DIY LEDs - The write-up - Page 2

eznet2u · 03/01/2009, 12:01 AM

OMG!!!

I love this. I think I might try one on my Nano. Very thought out and concise write up. Thanks.

Curve · 03/01/2009, 12:03 AM

Do you think instead of 2 inches between each led you could go to 3" and get more coverage??

hijinks · 03/01/2009, 12:04 AM

how long has it been running on your tank.. and seen better growth/same or seems slower?

The pics look great.. just wondering about growth

Soundwave · 03/01/2009, 12:11 AM

Curve: if these were spaced any further, they might create the dreaded spotlight effect on their own. I didn't want noticeable color separation.

hijinks: It's been a whole 3 days. Hard to tell what is going to happen. Hopefully, though, It'll be good.

hijinks · 03/01/2009, 12:12 AM

great.. i'll keep my eyes out for posts on what you think

Curve · 03/01/2009, 12:33 AM

I guess the spacing would depend on how high you were mounting it above the surface. I will be trying this soon enough.

reefer_man_mike · 03/01/2009, 01:26 AM

the set up you created is comparable to 150 watt MH, 250 watt mh, or 400 watt mh? what are optics?

Soundwave · 03/01/2009, 01:38 AM

It's kinda in the middle, mike. The output is better than a 175 MH but not as high as a 250. Optics are lenses that focus the light from the LEDs.

dogstar74 · 03/01/2009, 02:02 AM

Soundwave, You definately rock. I just hope these lights can grow the corals as well as the MH's have for so many years.

I was wondering if you could clarify for me...
The link you posted to the Cree white LEDs on stars, would that be the XR-E stars?
http://www.ledsupply.com/creexre.php

And if those are the ones you used, why not go with the MC-E stars? Cost difference aside. They are three times the lumens. There fore, could you not get away with using less? And since the blues in the spectrum are mainly to give POP and wow to the colors in the tank, and have little to do with the growth of corals, you could still use the royals XR-Es like you did.

Perhaps the MC-E LEDs would be better for someone with a deeper tank. Say, 24 to 30 inches?

Again, this is a great writeup, and I know that ripples will be felt in the aquarium world not seen since the days of the DIY Luminarc reflector plans hit the net.

Cheers,
Aaron

g8gxp · 03/01/2009, 03:27 AM

I copied this from another forum - comparison between the XRE and the MCE:

the MC-E on the other hand is FOUR of these led in a single package.
pos: more brightness but almost no size increase (of head)
neg:
1st: four times the current needed
2nd: four times the heat produced
3rd: much wider beam and pretty nothing to fight that
4th: other driver needed, next to impossible to drive it with full power from a single cell

madadi · 03/01/2009, 06:31 AM

if someone can figure out how to program dimer settings for sun set and sun rise im definitely going to give this a try.

Soundwave · 03/01/2009, 07:23 AM

dogstar: The MCE is a little complicated and driving it would be a nightmare all its own. The ones I am using are the XR-E models. I can't believe I forgot to add that in there.

madadi: I have an acquaintance who is working on that...

Soundwave · 03/01/2009, 07:26 AM

One side note, also. The blues are on their own power supply which allows you to run them as actinics:

bebereef · 03/01/2009, 07:45 AM

You make my mouth watering!

KKamy · 03/01/2009, 08:10 AM

Isn't there a way to wire this up in both series and parallel? Right now, if you have one of those LEDs burn out, won't that make the whole string go out?

Of course that would sure bring your attention to it faster

I imagine if only one LED goes out, it might not be very noticeable to the eye (though your corals might notice).

EBOLII · 03/01/2009, 08:11 AM

what about expansion? say 72'L or 96'L and 24"w or 30"w is it safe to add more LEDS? How do you compute the addition or subtraction?

KKamy · 03/01/2009, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by EBOLII
what about expansion? say 72'L or 96'L and 24"w or 30"w is it safe to add more LEDS? How do you compute the addition or subtraction?

EBOLII, lot of good info on power issues over on http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/in...p?showforum=25

They have a very active forum, especially in the LED lighting arena.

coralfragger101 · 03/01/2009, 08:22 AM

This is great.

I have (cough) several of the PFO Solaris units that will now no longer be serviced by PFO.

I'm wondering if I could basically rebuild them using the nice looking case. I recently had someone put a PAR meter on one of my units and I wasn't pulling the kind of PAR shown in this thread.

dtech · 03/01/2009, 09:25 AM

So if I have understood right ( and please correct me if I'm wrong I'm still learning LED stuff) If I use lenses the pPAR goes up but I lose some coverage, so for a tank that will be 30x30x30 I would need to use more rows oF LED's to get the even coverage as shown without, but I would get the PAR numbers up to around a 400w halide that would be needed for such a deep tank?
(sorry for the long question)

Bamm Bamm · 03/01/2009, 09:30 AM

Gret Writeup..

skeet103 · 03/01/2009, 09:42 AM

Great write-up, The best one I have seen on this subject to date!

