My LED e27 + GU10 LED BUILD THREAD (premade Ebay lights)

[FZhang]

So i had some time on my hands and was considering the advice of some and desoldering the blues out of the bulbs and swapping around so that i had a more dispersed look. i figured before i tried that I would first try just taking the optics off the bulbs and seeing if I like that look. After taking off the optics and positioning the lights I really did like it and the color was very uniform.. So.. I started building..

 

So you ended up taking out the optics on all the lights? IMO it might be better to go ahead and mix the LED's to acheive the same color blending. It might just be me but I figure that would cause your PAR to drop off considerably at depth especially with the 1W LED's?

 

I know it's very soon (like 2 days) but noticed any reaction from your SPS?

[ocxtammy]

is it possible to screw down the gu10 sockets so they dont move?

[TinyGiant]

I took the advice of your question ccxtammy and screwed down the sockets I decided to tear the tank completely apart today to rearrange the rocks so i could make more room for more corals. I also had a few rogue zoos that i wanted to glue.. so i took all the rock out and redid it.. lol i do this every couple months.. i get sick of the way the rock looks.. or i get more corals and need more room. I ended up with two extra pieces of rock too. I decided to put them outside to dry so that i can bash them into rubble for frags:) I also took the lights and wired the whites and blues on seperate plugs So now i can leave the blues on at night.. or at least a little longer than the whites. I might grab one more blue bulb for the tank to make the colors pop a little more.

 

At work the other day (lfs) i fragged up a TON of corals and cleaned the tanks. I purchased a couple of the frags and put them in the tank. While i was doing water changes on the tanks i collected a good 20-25 mini turbos and found a whelk and a cerith snail. So they all came home with me too

 

 

for corals i got:

3 Yellow communal polyps

1 green button polyp

1 tiny favia frag

1 greenish zoo frag

1 small paly rock

 

I decided to take a picture of the new arrangement and I also took a picture of some neon pink zoos i have and took a picture of the new green ones i just got:) (keep in mind the water is still cloudy from taking every thing out )

 

Pink Zoa

 

New Green zoa

 

Tank:

[TinyGiant]

after taking all the corals out and such I noticed the most growth on the clove polyp. was actually able to frag half of it. Also noticed considerable growth on the montipora. the rim has grown and the ridges inside of it have become thicker. I definitely think i want one more blue in there. Its enough blue right now to make everything stand out.. but not enough to make it pop. I think one more (making it 3 white 3 blue) would be nicer

[TinyGiant]

I started leaving the actinics on all night and am noticing a little more coloration durring the day ..especially on the red zoa. Maybe in a month or so i will grab another blue LED to add to the system. I am thinking of replacing my 5g with a new one. I got this tank for free but its all scratched up on the front. I might just upgrade o a 10gallon. I'm not sure yet

[SpankythePyro]

Thanks for the help with the leds.

 

I'm also going to order one of the par38 bulbs that has 7 cree leds and try to get a PAR meter to test everything

[TinyGiant]

I picked up my first acan today. its neon green with orange centers. I also picked up a frag of brown birds nest. i'll snap some pics later on

[TinyGiant]

New Corals today!

 

Rainbow Birdsnest

Light Blue Acro Secale

Candy Cane

Purple Digi

 

the other day i got a Green/Orange Acan lord and a brown Birds Nest

 

here are some pics: (just brought them home about an hour ago and glued them. not all open yet. )

 

 

 

 

 

[TinyGiant]

FINALLY bought a Pom Pom crab for my tank. I've wanted one ever since i was a kid. and finally i bought one put him in the tank he immediately bashed my pepermint shrimp with a pom pom then scurried off and started eating something in the corner. psyched

 

also bought a nice little sunset monti that needs some light to color up.. we'll see how it does in my nano

[TinyGiant]

I'm out on the road and just picked up an awesome pink and green (watermelon?)Zoa.. I'll have a ton of frags for sale really soon can't wait to get home with it

[TinyGiant]

I decided to re-scape the tank again .

 

thoughts?

 

my candy cane loves it when i re-scape

[TinyGiant]

I decided to expirement a little further and ordered two white 3w single LED gu10 bulbs. I picked them up for under $5 shipped

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...e=STRK:MEWNX:IT

 

i am curious to see how much brighter the 3watt bulbs are compared to the 3x1w

[TinyGiant]

i did some more work to the hood and plan to post some pics soon.. been to hot to bother with anything lately. i lost all my birdsnests, montis and acro secale in the heat.. everything else did fine .. got up to 91F

 

luckily it rained today and last night was in the 70's when i checked this mornin the tank was back down to 77F which was a relief. i added a green torch coral last night and its doing great!

[nosser]

Very cool. I'm following along to see it progress. I'm planning a diy led project and I may start out with these light to mess around since they are so cheap.

[Fnard]

Looks like those lights are holding up well for you. Was thinking about ordering one just to measure on my PAR meter to see how they measure up to my DIY led fixture. Seems to be doing the trick and may just change over to those as it is time for an upgrade anywho.

[TinyGiant]

definitely post what you find par wise. I now have 5x 3w white (7k) and 2x3w Blue i plan on adding a couple blue just for more color. everything has been doing really well. the softies love the light and grow quickly. sps didnt do well from the heat we had this summer so far but everything is doing really well. coraline is starting t grow all over the back and on the filters too

[doctaq]

im thinking about getting a few for freshwater, maybe spot light the tank from up high, its not that heavily planted but i want to play with the idea of spotlighting a few high light plants. i wish they had lumen ratings at least

[TinyGiant]

they do. i think it was 270lm

[doctaq]

not all of them, i guess i would look more for the e27 base, and they dont all have lumen ratings, 140lm for 2ish watts isnt too bad

[TinyGiant]

the blue ones are really bright. i cant look directly at them. that goes for all of them. two of them light up my 5.5 evenly. I am going to bump it up though maybe to 4 of them so it looks better with the whites on.

 

the gu10 bulbs are easy to fit if you are retro fitting the sockets are really low profile and the bulbs dont have 1.5" of threading. they just push and twist in. I am going to replace my blue e27 with gu10 when i order more blues

[doctaq]

for the price you cant even make it yourself, even if the led itself is inferior which they claim is not

[TinyGiant]

i havent seen the cree in person but i ordered the single 3w bulbs and they are amazingly bright

 

i have 3 of the 3x1w and two of the 1x3w

[TinyGiant]

So i FINALLY have PAR Readings!

 

 

A friend of mine who lives down the street decided to try doing a 10G with the same lights.

 

His setup has 5- warm whites and 5 blues

 

Without optics:

 

200 just below surface

80 Mid Tank

50 on sand

 

With Optics:

 

800 just below surface

300 Mid way

200 on sand

 

 

for comparison

he has a 90G with two halides that have

 

500 just under surface

250 Mid Tank

150 on sand

 

 

 

I am Very Pleased with these numbers

[evilc66]

Keep in mind that warm whites will raise PAR levels higher than what is actually seen by the corals (which are more blue sensitive).

[TinyGiant]

yeha we are going to check my tank next with the cool whites