Tank Journal Archive
Just a couple of pics of my LED build. Ill post up more detailed info about it later.
I used 6 6" makersLED heatsinks from here. All the LEDs and fans are powered by a meanwell 48V 8.3A 400W DC power supply.
I can slide the heatinks from side to side and I can slide the banks of 3 heatsinks forwards and back which is handy.
With all the lights at 100% I get a nice crisp white light which is what I was aiming for.
Now for some pics!
I used 6 6" makersLED heatsinks from here. All the LEDs and fans are powered by a meanwell 48V 8.3A 400W DC power supply.
I can slide the heatinks from side to side and I can slide the banks of 3 heatsinks forwards and back which is handy.
With all the lights at 100% I get a nice crisp white light which is what I was aiming for.
Now for some pics!
Ok, a little more detail about the LED build :)
So after a lot of research I decided to go DIY because I could build a better light than there is on the market at the moment and for much less cost. I could also build it exactly the way I wanted it and its easily upgradable in the future.
I wanted to try and make a full spectrum light (or something better than just blue and white!) So I decided on the following colours, all are cree except for the red, violet and green.
Cool white x24
Neutral white x12
Blue x12
Royal blue x36
Violet 410-420nm x12
Red 660nm x3
Turquoise 495nm x3
I almost went with the standard meanwell drivers until @MagicJ started the thread about the LDD drivers. These drivers are MUCH smaller and cheaper so I decided to use these. Whats even better was that these drivers could be mounted to a board (5 per board) so it is very neat and cleans up the wiring.
To give an idea of the size....
The board with the sockets mounted
Drivers mounted
Using the calculator from @MagicJ, I needed at least a power supply with more than the values in the excel pic.
I got a meanwell 48V 8.3A 400W DC power supply off ebay. They are fairly cheap but it is doing the job so far! The fan on it is a little loud though, so I might see if I can swap it for a quiet one someday.
The layout of the LEDs is something like this awesome microsoft paint pic I did.
There are six 6" heat sinks, so I built three each of this layout
When I actually built them it ended up looking like this. The heat sinks with the Red and Turquoise are the top three.
I always run hoods over my tanks so when I built this hood I added a spot where I could mount the LEDs
I mounted the heat sinks on some tube that I got from here.
I just quickly made up some brackets to mount the heat sinks to the tube using the existing holes where the fan bolts in. So in the hood I can slide the heat sinks from front to back and side to side.
I ended up wiring the fans directly to the power supply so they are all running at 8v each. They keep the heat sinks nice and cool and I cant hear the fans when the hood is closed.
I just need to mount the boards and drivers properly in a box and hook up a controller and it will be all done.... until I want to change or add new LED's.
(same pic as above)
So after a lot of research I decided to go DIY because I could build a better light than there is on the market at the moment and for much less cost. I could also build it exactly the way I wanted it and its easily upgradable in the future.
I wanted to try and make a full spectrum light (or something better than just blue and white!) So I decided on the following colours, all are cree except for the red, violet and green.
Cool white x24
Neutral white x12
Blue x12
Royal blue x36
Violet 410-420nm x12
Red 660nm x3
Turquoise 495nm x3
I almost went with the standard meanwell drivers until @MagicJ started the thread about the LDD drivers. These drivers are MUCH smaller and cheaper so I decided to use these. Whats even better was that these drivers could be mounted to a board (5 per board) so it is very neat and cleans up the wiring.
To give an idea of the size....
The board with the sockets mounted
Drivers mounted
Using the calculator from @MagicJ, I needed at least a power supply with more than the values in the excel pic.
I got a meanwell 48V 8.3A 400W DC power supply off ebay. They are fairly cheap but it is doing the job so far! The fan on it is a little loud though, so I might see if I can swap it for a quiet one someday.
The layout of the LEDs is something like this awesome microsoft paint pic I did.
There are six 6" heat sinks, so I built three each of this layout
When I actually built them it ended up looking like this. The heat sinks with the Red and Turquoise are the top three.
I always run hoods over my tanks so when I built this hood I added a spot where I could mount the LEDs
I mounted the heat sinks on some tube that I got from here.
I just quickly made up some brackets to mount the heat sinks to the tube using the existing holes where the fan bolts in. So in the hood I can slide the heat sinks from front to back and side to side.
I ended up wiring the fans directly to the power supply so they are all running at 8v each. They keep the heat sinks nice and cool and I cant hear the fans when the hood is closed.
I just need to mount the boards and drivers properly in a box and hook up a controller and it will be all done.... until I want to change or add new LED's.
(same pic as above)
Some new additions :)
Firstly, an unwanted addition has popped up since the tank has been getting the morning sunlight... cyano :rolleyes It has been here for a couple of weeks now but its fading away now.
I got a nice purple Heteractis Crispa anemone which is a natural host for my Percula clowns. I put the anemone in a spot that I liked and 5 minutes later this happened....
I feel sorry about the people who have been waiting months and months for their clowns to notice their anemone :p
After about 2 weeks the anemone pulled it self under the rock and stayed there for a couple of days, then appeared about 10cm away on the other side of the rock.
So after about a month in the tank this is what the nem looks like.
Next is an awesome Squamosa clam that I got from @Rob.
And lastly I got a few sps frags from @chimaera.
My Tunze ATO pump failed last week so I replaced it with a spare that I had. There was a small line of rust on the failed pump so I wonder if water was getting in somewhere that it shouldn't have. Hopefully the cyano doesn't last too much longer because its pretty ugly on my nice new sand!
Firstly, an unwanted addition has popped up since the tank has been getting the morning sunlight... cyano :rolleyes It has been here for a couple of weeks now but its fading away now.
I got a nice purple Heteractis Crispa anemone which is a natural host for my Percula clowns. I put the anemone in a spot that I liked and 5 minutes later this happened....
I feel sorry about the people who have been waiting months and months for their clowns to notice their anemone :p
After about 2 weeks the anemone pulled it self under the rock and stayed there for a couple of days, then appeared about 10cm away on the other side of the rock.
So after about a month in the tank this is what the nem looks like.
Next is an awesome Squamosa clam that I got from @Rob.
And lastly I got a few sps frags from @chimaera.
My Tunze ATO pump failed last week so I replaced it with a spare that I had. There was a small line of rust on the failed pump so I wonder if water was getting in somewhere that it shouldn't have. Hopefully the cyano doesn't last too much longer because its pretty ugly on my nice new sand!
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