A follow up question to Dtech, when using optics would I want to mount the LED's closer together (>2") since I am now focusing the beam?

Also I do not believe in your DIY it says you spaced out your LED's 2" but someone commented on it, therefore can I clarify it is in fact 2" and if so is that a measurement from Actual LED to LED or the space between each edge of star mount? ( I assume it is LED to LED)

Cheers and thanks again for a great step by step DIY on LED's

wsukid12 · 03/01/2009, 10:10 AM

great write up man i love it.
I would love to do something like this for my nano and was wondering if you could tell me if this light would work, dont mean to hijack your thread.
http://cgi.ebay.com/WHITE-BLUE-LED-A...742.m153.l1262

troylee · 03/01/2009, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by madadi
if someone can figure out how to program dimer settings for sun set and sun rise im definitely going to give this a try.

i am currently running a similiar set up for my moon light's which contain a driver and you can program it off your pc. i have a string with 16pod's on it each module if you will contain 3led's a red,blue,green with those three colors you can actually change the mood from like 3.1million different colors some of you might have seen my diy mh setup with color changing moonlight's the led moon light's were all programmed by a friend at work for me who gave me the set up"i work for a sign shop UNLIMITED SUPPLY OF LEDS" lol!!!anyways he was showing me the dmx programmer you can buy online which allows you to have different presets for color changing temp changing and such also dimmable via a remote on the couch for crying out loud....everyone is defenitly onto something with this whole led thing but with the 3 colors red,green,blue you can dial in the temp rating from 3500k to probally well above 20k it's amazing as i played with mine turn all 3 on at one time and it's a crisp white to the eye looks like 14k who would of thought???????turn on red and green get gold looks like a full moon it's really wierd and truly amazing im gonna have to get the full info on my set up and will share with everyone interested...

Curve · 03/01/2009, 12:20 PM

He told us this in another thread. I'm sorry and I should of said that.

Quote:

Originally posted by skeet103
Great write-up, The best one I have seen on this subject to date!

A follow up question to Dtech, when using optics would I want to mount the LED's closer together (>2") since I am now focusing the beam?

Also I do not believe in your DIY it says you spaced out your LED's 2" but someone commented on it, therefore can I clarify it is in fact 2" and if so is that a measurement from Actual LED to LED or the space between each edge of star mount? ( I assume it is LED to LED)

Cheers and thanks again for a great step by step DIY on LED's

EBOLII · 03/01/2009, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KKamy
EBOLII, lot of good info on power issues over on http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/i...hp?showforum=25

They have a very active forum, especially in the LED lighting arena.

You need pm me that link. will not work on open forum

Soundwave I was hoping to hear your response to my questions

03/01/2009, 12:03 AM	#27
Curve Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Farmerville, Louisiana Posts: 652	Do you think instead of 2 inches between each led you could go to 3" and get more coverage?? __________________ If you don't take some meds, you're going to burn out of this hobby everytime a shrimp farts. Current Tank Info: 210 aggresive, 3 gallon led build

03/01/2009, 12:33 AM	#31
Curve Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Farmerville, Louisiana Posts: 652	I guess the spacing would depend on how high you were mounting it above the surface. I will be trying this soon enough. __________________ If you don't take some meds, you're going to burn out of this hobby everytime a shrimp farts. Current Tank Info: 210 aggresive, 3 gallon led build

03/01/2009, 02:02 AM	#34
dogstar74 Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Wyoming Posts: 2,152	Soundwave, You definately rock. I just hope these lights can grow the corals as well as the MH's have for so many years. I was wondering if you could clarify for me... The link you posted to the Cree white LEDs on stars, would that be the XR-E stars? http://www.ledsupply.com/creexre.php And if those are the ones you used, why not go with the MC-E stars? Cost difference aside. They are three times the lumens. There fore, could you not get away with using less? And since the blues in the spectrum are mainly to give POP and wow to the colors in the tank, and have little to do with the growth of corals, you could still use the royals XR-Es like you did. Perhaps the MC-E LEDs would be better for someone with a deeper tank. Say, 24 to 30 inches? Again, this is a great writeup, and I know that ripples will be felt in the aquarium world not seen since the days of the DIY Luminarc reflector plans hit the net. Cheers, Aaron __________________ "If there's nothing wrong with me... then there must be something wrong with the universe!" Current Tank Info: 10 gallon nano with ATS

03/01/2009, 03:27 AM	#35
g8gxp Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 685	I copied this from another forum - comparison between the XRE and the MCE: the MC-E on the other hand is FOUR of these led in a single package. pos: more brightness but almost no size increase (of head) neg: 1st: four times the current needed 2nd: four times the heat produced 3rd: much wider beam and pretty nothing to fight that 4th: other driver needed, next to impossible to drive it with full power from a single cell __________________ 120G mixed reef, 6105's, Kent Nautilus. DIY LED array, Profilux 3.

