LED Lighting.

[Vincenzo.]

anyone try it yet? any good solid info on it? DIY info?

[Vincenzo.]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/10/review/view?searchterm=LED%20light

[RossW]

At MACNA there was a guy, WingoLED, who had a booth and demo.  I can't seem to find his website but here is a forum I think is his.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/wingo-led/

[Vincenzo.]

thx ross ima check it out.

[Vincenzo.]

thats expensive for such a fixture.


I just picked up a FREE 40w LED power supply from work. brannnn-spankin' new from a electritian. So now i want to test this puppy. I still need many supplies though.

[mikerobart]

This is a very good thread read it the other night, one of the better diy led write ups on rc. Seems relatively affordable and looks fun/ easy to build.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1672708

[Tyler.L]

vince i will get my buddy to email whos doing the diy led on his nanocube

[Vincenzo.]

ya u better.


I saw that on rc. But there is a better and cheaper one on nano reef's. Looks so easy to do. Asides from components u need a saudering gun + wire

[Tyler.L]

we might have a soldering gun at work i dont know for sure though i will see if i can find out

but i dont even know how my buddy is doing it i havent seen it or anything i will get him to chime in on it maybe hes got pics and xxxx

[Saltcreep]

The problem I have with LED lighting for aquariums is the incredible cost. Therefore, I turn to DIY which I generally prefer anyway. I just put together a DIY LED unit for my crayfish tank. It uses the new line of LED 'bulbs' WalMart is now selling. Made by Lights of America so not exactly top end but working great so far. It's a 30" tank, 18" deep with no plants to worry about. It uses three puck style lights and four mini floods like you would use in track lighting. Total cost was about $60, they produce no heat and should last about 15 years depending on the photoperiod. Not only that but, total power consumption is 10W. I'll try to get a picture tonight that shows how well they light up the tank.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[mikerobart]

Cost and the fact they are not yet proven and other viable easier options available keeping me away for now but would be a fun project. For me it would be very important to be able to adjust colour temp but right now the only way this is being achieved is by turning leds on and off. So say 10K is all your white bulbs and 20 k is all blues (as an example)... your 15k is going to have way more par because it's got all the bulbs on... and you better hope you like the colour before you finalize your design.

Not like you can easily swap out bulbs if you don't like the colour like you can with t5's or mh.

[trodrigues]

im working on a retro for my nanocube 12. The toughest part was trying to find all the parts at a decent cost, I just received my leds last week but the royal blues will have to be sent back as they were damaged. My setup will use 13 leds total 7 royal blues and 6 whites, they are cree xre running at 1 amp, for the driver I have a meanwell dimmable wich I hope to connect to a rkl in the future. I will post some picks this week and keep you all update on the progress and testing.

[Tyler.L]

thanks tony lol

[trodrigues]

was well overdue

[Saltcreep]

Cost and the fact they are not yet proven and other viable easier options available keeping me away for now but would be a fun project. For me it would be very important to be able to adjust colour temp but right now the only way this is being achieved is by turning leds on and off. So say 10K is all your white bulbs and 20 k is all blues (as an example)... your 15k is going to have way more par because it's got all the bulbs on... and you better hope you like the colour before you finalize your design.

Not like you can easily swap out bulbs if you don't like the colour like you can with t5's or mh.

You are correct, my system is not hi-tech lighting. When I want a different colour than the warm white or cool white that's usually available, I experiment with different colours of paint used to simulate stained glass. A coat or two of Royal Blue on the surface of the bulb gives a nice 'actinic' look. The stuff goes on milky but dries crystal clear. The challenge is finding out what the final colour will be based on the colour of the paint from the tube. They used to have a colour chart showing the final effect but it seems to have disappeared.

[10gnano]

how do you know what spectrum your LED is, Cause they are not expensive at all. I have tons of LED strips I bought off EBAY for my 12V lighting I am putting in my house. It would be easy as hell and dirt Cheap to make LED aquarium lighting, But how do you know the spectrum

[Vincenzo.]

 u want to get edison or cree led's, there is another kind to but i forget.  I think the par value is close. Im gone get serious with it. And do one. They are easy, and fairly cheap to do. Im just doing some more research. Then ima do one up.

And for GOOD led's they last about 6 years the walmart special is not what ur looking for, nor are u looking for x mas lights.

Stay tuned kiddies ima make a nice one

[GSM]

I built a setup back in August using Soundwave's design from RC.  I took some shots while building it and will post over the next couple of days.

In short - really impressed how bright these fixtures are and the shimmer effect is fantastic.

I use this one to supplement my dual 250w 10K XM's + 4 T5 actinics. It definitely makes my corals 'pop' more and adds a little more blue spectrum - XMs are a little too yellow for my taste, even with T5 supplementation.

[Vincenzo.]

^ nice, but i plan on making a pure only led fixture.


so as far as stuff goes, i called around and only spoke to rude ppl. so i need to dig a bit deeper.

[Vincenzo.]

here are a tone of good examples...
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=200335