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Ultimate LED guide


evilc66

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Add some optics to that bad boy and watch your PAR soar.

 

Your array does look like it's missing a middle array, are you planning on adding a third one down the line?

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I'm not adding another section. At least, that's not in the plan.

 

I am trying not to add optics as I don't want the focused light. I'm hoping to have a decent amount of output without them. After all, I'm going from 260 watts of PCs so this will be a major upgrade as it is.

 

I apologize, evil, for what has turned into a hijacking.

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I would make a few changes to your plan.

 

First, 4 LEDs isn't going to be able to cover a 2.5g tank very well. You will need to at least double the number to get good coverage. I use 10 LEDs over a similar sized tank, and the coverage is adequate. This should still fit in the Aqualight Mini, but it will be tight.

 

If you decide to stick to 4 LEDs, the power supply you picked is too small. 16v is as low as you should go for 4 LEDs in series.

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Wow, 10 LEDs over a similar sized tank!I have gotta see some pics.That tank must be super bright.

Looks like I am going to have to spend more than I wanted too.Oh well can't say I didn't know what

I was getting into when I picked this hobby :D .Thanks evil.

 

Like I mentioned in the first post, The quantity of LEDs doesn't determine intensity. It is used for coverage. Basically you can think of it as a single LED lighting a small area. To cover a larger area you need more LEDs. To increase the brightness you need to increase the wattage/output of the LED, or add optics to concentrate the light to raise PAR. Consider that any size array will produce peak PAR levels similar to a 70W MH. What changes in the size of the array is how broad that peak PAR area is. The more LEDs you place in the array, the more consistent the PAR levels can be.

 

You can get light distribution like a PC or T5 setup with the right configuration, but with MH shimmer and PAR levels.

 

How do you determine how many LED's you need for a certain tank? I would like to set-up a 5.5 gallon that can hold a mixture of Soft and SPS corals.

 

The number of LEDs needed is influenced by the light levels required. The more light, the tighter the spacing required by the optics used, and as a result will require more LEDs.

 

On a 5.5g, you can keep sps under an array without optics (approx. 70W equivalent) if you want. It will require the fewest number of LEDs. 16 LEDs (8x2)should do the trick on something like that, with a 50/50 mix of white and royal blue.

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Evil this is amazing thank you. I was wondering what I would need if I wanted to replace the current lighting in my aquapod 12g to something that could handle higher end anemones or maybe a clam and some sps. How many LED's and how would you position them?

Edited by confound
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You can make a 150W equivalent array with 60 degree optics. You want to keep the spacing for each LED to about 2". I'm not sure how big the available area in the Aquapod hood is to suggest the number of LEDs, but I would expect something like 18 LEDs (6x3) with a 50/50 mix of cool white and royal blue.

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You can make a 150W equivalent array with 60 degree optics. You want to keep the spacing for each LED to about 2". I'm not sure how big the available area in the Aquapod hood is to suggest the number of LEDs, but I would expect something like 18 LEDs (6x3) with a 50/50 mix of cool white and royal blue.

 

Would these LEDs be place within the the covered area that the PC lights are enclosed in? I too am interested in doing something for my animals in my AP 12. They deserve the best, not that what they have is not the best that they deserve better ;) .

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This is totally a hijack, but it's been a long time since I've came back to these threads. I started w/ the LED nano projects years ago. I need LED nerds in Reefkeeping to talk with and here you are. I am dissapointed in the low PAR of your project... don't be discouraged, so was I. I'm on revision 5 and planning revision 6.

 

603f72e4706dcd66fac246b3d55f9a82.image.200x200.jpg

The new rebel's are the way to go. You can fit 3 on a single star and get an optic to focus them. Cost is HIGH though. But for a nano, it's affordable. ($5-8/LED depending on bin, $2/star, $4 for a driver to run 10+ LEDs and then a good 36Vdc supply will be over $25-75 depending on the watts you need)

 

3b81aadfff650c6392df3ce56a55adfb.image.200x200.jpg

PS. you need optics or you will have drastically lower PAR

 

stcs1 LED driver, $4 at digikey (runs 10 leds)- here's the RIGHT way to run a high powered LED cheap as possible. They are dimmable by a seperate pulse width modulator, so you could put one PWM to control ALL blues, and one to do all whites whites instead of one per power puck.

 

*The trick to this project, is that you need to buy a hot air rework gun to solder these surface mount chips. I have not been willing to pony up $175 for a real man's soldering/hot air station.

