Fluval Spec V Lighting, Heat, ATO, and Autofeeder upgrade

[spaceheater]

Hello all,

 

I know I'm pretty new to this particular forum, but I'm a graduate student who basically builds experimental microscopes for a living. I'm going to share my adventures in creating an integrated solution for pico-reef control. Granted, I'm no expert in this realm, but if you're interested hop on and enjoy the ride...

 

The concept is to create a uC based controller for a Fluval Spec V. I will concede that I plan on using an Arduino Due for prototyping, but I intend to migrate this to a dedicated, integrated controller once I have the design finalized and the time to do so. Otherwise I'm going to attempt to make this an original effort in the hopes that I can add a few new ideas to the wealth of information that already exists.

 

Right now I'm running the stock pump with a DIY media basket made of eggcrate that holds a filter sponge, purigen, and chemi-pure. I went with this on the rocommendation of a few fellow Spec owners. I've also added an AC50 fuge with an eggcrate rack holding a bit of LR rubble and a bunch of chaeto. Other than that the system is as it came out of the box.

 

The first order of business is to upgrade the lighting. On this front I've decided to go with LEDs from RapidLED. I personally like the overall look of the Spec, so I'm attempting to preserve that wherever possible. The plan is to add 11 LEDs to the display on 3 independent circuits (2x WW, 2X NW 1x UV, 4xRB 2xB) and a single NW over the fuge for reverse lighting.

 

At this point I should mention that I actually have 2 Spec's back to back, one FW planted with a male Betta and the new pico reef. I will be running both off the same controller, so there's going to be a lot of duplication.

 

I started by ordering the LEDs, LDD drivers, and power supply. Then I ordered 2" wide heat sinks from heatsinkusa, cut to length. I have to say I fully expected to have to do a finish pass on the ends, but the were fantastic, deburred and everything. I also ordered a ton of components from SparkFun and Digi-Key, but I'll get into that later.

 

Step 1: Drill the heatsinks

 

I am privileged to have pretty much unlimited access to a 3-axis CNC mill. I drilled all 3 heatsinks, a 4" for the fuge and 2x 14" for the Specs. I chose to go 4-40 on the hardware, but M3, 6-32, M4 would all work. I suggest making everything the same for sanity's sake and we aren't dealing with large stresses. The LED stars need 19 mm or 0.7481" spacing. In my case the FW tank is getting 5 LEDs and the reef is getting 11, so space them to your particular taste. If you don't have access to a mill use a drill press (one of your buddies probably has one) and template. Either way use cutting oil and peck drill or your tool will deflect when you hit a fin on the backside. Here's a picture of a failed attempt at milling a pocket for the mounting bracket. If you use the 2" heatsinks DON'T DO THIS. I was going to run bolts through the fins with washers on top, but there isn't enough material there and it looked terrible.

 

 

I decided to keep the stock mounting bracket, so I drilled clearance holes in the brackets with the corresponding "T" pattern. Here you can see an undrilled bracket and the drilled one along side the heatsink.

 

 

Once you're done clean the whole thing with rubbing alcohol to remove the chips and lubricant.

 

[spaceheater]

Next comes the hardware. It turns out that HD, Lowes and Ace all believe that nobody would ever want to buy 4-40 screws under 3/4", so I used my crimpers to cut the screws to length. If you don't have a crimper/stripper go get one, it's completely worth the $6.

 

 

Next, I tested the LED's using the included "testing tool" which is simply a 2 AA battery holder with leads. As you can see these thing as BRIGHT. I suggest wearing sunglasses when you're testing them. I didn't and I'm still seeing stars.

 

 

Then I put a tiny (~1/16" wide) dab of thermal paste on the backside of the LEDs. This is a case of less is more, you want the thinnest possible layer you can get. Also, I smoosh the paste down then wiggle it side to side to spread it. If you mess up and miss the mounting holes don't pull the PCB off the heatsink, just slide it into position. The thing that you really want to avoid is getting any air bubbles in the thermal paste and having too much of it. Once the LED is in place tighten the screws about a 1/4 turn on each side at a time. You want to avoid tightening one side all the way down then the other. Instead see-saw it down so the PCB stays flat to maximize contact.

 

 

That's it for tonight. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to finish the lights and get them in place.

[evilc66]

Great start. I look forward to seeing how this progresses.

 

What's your LED setup for the freshwater side? Will it be planted at all?

[spaceheater]

Yea, the FW is already pretty heavily planted. It's got 3x anubias nana, 2x java ferns, a decent patch of dwarf hairgrass that's limping along and a strip of willow hygro along the filter wall. The plan is 1x WW, 2x RB and 2x NW on the 1.0 A LDDs. That should put me in the medium/high light category as far as FW is concerned, but I'll probably keep them fairly low since most of my plants are low to medium light. I'm also probably going to rip out the DHG and put in a java moss carpet in its place so I can quit dosing liquid CO2

[evilc66]

I have an iwagumi style tank at work that I'm using lime LEDs on (in addition to whites of course). It makes the greens in the plants a lot more vibrant, and the light overall much brighter. The setup I'm using currently is a 2:1:1 ratio of cool white, warm white, and lime. I've always had good luck with just 6500K cool whites over planted setups, but the limes are worth trying.

 

Same for the reef side honestly. The limes do a fantastic job of eliminating any hint of purple from the light (common with neutral white and royal blue combos, which will be amplified with your use of warm white), and make everything look brighter.

[ashtricks]

I am going to get the same heat sink. Do you think the mounting bracket and the screw on the spec V is sturdy enough to bear the weight of the heat sink?

[spaceheater]

The mounting bracket on the light (aluminum) yes. The plastic one on the back of the tank too. I tested by putting the heat sink right on top of the stock light and it barely sagged. However that plastic screw is garbage. I stripped both out setting up the tanks. That said I just put the aluminum bracket on the edge of a workbench and bent it slightly a bit at a time until the light sat level without the screws.

 

If you don't want to go this route I would suggest over drilling the tapped hole then re-tap at 1/4-20. You can find all sorts of screws and knobs and such with that threading that won't strip on you. Also the new heat sink is pretty lite. Surprisingly so. If it does cause problems I'm going to take it off and mill slots perpendicular to the fins so they're pyramids. You could also mill out the base in a cool pattern between LEDs. This heat sink is way more than you actually need.

[Graysb01]

Spaceheater

Do you have any pictures to show your DIY lighting for the Fluval Spec V tanks?