It's small, it's lit with LEDs, it's a diy pico

[j5rec]

Ever find yourself with more free time and money than you should? I did. After spending far too much time reading about LED lighting I decided the only way I'd find out if it worked was if I went ahead and did it myself.

 

After a quick search through ebay I came up with these lovely 20,000 mcd LEDs. Add on some nice 4500 mcd blues and the buy it now feature and now your ready to wait for delivery. Off I go to the local Micheals to pick up a few things I saw while wandering around one day.

Well, what can I say? For only a few bucks I get a pre-made tank. Perfect.

 

So begins the adventure of drilling the peice of acrylic to hold all the LEDs. Unfortunately, I do not have a camera at my workshop, and I wasn't going to drive back and forth to take pictures of every step. So this is where you use your imagination. Picture this, but without the lights installed.

[j5rec]

First things first. This peice of plastic has to fit inside the upper section of the plastic box. Unfortunately, for some reason someone decided to bevel in the top slightly. So just set the old table saw blade to match the outside angle of the top and your good to go. I found that there is much less measuring involved if you just get a rough size for the piece and first bevel two of the sides that meet. Then doo the next two. Test fit. If it dosent sit deep enough in, move the fence of the table saw in just a hair, then recut the last two sides. Keep doing this until you get it in deep enough to fit the wires in above while leaving enough room below to cut out for your filter.

 

Next I made a grid on a piece of paper to show the layout of the lights. Then I put it under the acrylic and marked the layout with a sharpie. Easy. Now the fun. I just used a regular old drill bit made by Porter-Cable on a drill press. The bit was still relatively unused and didn't grab at the acrylic. Holes this small don't seem to be a problem as long as you take it slow and let things cool off a bit.

 

Now that's said, one more recomendation before I go any further. Find other stuff to do during a process like this and the soldering. A break from the work keeps you from wanting to rush and destroying the project.

 

After a bit of time everything was drilled and the lights were ready to go in the holes. I got together all the soldering stuff i needed and went home and went to bed. What. This takes a while, you didn't think I was going to do it all in an afternoon.

 

The fruits of my labor. A good way to spend the day. No really, I spent most of the day soldering. Minus the trip to the fish store by my shop. And lunch. And I watched some tv, too. But seriously. I spent about 90 minutes doing elven rows of four light groupings. 33 row in all.

 

Here's a picture of the finished product lit up.

[p.o.t.u.s]

pretty neat...how bright are we talking?

[j5rec]

Now if you feel that you need help with the whole, "I don't know how to solder and what's that four light grouping thingie.", go read this thread.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...20&pagenumber=1

It's what gave me the idea and helped me figure out what's what. The only thing I changed was instead of doing one row blue, a few rows of white, then another row of blue, I mixed the two in a ratio of 1 blue to 3 whites and offset the placement of the blue LED one place over on the following row. It seems to prevent blue spots on the bottom of the tank.

Also this one did wonders for me too.

http://www.theledlight.com/ledcircuits.html

 

Now that your done reading all that and everything makes sense, on with the show. On break from my soldering marathon, I took the time to paint the top. Now that Krylon make the Fusion paint line for plastics, nobody has to use the regular stuff and melt the top. Remember, paint won't stick to sharp corners, so just take some 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper and ease down all the corners. Now paint away. Then solder some more. Then wet sand with the 600 grit. Rinse and repeat untill everything is soldered and the top is smooth enough to see yourself in.

 

Now to power everything I went to Radio Shack and picked up the $15 12vDC power converter, the tip for the end of the converter, and the appropriate socket to stick it in. Now watch out. On the converter's box it says that the $5 tip comes free with purchase, but i wasn't paying attention and got charged for it.

 

Now that everything is wired up, stuffed in the top, and checked to be in working order, filter on the back, relax. Your done. For the most part. Now for the cycle. Fortunately I bought two of those little boxes and have had one with sand and water from my 40g sitting with the filter on it for about two months now. Just a matter of putting new top on old tank.

[j5rec]

 

Nothing beats the Red Sea Nano Filter when you need somthing small.

 

Why yes, it is larger than the 34g containers of Ocean Nutrition.

 

But smaller than a 2 liter of Coke.

 

Ok, so here is the technical run down:

 

LEDs: 99-20,000mcd ultra bright whites

33-4,500mcd royal blue

 

Power Supply: 12vDC

 

Filter: Red Sea Nano Filter

 

Tank Capacity: Appx. 1 Liter

 

Tank Dimensions: My tape measure is AWOL. I don't know.

[j5rec]

Now about these lights. They are pretty darn bright. I just put a brand new Coralife 11w 50/50 in my minibow today. When I put the two side by side the amount of light from the pico blew it away. Now how about the double 96w CF hood for my 40g? Once again, what the pico lacks in size it makes up for in power. I've got a little bucket attached to the inside of the tank I've been putting frags in for the pico when it was ready. The frags are the same depth as the depth of the pico. When I put the pico hood over the bucket, the amount of light on them increased enough that I may have to spend some more time than I thought acclimating them to the new tank.

 

I also like the color of the LEDs compared to the CF i have. The blend I used gives a much more crisper appearence to everything. And what people say about the LEDs giving the same shimmer as MH lighting is quite true. I'm affraid that this little tank is going to look better than anything in the house.

[j5rec]

Now unfortunately with the good, comes the bad. The problems I've seen over the last six hours it has been running are just this one. Whoever says LEDs produce no heat is a little mis informed. One LED may not produce enogh heat to notice, but 132 LEDs crammed into a tight fitting box does. The current temp is about 86 degrees. A little warm for my tastes. On the top of the hood it's just pushing past 102 degrees. Fortunately Radio Shack also sells a 12vDC fan that's about 1.25" square. Just a quick rewire and that should solve the problem. I imagine a few vent holes would also take care of the problem, but I bet the increased air flow would help out the LEDs life span.

 

That's it one problem I sort of saw comming in the first place. I just wish I had done it before I painted everything.

[j5rec]

Stocking list to come tomorrow. I've got to get up early and go shopping for a really small peice of LR.

[Perpetual98]

Tagging along. Neat project!

 

Eric

[B16A2NR]

At first I thought it was a 3.5 gallon truvu lit by led's, man that thing is small. Is that one of those little display plastic boxes that are sold at craft stores?

[CU_Reefer]

Damn, you stole my idea. I just got my LEDs yesterday for my .25 gal pico. I'm always a day late and a dollar short.

 

Oh well, good looking work.

[j5rec]

Well what can I say CU_Reefer? For the first time I was ahead of anybody doing something.

 

Why yes, it is a plastic display box sold at Micheal's. I really liked the size, but I couldn't think of a practical way to light it except for the LEDs. They seem to be the only thing that would fit completely in the top. So it looked like a good canidate. Plus, they also had the lowest amount of heat output. The last thing I wanted to do was to figure out some crazy way to keep up with overheating and evaporation.

 

On that note, I picked up the mini CPU fan I wanted to get, but I couldn't find any small LR I liked. Looks like I'll be pulling some out of another tank for the moment. Also, it looks like part of my temp problem is due to the Nano Filter. I checked the tank when I came home from the shop before I turned on the lights and it was right around 81-82 degrees. Hopefully the fan will do somthing, otherwise, I'm back to step 1. Incidently, it's been unseasonably warm the last few days. Once it's spring again the AC will be back on and that should take care of it.

 

Now for my questions. CU_Reefer, what LEDs did you spring for and what's your plans. If it's a secret for the moment, I get it. I had originally started work on this about a month ago, but I didn't want to show it all in weekly instalments.

 

And thanks Eric, I appriciate it. I've read a lot of you posts.

[j5rec]

So far, so good. Went out and bought a few very small rocks and moved over a rock with about 10 green zoos from my main tank about four days ago. After a day they started to open up and are adjusting nicely. To be honest, I think they're looking a little better in there than they did before I moved them.

 

I'm curently losing about 20ml of water a day, but the temp is staying nice and low. New clear pictures to follow soon.

[techabytes]

Love it! Great thread, thanks j5rec. Its a gem among a hundred other new posts I've wasted hours reading. I've never wired anything in my life, but you have me tempted. I'll be watching for updates!

[CU_Reefer]

I have been busy so I still haven’t had time to get my set up together. Between my other hobbies, clubs, teams and school work I haven’t had much time to get anything done on it. I have a break coming up so I might have some extra time.

 

The plan was going to be a secrete but as I'm generally behind the curve I don't see much point in it.

 

The LED's I got are 10000nm whites and 6000nm blues. I'll put as many as I can fit above the tank. I figure around 40-50. I'm not sure how I'm going to plumb it. I think I might try a miniature closed loop system. I have a via aqua 80 power head that I might modify to be non-submersible. For heating I'm going to use a peltier. If I can work out a controller I could use it for heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. That is if I can get it to work. To power the whole thing I'm going to use an old pc power supply. It will be my little box of water death trap.

 

That’s my plan. It will be interesting to see if it actually goes any ware.

[AndyL]

Originally posted by CU_Reefer

 

The LED's I got are 10000nm whites and 6000nm blues.  

 

Um... You mean 10,000mcd and 6000mcd. Milli Candellas or milli candle power - depending on who you listen to.

 

NM is a measurement of light wavelengths - blue being in that 450-500nm range, and white not really having a NM (though white LEDs are often sold with a rating for a peak output (which usually is in the red spectrum)).

 

Clear as mud?

 

Andy

[Gilman]

Very interesting.....

[adinsxq]

oh nos

 

will this be

 

another LED tank

 

that never actually

 

tastes salt

 

 

?

[serjuanca88]

I certainly hope not. GIVE THE PEOPLE HOPE!

[rickjg]

I found these on ebay; Jumbo Φ10 10mm Ultra Bright White LED: 194, 168, 158 Light Bulbs: 12VDC Ready.

I want to try them out to see how easy they are to hookup.

I liked the idea of 10mm 12v LED, instead of 5mm 3.4v.

Let me know what the LED experts have to say.

Rick

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...item=7959447993

[adinsxq]

Originally posted by j5rec 3/2/05

New clear pictures to follow soon.

[mushroom head]

Im thinking of having a LEDs for lighting my 10gallon.All im having in the 10gallon is shrooms.Im thinking of having 150white LEDs and 50blue LEDs.Does anyone think I should get the LED lighting or have PC lighting???

[Casabubu]

WOW, that nano is tiny. I actually bought the same container from micheals to use the top as a DIY overflow.

[icyoud2]

so what are your opinions on a 12volt 10 mm 20000mcd leds as apposed to the smaller 3.5 v ones. anybody figured out (per square inch) the best set up for max lighting? or does a 20000mcd led throw out the same amount of light no matter what the voltage/size.

thanks leigh