 

Hot-Air-Rework-1.jpg

 

I would love to set someone on the right path. My 240G SPS has overwhelmed my reefing life and I have no interest in nano reefs now. It's far to expensive to light a big tank still. I also

 

My old revision 5 LED hood

DSCF2234.jpg

 

DSCF2238.jpg

 

This properly designed luxeon 3 unit (750mA) medium beam optics only gives me 100-200 PAR at 12" depth from my apogee PAR meter. I am very dissapointed, especially since it was $300, but a new Rebel LED based unit w/ more LEDs and better bins, should easily bust the 500 PAR barrier and finally beat out MH/T5 levels I get in my full reef.

Edited by zachtos
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*The trick to this project, is that you need to buy a hot air rework gun to solder these surface mount chips. I have not been willing to pony up $175 for a real man's soldering/hot air station.

 

A hot air rework station is only usefull in "reworking" SMT components, as in taking them off the board once they are already soldered, you cant solder with hot air (well ok, you can, but its REALLY difficult). To do it right, without damaging the LED device with excessive heat, all you really need is a variable temp soldering iron. Flux helps too, but thats more chemicals that could get in the tank.

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oh yeah, if somebody wants to give me $200 for a rework gun, I can send you links to all the parts that must be bought and I'll build one! =)

 

My real goal here, is to get someone else to do this right as I don't have time. The new design will do everything the PFO solaris v2 does, but will be 3 times stronger. (the new PFO solaris only uses one rebel per star, and they are lower bins, this design is basically just adding one or two more per star to increase PAR in a small area).

 

One other use I've found for high powered LEDs is to add a shimmer effect to T5 only lighting setups. I am in process of going forward with that project for my pure 240G SPS T5 setup.

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Well if someone knows how to solder these tiny rebels to a blank star, please do tell. It's not easy to solder something that is surface mount. I was not aware there was even a way to do it w/ a soldering iron? I though just tinning the surface, then laying the rebels onto the spot and blasting w/ hot air for 10 seconds while they suck into place was the way to go.

 

these things are tiny tiny, but the strongest and cheapest LED you can get at the moment, bins readily available up to 180 lumens / 3 Watts!

 

6d8e99fba3c75b0bc493cf1a726ef3c1.image.200x276.jpg

Can you solder something smaller then the tip of a pencil w/ not solder terms?

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hey evil..

 

1st off, GREAT THREAD! A lot of very good information. I have a tank 36"Lx16"Wx11"H....what sort of LED array would I need to achieve the same PAR as a 150watt MH and a 250watt MH? Any information will be appreciated.

 

Thanks

Bradly

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Zactos, good seeing you around here again. I know wee keep bumping into each other on CPF and MR. Shame you won't be able to get your array done any time soon. I may be able to help if you need some assistance on soldering and the like seeing as you are somewhat local.

 

If you want to try soldering these, there is a fairly easy way to do it. Do a search for "reflow skillet". Basic principle is that you use a non-stick skillet/frying pan set on low heat and place the tinned and fluxed (very important) assembly on the skillet and let it melt the solder. It's not ideal like a true reflow oven/toaster, but it gets the job done on the cheap.

 

Bradly88, for a 150W system, you would need 48 LEDs (16x3, ~2" spacing) with 60 degree optics. For a 250W array, something like 78 LEDs (20, 19, 20, 19, ~1.5" spacing) with 40 degree optics.

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Catfishboy747

Ok, first things first, you don't need an expensive hot air rework station. There are three methods to do this

 

1:Butane Torch. Effective, ($15 @ lowes) very, but difficult to regulate heat, actually caused delamination in a star

2: Butane Hot Air attachment... much better to regulate heat, takes a little while to warm the board up.

3: Skillet method, see #1

 

In my soldering of Rebel LEDs (and I've done quite a few) I have found that while the torch tip will heat the star up fast, it could be bad because its stupid easy to get it too hot for the board. The hot air attachment is much much better, gets the board at a more 750 (just takes longer) without it actually going over it too fast. I've never used the skillet method, but it could also cause the same issues as with the torch.

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Are there any drivers on dealextreme you'd recommend? I don't need dimmable, and I'd prefer if I could just order everything from there - shipping to Iceland is expensive, and I'm not even sure ledsupply and other retailers ship to here.

