.5 gal pico lighting help

[mmcguffi]

Hey all,

 

I've been out of the hobby for a few years and I'm going to set up a tiny ~.5 gal jar pico. I need your guys' help though -- it seems there has been big advancements in terms of lighting tech!

 

Im going to be using the jar shown below and I have a heat sink similar to the one shown below as well. I would like to mount LEDs on them and ideally I would like to be able to control the amount of actinic light. What LEDs/other equipment should I be looking into for this project? Are LEDs even the way to go?

 

Any help/direction would be much appreciated! Thanks

 

 

[Veng]

You're going to find it hard to get a recommendation on a niche tank like this. I think LEDs are the smart move on a tank this size as you simply can't afford the heat of any other solution. At that size, DIY just doesn't make sense. Take a look at either the AI Prime or the EcoTech XR15w, both you would need to extremely heavily dim or hang very high above the tank to keep from nuking it. The size tank you are talking about is insanely aggressive and time consuming. I'm sure it will be amazing if you can pull it off though....

[Dreichler]

the prime and radion are far too expensive for such a small tank, go with like a 6 bulb PAR38 light and gooseneck, very narrow beam of light, and good for picos.

[TFish77]

A steve's LED 3-up with 1 cool white and 2 blues attached to a stock intel processor heatsink (or the one you have) with a potentiometer wired as a variable resistor to give you some control. Boom done! lol

[Dreichler]

A steve's LED 3-up with 1 cool white and 2 blues attached to a stock intel processor heatsink (or the one you have) with a potentiometer wired as a variable resistor to give you some control. Boom done! lol

 

exactly, no need for any kind of light over $80 for a pico this small...

[TFish77]

You could go even cheaper but that's just my recommendation.

[Horerczy]

I'd be looking at a slightly larger heatsink and clustering together a few LEDs run at lower currents (~350mA) so you can have control of color without getting too bright.

 

There is the added bonus that at these lower currents LEDs tend to be more efficient so there might be no need for active cooling.

[ecam315]

Look at a 3up(1white, 2royal blue) and a buckpuck, power the buckpuck with an old laptop power adapter, or grab a couple of the 350ma moonlight drivers.

[mmcguffi]

So I have decided on a 3UP led mounted onto my heatsink. I would like to have 2 controllable channels but I have very little experience with electronics. I know I at least need this: http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/cree-xt-e-3up/

 

If I were to purchase the equipment listed below, is that everything I would need?

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/makersdriver-professional-grade-dimmable-led-driver/

 

 

Alternatively, if I were to piece it out, what would I need? A physical dimmer nob, a driver, a power source?

http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/makersled-dimming-bar/

What kind of driver would I need? http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/meanwell-drivers/?sort=featured&page=1

And would I still need a power source? I dont think I see a good option on that site...?

 

Any help/direction would be very much appreciated! The advice you guys have given so far is awesome

[gulfsurfer101]

I don't see how anything more than this would be needed. I'm running one over my kids guppy tank and they love it. It's remote controllable, ramps in three different intensities and the thing looks cool as $#!* on fade mode lol!

http://m.ebay.com/itm/E27-3W-LED-RGB-Magic-Light-Bulb-16-Colors-Changing-With-Wireless-Remote-Control-/262293035293?nav=SEARCH

[tarunteam]

Depending on how good you are at DIY'ing. I'd actually recommend this one:

 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Circuits-for-using-High-Power-LED-s/

 

The only caviate is you have to find a power supply that is close to your LED voltage.

[Reefkid88]

Get a 350ma moonlight driver from rapidled.com for $10 and call it a day. I wouldn't splurge on a light that honestly won't stay up for more than maybe 2-3 months lol.

[mmcguffi]

Get a 350ma moonlight driver from rapidled.com for $10 and call it a day. I wouldn't splurge on a light that honestly won't stay up for more than maybe 2-3 months lol.

Thanks! This looks ideal but could I hook it up to a potentiometer to adjust the intensity/color blend?

 

http://www.rapidled.com/moonlight-driver-350ma/

[Reefkid88]

No,unfortunately. You could with their nano driver. It has a pot already wired in for $30 and can driver 10 leds.

[mmcguffi]

This would be very ideal, but would that be too much light intensity even at such low amperes? Would I need two divers to be able switch into "full actinic" mode?

[anizato]

i would go the DIY LED route. make a single beam light you can make your own housing to your liking. super cheap. check places like rapidled.com etc

[Tanker99]

How about one of these (http://m.ebay.com/itm/PAR30-LED-Aquarium-coral-reef-light-Custom-made-BRAND-NEW-PAR38-nano-pico-tank-/201098066011?nav=SEARCH)