My LED fixture

[Splumph]

I finally got the tank on the stand, and got some water in it...still seeding the rock, but I got some pics The powerheads are temporary until I get a koralia nano. Still a sandstorm, should clear up by morning.

 

This is just the whites (low exposure then normal):

 

 

Then the blues:

 

 

And both:

 

 

Looking at how white it is now, I'm glad I decided to get the 3 royal blues.

[snatchbak]

What do you guys think about the placement? The color looks very even in my tank. SHould I add reflectors?

 

This is a shot with my camera on auto setting.

 

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o207/snatchbak/LED.jpg

 

Here is an edited picture.

 

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o207/snatchbak/LED-1.jpg

[NanoReefGuy]

What do you guys think about the placement? The color looks very even in my tank. SHould I add reflectors?

If it looks even what would you hope to gain with reflectors?

 

I don't think that reflectors will help the LED lighting very much. They already radiate in a 90-140 degree cone. If you wanted to increase the depth that the light penetrated into your aquarium I would probably add some optics in front rather than a reflector.

 

 

Cheers

NRG

[evilc66]

Thats really the best reason for optics. For shallow tanks, you dont' need it as you are getting high PAR levels at the sandbed anyway. If you were getting color bands, I would say lenses rather than reflectors as it will blend the light a little better, but I don't think you will need it.

 

Splumph, looks good.

[Splumph]

Tank has cleared up, and I got more pictures at home (at work now). I did a water test last night at the ammonia is down to 1 ppm, going to test everything when I get home tonight. The dry rock doesn't look any different, so I'm sure it's still being seeded.

 

Hey snatchbak, why not join the LED club and make a thread on your build

[Splumph]

Got more pics since the tank cleared up.

 

 

 

The tank will be filled eventually, but since it's seeding, I'm not too worried about it.

[flamethis]

Awesome stuff!!

 

I'm lovin this LED stuff. I know nothing about electronics though. I'd love to get a set up like this over my 10G.. I can't believe you are getting that much light from 10 LEDs.

Here is my question, it looks like alot of light but is it equal in PAR to a MH or T5 set up? Do the corals really get as much benefit from this as they would with something else? Again I really have no idea it's an honest queston.

 

Also have you thought about adding 2 or 3 UV LEDs? I've seen it before and it really makes the colors POP!

 

I'd love to start this but aside from a parts list I'd have no idea what to do..

 

BTW, your aquascaping is wicked! Looks like a dormant undersea volcano. Well done!

[Splumph]

Awesome stuff!!

 

I'm lovin this LED stuff. I know nothing about electronics though. I'd love to get a set up like this over my 10G.. I can't believe you are getting that much light from 10 LEDs.

Here is my question, it looks like alot of light but is it equal in PAR to a MH or T5 set up? Do the corals really get as much benefit from this as they would with something else? Again I really have no idea it's an honest queston.

 

Also have you thought about adding 2 or 3 UV LEDs? I've seen it before and it really makes the colors POP!

 

I'd love to start this but aside from a parts list I'd have no idea what to do..

 

BTW, your aquascaping is wicked! Looks like a dormant undersea volcano. Well done!

 

Have you ever soldered before? It's not too hard, and there are guides online as well. Just buy some cheap components (some resistors, maybe a breadboard at radio shack) and a soldering iron, with solder and practice away. All you need after some soldering ability is basic too usage (power drill, tapping holes) I've made a mistake on mine (using constant voltage power supplies, instead of constant current) but that will be fixed as soon as I get my buckpucks. I will post a parts list, and a wiring diagram when it's all finished up. I have plans to add UV down the line, but I need to get some corals first before I really start tweaking this thing. One of the nice things about this is that while it is expensive, you can expand as you go, and pay what you can in steps instead of all up front. The real hard part , if there is one, is figuring out what LEDs to use, but if you post what size tank you want to do, the LED squad is extremely helpful in steering you in the right direction.

[Splumph]

Just got in the buckpucks and the three royal blues...managed to burn one of the royal blues out (think it grounded to the heatsink) , I'll get some more pics up tomorrow. The dimming capability is a really nice feature to have, I'm sure it will come in handy when acclimating corals to the light.

[thedoogan]

How did it ground to the heatsink???

[Splumph]

One of the bolts I used to mount it must have touched the connection pad on the star. I'm glad I just lost that and not a whole string.