 

Preferably I'd want a driver that can run more than just one led, but anything will go, as long as it's cost effective :)

 

 

Edit:

My first post on nano-reef in 6 years :)

 

There are a company on Iceland wich is a reseller for a swedish company, that sells the Luxeon brand of LEDs and they also sells the BuckPuck 3021 driver. You can find them on http://ihlutir.is/a and http://www.elfa.se

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Hi guys

Not to high jack this thread,

I need to make a light for my new 5g tank. I am searching through the forum and I have made 2 plans below

I need your opinions. Which one do you prefer (without optics)

 

1 cool white surrounding with 3 royal blues like in this thread http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...80447&st=40

 

1 x constant current power supply 12.90€ (couldn't find a dimmable power supply in europe stores :()

http://www.led-tech.de/en/LED-Controlling/...82_118_119.html

6 x Royal blue 495mW 5.79x6 34.74€

http://www.led-tech.de/en/High-Power-LEDs-...1013_49_85.html

2 x cool white CREE MC-E 752 lumen 24.9x2 49.80€

http://www.led-tech.de/en/High-Power-LEDs-...02_120_133.html

 

Total 97.44€

 

or

 

2 string like

 

WBWBWB

BWBWBW

 

2 x constant current power supply the same 12.90x2 24.80€

6 x Royal blue luxeon rebel 495mW the same 5.79x6 34.74€

6 x cool white luxeon rebel 180 lumen 6.99x6 41.94€

http://www.led-tech.de/en/High-Power-LEDs-...1411_49_85.html

 

Total 102.48€

 

Or any other suggestions for 5g setup. I don't need a lot of light "low light corals".

 

I need your help.

Thanks Guys.

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There are a company on Iceland wich is a reseller for a swedish company, that sells the Luxeon brand of LEDs and they also sells the BuckPuck 3021 driver. You can find them on http://ihlutir.is/a and http://www.elfa.se

 

Didn't know they had buckpucks in stock, I might call them up and see what they have.. It's probably going to be ALOT cheaper for me to order online tho.. They are usually 5-10x above online price on *everything*

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Hi guys

Not to high jack this thread,

I need to make a light for my new 5g tank. I am searching through the forum and I have made 2 plans below

I need your opinions. Which one do you prefer (without optics)

 

1 cool white surrounding with 3 royal blues like in this thread http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...80447&st=40

 

1 x constant current power supply 12.90€ (couldn't find a dimmable power supply in europe stores :()

http://www.led-tech.de/en/LED-Controlling/...82_118_119.html

6 x Royal blue 495mW 5.79x6 34.74€

http://www.led-tech.de/en/High-Power-LEDs-...1013_49_85.html

2 x cool white CREE MC-E 752 lumen 24.9x2 49.80€

http://www.led-tech.de/en/High-Power-LEDs-...02_120_133.html

 

Total 97.44€

 

or

 

2 string like

 

WBWBWB

BWBWBW

 

2 x constant current power supply the same 12.90x2 24.80€

6 x Royal blue luxeon rebel 495mW the same 5.79x6 34.74€

6 x cool white luxeon rebel 180 lumen 6.99x6 41.94€

http://www.led-tech.de/en/High-Power-LEDs-...1411_49_85.html

 

Total 102.48€

H

Or any other suggestions for 5g setup. I don't need a lot of light "low light corals".

 

I need your help.

Thanks Guys.

 

Plan 2. MC-Es are a little impractical for a tank like that.

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Hey I'm still quite lost at what things to get : \

 

For LEDs:

Do I go with the XR-E?

 

For Drivers:

I have no idea which one to pick from. I checked here http://www.ledsupply.com/buckpuck.php ,but there are so many to choose from.

I'm supposed to get the 1000mA ones right?

How do I tell how many LEDs each of those drivers can run at once?

What's AC and DC powered?

 

For Power Supply:

Where can I get these? Not sure what I would be looking for.

It depends on my driver right?

 

For Heatsink:

Is it better to have one big heatsink or multiple?

Do these work by having the LED's touching the heatsink?

 

And finally, would it be possible to make something so that you can move the LED's around if you don't like how you placed them? I really don't know how to explain, but I'm thinking of the heat sink cut into thin pieces that hold like 2 LEDs front and back and place something on the front and back of the heatsink so it could slide in a fixture?

 

Sorry I'm asking so many questions, but I'm pretty confused. If you don't get what I mean about the last question then just disregard it lol.

 

Thanks

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