thankyou for your patience and willingness, ive been really busy getting my grad party over with and getting ready for college. I would like to start a project for my 150g, it will be freshwater and planted. No CO2 and 'mostly' low light plants, Java fern, java moss, anubias, cabomba, crypt, all the beginner plants im not far in plants. The one problem with planting my 150 is that it is 27 inches tall, all the dimensions are 72x18x27 (all in inches). I will be using at least a 3 inch base (idk sand or gravel yet).
DIY LED Lighting Fixture
- Thread starter keno
- Start date
ajbassmaster;
My first thought would be to use around 30 to 36 of the CREE xp-g R5's. You can put these on 3 separate circuits of 10 to 12 LED's each. My thinking behind this is as follows. If you do 3 circuits say with 10 LED's and at some point in the future you decide you really want to try plants that need a higher level of light you can always add and additional 4 LED's per circuit for a total of 42 LED's or 14 per circuit. You would not have to add or change power supplies if you use the Meanwell ELN-60-48D. Adding extra LED's is easy.
On a different note, as for plants, I would suggest going with a mineralized soil in combination with your gravel. I use this combination on all my aquariums, and my plants just go crazy with the MS and the light from the LED's. I have a MS article on my blog or you can find other articles about MS on the web. Once you use it, believe me you will be a believer. One of the best aspects about MS, besides the plant growth, is that it never wears out. I've spoken with guys that have had the same MS in their aquariums for over 15 years and have never replaced it.
My first thought would be to use around 30 to 36 of the CREE xp-g R5's. You can put these on 3 separate circuits of 10 to 12 LED's each. My thinking behind this is as follows. If you do 3 circuits say with 10 LED's and at some point in the future you decide you really want to try plants that need a higher level of light you can always add and additional 4 LED's per circuit for a total of 42 LED's or 14 per circuit. You would not have to add or change power supplies if you use the Meanwell ELN-60-48D. Adding extra LED's is easy.
On a different note, as for plants, I would suggest going with a mineralized soil in combination with your gravel. I use this combination on all my aquariums, and my plants just go crazy with the MS and the light from the LED's. I have a MS article on my blog or you can find other articles about MS on the web. Once you use it, believe me you will be a believer. One of the best aspects about MS, besides the plant growth, is that it never wears out. I've spoken with guys that have had the same MS in their aquariums for over 15 years and have never replaced it.
When it comes to PAR, Lumens, etc.... which I find at times your trying to compare apples to baseballs (forget oranges), it's really confusing. I did find this article about light measurements (somewhat in simple terms) to be helpful. They also discuss LED lighting in regards to aquariums.
Par meter rental
I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I did fine a PAR meter for rent.
http://www.globeaqua.com/rental_par_meter.html
I figure you only need it for a short time to take reading, then it would just sit on a shelf for years. This way you don't waste shelf space, and maybe even you can save some money.
I couldn't find a price, but I didn't look too hard either.
I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I did fine a PAR meter for rent.
http://www.globeaqua.com/rental_par_meter.html
I figure you only need it for a short time to take reading, then it would just sit on a shelf for years. This way you don't waste shelf space, and maybe even you can save some money.
I couldn't find a price, but I didn't look too hard either.
bigwave;
I did find this myself the other day thanks. If you look at their terms and conditions, it's $10/day $40/week, etc. They do require a $500 security deposit, rightfully so. The $500 security deposit is the tough one.
I did find this myself the other day thanks. If you look at their terms and conditions, it's $10/day $40/week, etc. They do require a $500 security deposit, rightfully so. The $500 security deposit is the tough one.
so do you order your LED's online? I bet you could get a good deal if you could buy bulk. So im looking at 3 meanwell power supplies, and 30-36 LEDs for now. If anyone has a good website so i can price everything out, it would be greatly appreciated. My computer is acting up so i cant look at the MS link but i will later, I think i know what you are talking about, i love the flourite sand and gravel, the minerals seem to last a long time.
P.S. any pic updates of your LED lighting tanks keno?
P.S. any pic updates of your LED lighting tanks keno?
Been following this thread for awhile now while I plan my build. I came across this thread which you may find interesting, if you havent seen it yet.
LED PAR Readings
In short, a guy used a PAR meter and tests cheap Ebay LED's vs Cree LEDs, and measures these in a spacing vs distance. Has lots of graphs and nice info.
LED PAR Readings
In short, a guy used a PAR meter and tests cheap Ebay LED's vs Cree LEDs, and measures these in a spacing vs distance. Has lots of graphs and nice info.
yep hoppy has some good info in that thread and here is another (linked directly to the post with the graph for Cree XR-E led grid spacing)
Hi Keno,
I got the PAR meter at your link. Apogee MQ-200. I think it works quite well as it is waterproof and the cable is long enough to take some measurement in the tank.
I also have some XP-G R5 lying around so I took some rough measurement.
Single XPG running at 0.98A. No optic.
5" - 109
7" - 60
9" - 37
12" - 23
Notice that these PAR rating are not taken inside the tank (ie. air)
Thanks.
Bongy
I got the PAR meter at your link. Apogee MQ-200. I think it works quite well as it is waterproof and the cable is long enough to take some measurement in the tank.
I also have some XP-G R5 lying around so I took some rough measurement.
Single XPG running at 0.98A. No optic.
5" - 109
7" - 60
9" - 37
12" - 23
Notice that these PAR rating are not taken inside the tank (ie. air)
Thanks.
Bongy
Bongy;
Have you tried raising the current level to 1.5amps, which is the new rating that CREE recommends? It would be interesting to see the difference between .98amps and the 1.5amp level.
How long is the cable for the sensor on the PAR meter? I would need the cable to be around 33 inches to work in my 200 gallon.
Have you tried raising the current level to 1.5amps, which is the new rating that CREE recommends? It would be interesting to see the difference between .98amps and the 1.5amp level.
How long is the cable for the sensor on the PAR meter? I would need the cable to be around 33 inches to work in my 200 gallon.