[NanoReefGuy]

OK

 

Its really clear

 

EVILC66 is an LED GAWD

 

 

Great Job on the banner by the way.

 

 

Cheers

NRG

[evilc66]

The credit has to go to Psychographic. He had the skills on this one.

[DashingAquatics]

I'm thinking about makeing my back middle compartment on my Bio Cube 14G into a fuge...

 

I am thinking about ordering,

 

3X Luxeon K2 Star - White

 

Xitanium 120VAC, 25W, 1050mA Driver

 

Aside from a heat sink and fan is their anything else I may require to keep macro alive in a reer compartment for a period of 12-24 hrs per day?

[NanoReefGuy]

From everything that I have seen you are hard pressed to kill chaeto

 

Seems like lots of people are using 10W submersible pond light for this task. I suspect it would be cheaper to go this route, but LEDs still have the bragging rights.

 

Cheers

NRG

[DashingAquatics]

From everything that I have seen you are hard pressed to kill chaeto

 

Seems like lots of people are using 10W submersible pond light for this task. I suspect it would be cheaper to go this route, but LEDs still have the bragging rights.

 

Cheers

NRG

 

 

Well I was thinking I would have the fuge lighting as a trial and have a good base to expand upon to replace my pc 24 watt duel 50/50 's under my hood lol

[Splumph]

I would think 1 3w white would be enough for chaeto, these things are extremely bright (probably twice as bright as the 10w submersible alot of people use)

[DashingAquatics]

I would think 1 3w white would be enough for chaeto, these things are extremely bright (probably twice as bright as the 10w submersible alot of people use)

 

 

Ok but it wil be enough to keep the macro alive? As well any thoughts on if I wanted to convert my dual 24 watt 50/50 lighting over to LED?

 

Would 2x drivers be enough and on the tech spec's for the k2 stars it says 6500 k is that the right spectrum I thought it was supposed to be more 10,000 k?

[Splumph]

5000 to 6500 is good for plants, 10k is better for inverts...I don't know how you would go about "converting" your fixture, it's more like completely rebuilding it From my experience in building mine, it's better go with a power supply and the buckpucks. That way you could get a cheaper laptop type supply, and you will be able to dim and dial in your color settings...if its just for chaeto though, you could get away with a simeple power supply like this

[evilc66]

I would suggest swapping out one of the whites for a red. The cool whites (all whites for that matter) are quite defficient in red. The extra red spectrum will help grow the macro a lot better.

[DashingAquatics]

It is to my undrstanding that all I need is the Xitanium 120VAC, 25W, 1050mA Driver as well as the 1-5 K2 stars to run the unit. Does the Buck puck conect to the outlet then the driver?

 

So two K2 White Stars and 1 K2 Red star should give me a good spectrum for growing plants? As well what would be good to convert my fuge Led set up into my Display Led set up for my display 14G tank?

[Zombo]

Buckpucks are DC input only.

[evilc66]

It is to my undrstanding that all I need is the Xitanium 120VAC, 25W, 1050mA Driver as well as the 1-5 K2 stars to run the unit. Does the Buck puck conect to the outlet then the driver?

 

So two K2 White Stars and 1 K2 Red star should give me a good spectrum for growing plants? As well what would be good to convert my fuge Led set up into my Display Led set up for my display 14G tank?

 

 

It goes Powersupply --> Buckpuck --> LEDs

 

The reason we like the Buckpucks is because they have options for dimming, where the Xitaniums don't, at least not in the small affordable versions. It is nice that you can plug directly intot he wall, but dimming is a more desireable feature to me.

 

I would either set up either a fuge light or a display light, not try and convert one to the other. You are still going to need a fuge light when you convert to LEDs for the display. For the display, I would look into the Cree Q5 for the whites. They are much easier to get than the new K2 TFFC and more efficient than the older K2. You will also need an equal amount (or slightly more) of blue LEDs to raise the color temp.

[DashingAquatics]

What would you use for a power supply for the buck pucks?

[evilc66]

Any switching DC power supply. The voltage and amperage will depend on how many LEDs you end up using. For the fuge light, a 12v power supply will be fine, but there is nothing stopping you from going up to a 36v power supply for future expansion (the 36v supply must be able to be adjusted down to 32v to avoid smoking the Buckpuck). Examples of good power supplies can be found here and here.