Building My LED Light

I have finallly put my new light on the tank ......................

It looks quite different from the light that I had earlier.

Pics to come soon.............
 
Looks GRATE in the first photo. How about installing your old light for a comparison. I want 3 or 4 of those!!
 
Latest Update

Well I've finally been able to get everything mounted and secured. The photos that I posted earlier were of a test fit. I'll try and get some comparison pics posted later today!!!
 
All in all, do you like the lighting better than the flour. you had before? I'm getting ready to build a hood for my 90g bow front and thought I would put 4 of your modules in it and the lights that were in the old hood. Next will be to find the right LEDs for moon lighting. Great project there!! Looking for the photos!! ;)
 
Yes Greg, I do like it more. The color difference in the two is drastic. If I had to describe the two, I would say that the LEDs remind me of the light in the desert on a cloudless day. While the old flourescent makes me think of light you would see in the morning on a cloudy day. My camera really sucks so I dont know if you'll be able to see the difference. I just ordered a new one yesterday, hopefully it will work alot better.

To address another question that you posed to me Greg, these LEDS are the exact same ones used in the pricey Solaris systems. These come with a various number of panels, and each panel has 30 of the same LEDs that I'm using.
 
Now that info on these LEDs is great! I could save something like $2,200.00 over the Solaris. I would like to run 25 of these LEDs from one driver but I don't know if that can happen. Then I would like 2 of the 25 LED modules, one for each half of the tank. Your project sure has inspired me and since I'm goign to build a custom hood for my 90, this would be a great lighting system. Now if I could get the Solaris controller.
 
You would still need a power supply if your using Buck Pucks. And frankly speaking, a waste if you ask me.

Sure its good in theory but unless you have a 32+ volt power supply you would still need three pucks. Besides if the tried and true resistor is good enough for a flashlight, than why is not good enough in any application?

I just think its a waste, but then I'm cheap and I know what I'm doing. And if your worried about spikes, a simple 1A fuse should suffice for protection. The LEDs could handle the current spike longer than the fuse could.

Something tells me I should make an update on my project.
 
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Power supplies are easy to come by. When we're talking $300.00 as opposed to $2,700.00, there is no waste. As a matter of fact you can have a lot more for a lot less.

I've got a 42vdc, 12 amp power supply made by Power One just sitting here waiting to be put to good use. The Power One suplly is already protected and I got it for $25.00.

I'm going to go for it and see how well I can make it work.

Why is there always someone wanting to add a fly to the ointment? Sheesh, it works and the photos prove it. I just want one bigger since I have a much bigger tank to light up.

BTW, you aren't the only one who knows what they are doing, and what I don't know or can't figure out, I've got an Intel engineer friend that I'm sure can figure it out.
 
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