DIY LED Lighting Fixture

[keno]

CatsMeowww;

I looked at what other's were doing for their marine tank and took a guess. I figured if I was off on the number of LED's, I could have added more. There is plenty of space still on the heatsinks, but I am not planning on adding any additional LED's.

I am working on a couple of LED lights for my 200 gallon aquarium. For that one I am going to go with 48 LED's. That aquarium is 2' x 5' and 30 inches deep. I would rather go a little high and adjust with the dimmer control if it is too much. Plus the aquarium is deeper, so I am hoping the LED's will penetrate the depth better. They should, since the light they produce is more focused and will travel deeper into the water column.

I wish I had some type of underwater light meter to measure the actual light intensity in my 55 gallon.

 

[DoctaQ]

i would use at least 60 degree optics to punch the light down there on that 30 deep tank.
i guess the 4 by 4 also has to do with height too

 

[keno]

Quartermain;

Go with the LED light. My feeling is once you go LED you will never go back. The other added effect is the shimmer you get from the LED light. I liken it to looking into a pool in the summer with the sun shinning. My wife even commented the other night that the colors on the fish are also so much more intense with the LED light. You figure that the LED's are a pure white so the colors are much more vibrant. The plants as you stated are the success of the LED light fixture. That was my intent of the LED light, to prove that LED lights are not for just marine aquariums, that plants can do well with the LED light also. The proof is in the pictures.

 

[keno]

DoctaQ;

I would agree regarding the height. If I had a underwater light meter, I could measure the light levels with the LED light fixture at it's current height and then raise it to get the 30 inch height and see what the numbers are. Granted, some of the light would be traveling through air, but at least I could get some idea of the change with height.

As far as the optics, I may need to look into it and do a little math to see what the light cone would look like with the optics.

 

[keno]

chris-in-sf;

If you need any help in laying out a fixture, I would be happy to put together a schematic.

 

[keno]

To all;

Since my last photos were from February, I decided to take a few new shots. These were taken today 3-10-10.

 

[DoctaQ]

hm, wow , no algae huh, very impressive

 

[stephenpence]

you've convinced me. i'm an engineering student and spring break is coming up! i have a 20 gallon long tank (12"X30") that i've planted but i'm annoyed with the hood i bought with it. only room for one flourescent tube at a whopping 18 watts. hard to grow in that scenario.. but i've been reading your blog and you said you were going with 12 LED's for your 55gal. if i use the 4"X4" reccomendation wouldn't that be 22 just in my little 20gal?? thanks for such an informative thread and blog!!

 

[keno]

DoctaQ;

I have 6 oto's, 3 bristlenose pleco's, snails and 2 american flagfish to fight the algae battle. I also have a 9W UV light. I also believe that if you have enough plants they will consume the nutrients in the aquarium to help fight the battle. I do see algae that forms on my weeping and christmas mosses. I find that if I cut back on my fish food the algae eating fish will find the algae and eat it.

I do a 50+ percent water change every two weeks and I watch my water chemistry. I also use a wet/dry sump with extra bio mass. Algae is always there waiting....

 

[DoctaQ]

i got 8 leds by the same calculation somehow
hmm
48*12/16=36 so that doesnt work but if you divide that by 3 to get his 12
then 30*12/16/3=7.something
im thinking im going to use a buckpuck to power 6 xp-g, it can run off the power supply im already using on my reef since theyre right next to each other and then im going to use a 5v to power 2 blues and a fan, sry keno didnt mean to hijack if i am