+ludakris Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Im looking to build my own led fixture for my 90 gallon. I have a huge heatsink already thats probally 30x12. My question is how many leds would I need to grow almost anything in my 36x24x24 tank. I was wanting to go for a 20k look but ima do dimmable with dimmer switches. Anyone have some ideas on how many leds and what color combos I should go with? Anything helps. Im kinda clueless here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 Ok heatsink is 24 and a half by 9 and 3/4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 You really need to match your light and corals to each other. Even with just the acropora genus you will find species that come from mutually exclusive environments and there's no such thing as one set of lighting conditions to work for everything. Even with a single species changes in both intensity and/or spectrum can have a pronounced effect, see my thread here for one example: http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/24054-the-difference-a-12-inch-makes/?hl=half-an-inch I've attached a pdf file with the PAR output of Cree 6500K LEDs for both a single LED star and a 3 LED star as well as with and without lenses and at different depths. For blue and royal blue LEDs figure PAR at about 20% of the 6500K. This is off the cuff but I would guess you will want to do an even number each of 6500K, Blue and Royal Blue with a few UV and Green. As far as red I suspect the 6500K will have enough but I'm sure others will suggest adding it or using a 4500K. It should be fairly easy to add fans to your heat sink which would let you pretty much cover it with LEDs if you need to. I would be inclined to cut it in half and make two fixtures to cover your 90 gallon. If you do, it can be done on a table saw with a good metal plade and by inserting wood strips between the vanes to keep them from bending. As far as number again this is just guessing but with one LED stars and 40 degree lenses probably one LED every 3 inchs so ballbpark number 36 - 40. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 I'm curious about how much you are going to save DIY vs buying a comparable fixture. I'm not suggesting that you not DIY, just what the savings is at this point. Obviously, comparing a DIY to, say, a Radion is not even fair price wise. But something like an AI unit, or a ReefBreeders/ Ocean Revive, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted August 15, 2014 Author Share Posted August 15, 2014 Ok. Im gonna turn this into my build thread if its cool. I done some research and I decided to build an similar fixture to the repid led onyx fixture. I read on their site and said to use this formuala For tanks with SPS you can use the following formula: (Length of tank in inches x Width of tank in inches)/18 For example, if you have a 75g tank and your footprint is 48” x 18”, you would need: (48” x 18”)/18- = roughly 48 LEDs so my tank is 36x24 which also comes out to 48 leds. So I looked at the color array on the onyx fixture and ordered double to be able to make 2 sets of the configuration. I already have the heat sink which I aquired for free. My order I placed today was $207 which was a few bucks over my bday limit. But that got me the 48 leds and one dimmable driver. Ill need 3 more drivers at 32 bucks each and some lenses Which are roughly 1 each so ill say rounded up to $50. I have everything else I need for the build as far as solder and wires and dimmer switches for each. So total cost rounded would be about $350 to light a 90gallon tank and be able to keep sps as far as my understanding. I will try and keep you all updated on the build and I hope it is educational and benificial Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robb in Austin Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 How much would the heat sinks and switches be? Wire and solder is pretty cheap. Regardless, sounds like DIY is still cheaper than buying fixtures. Not terribly surprising. I know 2 RB/OR value fixtures would run ~$400. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted August 15, 2014 Author Share Posted August 15, 2014 A heatsink the size I got would run $85 dollars and dimmer switches would run 30 for 3 according to the rapid led site. So I guess im saving a little over $100. So if someone was to build this buold they would spend between 450 and 500 considering solder and wire to make jumper wires and power plugs to wire the drivers.i still gotta consider a couple of computer fans to install to keep the lights cool and some kinda splash guard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nori4dori Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 Are you making it programmable, or just dimmable. There are some threads out there with lots of details on building your own programmable LED fixture. You can get a Storm-x controller and 4 meanwell drivers (from Rapidled), and it will cost you less than the 4 dimmable drivers you are getting. Since you are spending a few hundred dollars, you will be disappointed later without the programming function. You could get 2 chinese dimmable LED fixtures 120w each, for less than $100 each and that would be plenty of light for a tank your size. Lots of people keep amazing SPS under the evergrow type LEDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted August 16, 2014 Author Share Posted August 