I'd imagine that that would interfere with their sales of the XM-L.

[TFish77]

Ok How about this? Specifically the power supply.

 

 

3x 4000k white

3x Lime 3x 3-ups with white, lime, and royal @$12.05 = $36.15

9x Royal 6x Royal (not used in 3-ups) @$2.99 =$17.94

2x Hyper Violet 2x Hyper Violet @$4.97 =$9.94

2x True Violet 2x True Violet @4.97 =$9.94

2x Blue 2x Cool Blue @$3.40 =$6.80

2x Cyan 2x Cyan @$3.30 =$6.60

2x Red 2x Red @$3.40 =$6.80

 

LED Total Price =$94.17

Power Supply ?!

1x HLG-80H-30BL =$57.38

Drivers

6x LDD-700H @$5.17 =$31.02

Heatsink

1x 12” Makers Heatsink =$49.92

Controller

Storm LED Controller = $65.43

 

Total = =$297.92

[TFish77]

The blue, cyan, and red will be on 3-ups as well

[Reefkid88]

If you're using the LDD h's don't forget the coralux 6up board $13.99 plus about $2-$3 for shipping. But the site says they closed for about a little over week.