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03/02/2012, 12:50 PM | #476 |
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I read through most of this thread and I was wondering if there is a definitive answer about which drivers to buy and which controller to get in order to dim this automatically for the sunrise/sunset effect.
I want to get the correct drivers on the first shot so i dont waste money but I am not sure which ones are going to work Thanks |
03/02/2012, 02:18 PM | #477 |
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I am looking into a diy led for my 46 bf. 36"X18"deep. I have SPS and softies. I would have to have a manualy dimmable set up. Any suggestions? How many leds? Favorite colors? I'm mainly interested in getting good growth and color.
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03/02/2012, 03:56 PM | #478 | |
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03/02/2012, 03:59 PM | #479 | |
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color choices is something you will have to decide on your own. i like the 50/50 10k white and royal blue. you can add 2 uv to help make your corals pop.
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03/02/2012, 07:17 PM | #480 |
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Thanks for the reply Nemo. Would you suggest the Cree or Aquastyle?
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03/02/2012, 09:09 PM | #481 |
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How many LEDs would you recommend for a 75gal mixed reef?
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03/03/2012, 12:01 AM | #482 | |
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Felix Nice to meet you! Current Tank Info: 60 Gallon Cube |
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03/03/2012, 12:04 AM | #483 |
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honestly i think it depends on what you plan to keep, if you are keeping a fowler the 36 would mostlikely do.
lps and softie 48 leds sps and intense light requiring sps i would go with 72. 18 per heatsink or 36 per. if you go with channels, 18 per channel wil be great.
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Felix Nice to meet you! Current Tank Info: 60 Gallon Cube |
03/03/2012, 12:15 AM | #484 |
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good news is that I'm back in MD at least. Ordered up some goodies to complete the test circuits. I'm hoping my meter will be back this week so I can finish it. Was due for calibration so had to send it back to fluke or it won't be accepted as test equipment on some of these jobs.
Also sat down with our training engineer (who has a strong background in microcontrollers as well too, far beyond anybody else I've ever spoken with) and nailed down the design concepts of a few other things. Gotta order 2 transformers this week, bridge rectifier and a few other components, but that should make a very low cost, low power VFD. Another thing I've wanted to do for awhile
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BRB, Goldfish on fire How much deeper would the ocean really be if sponges didn't exist? Current Tank Info: 75 gallon mixed reef tank |
03/03/2012, 07:33 AM | #485 | |
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03/03/2012, 09:37 AM | #486 | |
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What optic would you suggest. I will barrow a par meter when I decide to hang the light. And thank for the input Nemo.
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03/03/2012, 06:14 PM | #487 | |
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Felix Nice to meet you! Current Tank Info: 60 Gallon Cube |
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03/03/2012, 08:55 PM | #488 |
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how intense are the reds?
based on some of the feedback here, I'm trying to plan a wider spectrum. 85 RB 25 10000k 20 6500k 15 4500k 10 Red 10 UV 10 Violet 130x18x20(t) To start I'll be supplementing t5's if this isn't enough. thoughts? cheers Last edited by reefstricken; 03/03/2012 at 09:07 PM. |
03/04/2012, 09:29 AM | #489 |
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I remember seeing somewhere that they would solder and assemble for a fee. Does anyone know if that's true?
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03/04/2012, 02:02 PM | #490 |
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Assembly is really easy, I build mine and I had no prior experience soldering.
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Bigger/more tanks don't give you knowledge, they just show you have the money... ICH is overrated... Current Tank Info: Designing a 200G |
03/05/2012, 08:37 PM | #491 |
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All right Nemo I have pretty much decided on a 36 led kit. I am also considering building my own controller (Aduiro?). Which driver would you suggest so I can dime the leds dusk to dark. I am also going to put the leds on c channel. Any suggestions on spacing? I have a 46 bowfront.
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03/06/2012, 09:31 AM | #492 | |
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Is this going to control just one driver?What about blue and white is ther e enough pins on board to run multiple boards and do the other things you wan to do? VFD for cooling fan? How much power is going through the dimming circuit? |
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03/06/2012, 10:58 AM | #493 | |
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Felix Nice to meet you! Current Tank Info: 60 Gallon Cube |
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03/06/2012, 10:59 AM | #494 | |
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03/06/2012, 11:06 AM | #495 |
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03/06/2012, 12:41 PM | #496 |
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If you could theoretically find a digital pot with only 25 ohms resistance then yes.. I'll have the schematics for a resistor array through a 16 channel mux shortly
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BRB, Goldfish on fire How much deeper would the ocean really be if sponges didn't exist? Current Tank Info: 75 gallon mixed reef tank |
03/06/2012, 12:48 PM | #497 | |
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03/06/2012, 01:24 PM | #498 |
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I'm already working on it, even had the digital pots in place and programmed. Problem is there are no digital pots on the market that are anywhere near the resolution we need for the dimming circuit of the maxwellen driver.
The pots which ship with the drivers are 22ohm linear pots. At 22ohms resistance it's 36ma current, at 12ohms it's 58ma at 2 ohms it's 230ma. The majority of the current is done at 0-1.5 ohms, which takes it from 230ma out to 680ma, so you'll need a series of .1 ohm steps for a smooth transition. If you go back in previous posts on this thread I went into more detail with resistance/current on these drivers.
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BRB, Goldfish on fire How much deeper would the ocean really be if sponges didn't exist? Current Tank Info: 75 gallon mixed reef tank |
03/06/2012, 02:59 PM | #499 | |
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My tank is a FOWLR but I may add some corals in the future. Do you think 2x120 kits would be ok for me or is there more to it? Knowing what you know, what should I do to make my 8ft 31"h tank pop? 2 of these? http://www.aquastyleonline.com/produ...mable-Kit.html ...gg 700 bucks before heatsinks. This is going to be expensive nomatter how I do it. 300g is 300g. *sigh*
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A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. -Mark Twain Current Tank Info: 300gal FOWLR- Emperor Angel, Rainbow Wrasse, Green Bird Wrasse, Dogface Puffer, Niger Trigger, Flame Hawkfish, Matted Filefish 150 Turbosnails that only come out at night! :D |
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03/06/2012, 03:24 PM | #500 | |
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if money is going to be a issue, then the 2x 120 kits would be the way to go, don't use channels, instead go with heatsinks, this way you can cluster the leds closer together and get better par out of them. also try to bix the inner rows of leds with 40 degree optics and then the outer with 60's. this is for the aquastyle setup. for a cree build, i think 60's would be good. if you read back a couple of post, you will see that i started adding cree's to my build because my tank is so wide and deep. so to reduce the amount of leds and drivers i use, i went with cree's. you do not want to have too many drivers on one circuit starting up at the same time, not sure how much load they can take, but from what i have read forward voltage is an issue when using too many drivers, you can overload the wires. the options are to run the leds in parallel or have them on timers, so not all of them turn on at the same time. another option you can do is to get a 120 kit and then get 4 heatsinks from rapids site along with xml's and xte's to give you a high noon effect, then you can ramp them down or turn them off after a certain time. so you would have cree's on heatsinks in the middle and aquastyle on the outsides via channels. hope this helps.
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Felix Nice to meet you! Current Tank Info: 60 Gallon Cube |
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