16, 2014 Yea I been looking alot at a sunrise sunset function. I looked at the stormx controller bit from my understanding id still need a powersupply for the drivers which run 50 dollars each and only run 15 leds. Correct me if im wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nori4dori Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 you don't need a separate power supply for each. a single 400w power supply will run all drivers. steve's LED has power supply for $50. they also carry the philips luxeon LEDs which some say are better than CREEs. Email them before you buy anything to make sure what you buy is compatible: http://shop.stevesleds.com/. Also check out ReefLL http://www.reefll.com/ . They have some really awesome 12-LED arrays for only $30 but their drivers and controllers are pricey. I am not sure if Meanwell Driver and Storm-X controller will work with ReefLL arrays. You can email and ask them. Also check out http://www.ledgroupbuy.com . They have some awesome solderless CREE LEDs that will make your work a lot easier. They also have a good guide on how to connect meanwell drivers to LED and controller: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2361330/LEDGroupBuy/LumiaBuild/lumiabuild.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted August 17, 2014 Author Share Posted August 17, 2014 Thanks for all ur knowledge. I ordered a small spectrum of crees but its not like a array panel of lights together. So ill have to figure out how much controllability I want. IImado a stormx controller with ldd drivers. I have many options from doing all blue, white and colors together. Or I can do blues, whites, and colors seperatly. Or I can do blues, whites, reds, greens, and uv. So I got a range of options to either run 4,5, or 8 drivers depending on how much controllability I want. I was leaning towards more of the 5 driver setup with blues on 2 drivers. Whites on 2 drivers and colors on the last driver. I do jave a couple questions though. The red cree led I ordered is a 750ma led. Would this run in series with the other colors on a 1000ma driver or would it shorten the life/blow the led. If not id have to run a 6th driver of 700ma just for the red. Kinda sounds like a pain. Amd last question is im not understanding on how to adjust the current output on the power supply. The one im lookin at getting is a meanwell se-350-48 and it states its 0-7.3A current output. Do I adjust that output and if so how do I know how much is needed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nori4dori Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 If the red cree is 750mA you can't put it on a 1000mA driver. It will burn it in a few days. You would have to put it on a 700mA driver. Do you really need red leds? If you have a mix of warm white (3000K) and neutral white (4500k) that covers most of the red and green spectrum that the corals may need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 How would I adjust the output voltage on the power supply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Reefer Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 48 - 3 watt LEDs @ running @ 2.5 watts normally only gives you 120 watts total. IMHO I think that's about 1/2 what you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nori4dori Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 How would I adjust the output voltage on the power supply You don't need to. Meanwell LDD-1000H or LDD-700H take 9V - 56V DC. So a 24V or 48V power supply will work fine with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 So there would b no need to adjust the output on the power supply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nori4dori Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 So there would b no need to adjust the output on the power supply no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 Got my leds in and figured the layout I wanted and glued em down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 Testing lights and my layout Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maas1221 Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 What did you use to glue them down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sethsolomon Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 What did you use to glue them down? Thermal Adhesive. Rapid LED sells it with their kits. What did you use to glue them down? If the red cree is 750mA you can't put it on a 1000mA driver. It will burn it in a few days. You would have to put it on a 700mA driver. Do you really need red leds? If you have a mix of warm white (3000K) and neutral white (4500k) that covers most of the red and green spectrum that the corals may need. Yah with Cree whites you don't need any red or green LED's as the Whites have too much of these spectrum already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 I ordered my drivers and 5 driver board with a breakout cable from coralux so hopefully I can have u guys a little update. Not much but slowly and surely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 I got my package in today. Heres a few pics I took of the drivers and the board assembly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ludakris Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 Here ya go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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