03/01/2009, 06:31 AM	#36
madadi ReefOG Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Morton grove, IL Posts: 3,976	if someone can figure out how to program dimer settings for sun set and sun rise im definitely going to give this a try. __________________ -~adrian~- LETS TRADE YUMAS Current Tank Info: Glass box.

03/01/2009, 12:01 AM	#26
eznet2u Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 1,135	OMG!!! I love this. I think I might try one on my Nano. Very thought out and concise write up. Thanks.

03/01/2009, 12:04 AM	#28
hijinks Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Colorado Posts: 505	how long has it been running on your tank.. and seen better growth/same or seems slower? The pics look great.. just wondering about growth

03/01/2009, 12:11 AM	#29
Soundwave Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Maroa, Il Posts: 361	Curve: if these were spaced any further, they might create the dreaded spotlight effect on their own. I didn't want noticeable color separation. hijinks: It's been a whole 3 days. Hard to tell what is going to happen. Hopefully, though, It'll be good.

03/01/2009, 12:12 AM	#30
hijinks Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Colorado Posts: 505	great.. i'll keep my eyes out for posts on what you think

03/01/2009, 01:26 AM	#32
reefer_man_mike Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 42	the set up you created is comparable to 150 watt MH, 250 watt mh, or 400 watt mh? what are optics?

03/01/2009, 01:38 AM	#33
Soundwave Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Maroa, Il Posts: 361	It's kinda in the middle, mike. The output is better than a 175 MH but not as high as a 250. Optics are lenses that focus the light from the LEDs.

03/01/2009, 07:23 AM	#37
Soundwave Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Maroa, Il Posts: 361	dogstar: The MCE is a little complicated and driving it would be a nightmare all its own. The ones I am using are the XR-E models. I can't believe I forgot to add that in there. madadi: I have an acquaintance who is working on that...

03/01/2009, 07:26 AM	#38
Soundwave Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Maroa, Il Posts: 361	One side note, also. The blues are on their own power supply which allows you to run them as actinics:

03/01/2009, 07:45 AM	#39
bebereef Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Sorel, Quebec, Canada Posts: 280	You make my mouth watering! __________________ Sent from my TF 300 or my SGH-T989D both on Jelly Bean.

03/01/2009, 08:10 AM	#40
KKamy Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Gloucester, VA Posts: 18	Isn't there a way to wire this up in both series and parallel? Right now, if you have one of those LEDs burn out, won't that make the whole string go out? Of course that would sure bring your attention to it faster I imagine if only one LED goes out, it might not be very noticeable to the eye (though your corals might notice).

03/01/2009, 08:11 AM	#41
EBOLII Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Deep within the uncharted Amazon Posts: 400	what about expansion? say 72'L or 96'L and 24"w or 30"w is it safe to add more LEDS? How do you compute the addition or subtraction? __________________ I am lost in every-way there is.............literally.............just plain LOST

03/01/2009, 08:22 AM	#43
coralfragger101 Gone Postal Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Coral Springs, FL Posts: 5,461	This is great. I have (cough) several of the PFO Solaris units that will now no longer be serviced by PFO. I'm wondering if I could basically rebuild them using the nice looking case. I recently had someone put a PAR meter on one of my units and I wasn't pulling the kind of PAR shown in this thread. __________________ Views expressed by this person are not neccessarily the views of any other person and may never be. Apology extended to any member who takes offense to any post. Offense is not meant nor intended. Current Tank Info: NONE - Sold - Can't afford it right now!

03/01/2009, 09:25 AM	#44
dtech Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Englewood, co Posts: 519	So if I have understood right ( and please correct me if I'm wrong I'm still learning LED stuff) If I use lenses the pPAR goes up but I lose some coverage, so for a tank that will be 30x30x30 I would need to use more rows oF LED's to get the even coverage as shown without, but I would get the PAR numbers up to around a 400w halide that would be needed for such a deep tank? (sorry for the long question)

03/01/2009, 09:30 AM	#45
Bamm Bamm Saltwater Guru Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Brentwood, NOR CAL Posts: 9,309	Gret Writeup.. __________________ 25g rimless cube in the works Current Tank Info: 60g cube

03/01/2009, 09:42 AM	#46
skeet103 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1	Great write-up, The best one I have seen on this subject to date! A follow up question to Dtech, when using optics would I want to mount the LED's closer together (>2") since I am now focusing the beam? Also I do not believe in your DIY it says you spaced out your LED's 2" but someone commented on it, therefore can I clarify it is in fact 2" and if so is that a measurement from Actual LED to LED or the space between each edge of star mount? ( I assume it is LED to LED) Cheers and thanks again for a great step by step DIY on LED's

03/01/2009, 10:10 AM	#47
wsukid12 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: ohio Posts: 50	great write up man i love it. I would love to do something like this for my nano and was wondering if you could tell me if this light would work, dont mean to hijack your thread. http://cgi.ebay.com/WHITE-BLUE-LED-A...742.m153.l1262 __________________ Ryan