29g LED Lighting system build thread

The fixture itself is nice, but CK is right...those 5mm LEDs are not really known for their PAR. The sheer number of them might make up for that, but like you said your T8 setup would probably get just as much usable light to the plants. I'm not sure how much those individual strips cost, but I would guess the T8s would be cheaper as well.
 
sploke said:
The fixture itself is nice, but CK is right...those 5mm LEDs are not really known for their PAR. The sheer number of them might make up for that, but like you said your T8 setup would probably get just as much usable light to the plants. I'm not sure how much those individual strips cost, but I would guess the T8s would be cheaper as well.
Click to expand...

well i got them very cheap, plus the aluminum was free. so i said what the heck. Next time i will definatly do 50 of the lux leds on my 90 gallon.
 
Last edited:
those are superflux chips btw, not your standard 5mm leds. There are several models of superflux chips with 1-5 diode models. the 4 chip models are excellent, but then again, just from looking, i cant determine which models they are. 5mm LEDs do last a very long time because single chip models don't put out the extreme amounts of heat that multichip or higher wattage models do. 5mm leds have around 20 years or so of life although their light output decreases over the years, that why they use them in streetlights.
 
well i guess if you were not in the buisness of having a planted tank or a reef tank i guess the 5mm HO leds would be fine for lighting the tank. PAR is also measured by visible light from the human eye and maybe because of the sheer number i installed the PAR for a few plants would be ok because to me the tank is fully lit, my camera seems to think so too. I could really build these things for pretty cheap.
 
Last edited:
Mike61704 said:
well i guess if you were not in the buisness of having a planted tank or a reef tank i guess the 5mm HO leds would be fine for lighting the tank. PAR is also measured by visible light from the human eye and maybe because of the sheer number i installed the PAR for a few plants would be ok because to me the tank is fully lit, my camera seems to think so too. I could really build these things for pretty cheap.
Click to expand...


Wrong wrong wrong!!!. thats Lumens, not PAR. And sheer number or not, they will not last long at all, 5 years max, if that. Even if they do last 5 years, they will be very dim.

::Sighs::
Anyway, to update, plant growth is insane, I've had to trim the pennywort from my spray bar because its starting to block the light, heh.

And I've also made a Pulse Width Modulator to dim the LEDs, I succeded, but wound up frying the chip :( , replacement will be aquired tomorrow, sadly.
 
Cory Keeper said:
Wrong wrong wrong!!!. thats Lumens, not PAR. And sheer number or not, they will not last long at all, 5 years max, if that. Even if they do last 5 years, they will be very dim.

::Sighs::
Anyway, to update, plant growth is insane, I've had to trim the pennywort from my spray bar because its starting to block the light, heh.

And I've also made a Pulse Width Modulator to dim the LEDs, I succeded, but wound up frying the chip :( , replacement will be aquired tomorrow, sadly.
Click to expand...

:lol: I can see the reason of ur avatar. Good luck with ur project.
 
Cory Keeper said:
Wrong wrong wrong!!!. thats Lumens, not PAR. And sheer number or not, they will not last long at all, 5 years max, if that. Even if they do last 5 years, they will be very dim.

::Sighs::
Anyway, to update, plant growth is insane, I've had to trim the pennywort from my spray bar because its starting to block the light, heh.

And I've also made a Pulse Width Modulator to dim the LEDs, I succeded, but wound up frying the chip :( , replacement will be aquired tomorrow, sadly.
Click to expand...

need any help? I'm pretty good with bipolar transistors... still working on my reef system... hehe http://uctrl.net/w/User_project:Reef_tank_lights for my project... still working out the kinks in the programming...

I think your problem is that you didn't make an amplification circuit... what chip are you using? The 555 timers can usually handle about 200 mA so you WILL DEFINITELY fry it with your LED system

out of laziness not to look for how many A your LEDs draw.... how much do they draw? also to help with the planning of the circuit I'm going make for ya
 
actually I did use a FET for control with higher current, but I was showing off, wired it wrong and it fried it, not sure what happened. Took the 555 chip and the FET with it.

New chip working semi-perfectly. I have lots of control, but not 0-100%, its more 20-100%, and sadly the whole reason I built a PWM is to dim it enough to watch my tank before or after the lights go on or go off. But I have a solution, I may turn off 2 or 3 strings when running in night mode, should help.
 
1oooop, are the kinks in your programming also reflected by the error on the website?

If by chance you have any good instructions/links on diy and computer control of the tank, I'm interested.
Will go with T8 and electronic ballast for now on my 99 Gallon project, but want to control as much as possible in the not too distant future.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom