DIY LED Lighting Fixture

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!

bongy

Registered Member
Jul 19, 2010
3
0
0
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.
Hi keno,

The cable for my unit is about 80 inches, should be good enough for your 200g.

You are correct that XPG can take a max of 1.5A. However, I don't have any parts available to drive it at this current yet. 1A is really the max I can find.

Also, the efficiency drops as current is increased. From CREE's graph, increasing from 1A to 1.5A will increase flux by about 1.3 to 1.4. However, you will need to deal with additional temperature.
 

Maverick21

AC Members
Apr 21, 2010
14
0
0
****. So I just did a search for LED on here to see what people have come up with because I was considering wiring some LED lights for my new 55 and also adding them to my paludarium. I love the way those first pictures look! I had to post a quick reply simply because the tanks look fantastic. I'm going to bookmark this for sure and do some reading up later. Wonderful work man!
 

Jstdv8

AC Members
Feb 22, 2010
356
0
0
47
wow, nice build, can we see some updated pics of your plants?
Did you ever figure out if the lights were runninga t about 10k or closer to 6500?
I think I'd like to add in some blues just for looks anyways. Plus blue light penetrates water deeper.
I'm going to show this thread to my dad adn see if he's interested in working up something on his 75g.
my 120 is a reef tank and it's still jsut too expensive for my taste to buy something or even make soemthing that supports corals, but it seems you only need about half the lights for a planted tank so it's much more affordable.
you should shoot a short video, so we can see the wonderfull shimmer :)
 

DoctaQ

all your wheel are belong to us
Dec 12, 2008
1,114
0
0
Boston
different bins produce different color temps, i think the most common will be the wc and wg bins, wg tends to be a little warmer which is what i think i am using, and keno uses the wc bin i think which is a bit cooler.

color temp doesnt signifigantly affect penetration , just get the color you think you like the most. for a planted tank, you will most likeley regret getting blues, im glad i didnt
 

Jstdv8

AC Members
Feb 22, 2010
356
0
0
47
right now we've got a coralife 65x4 PC fixture with 2 actinics and two 6500 k
the actinics are just for looks, we generally use the daylights for most purposes, but really like the look of a blue tank so sometimes we just turn off the 6500's and turn that actinics on.
in my reef tank I've got a 6x56 with 3 actinics and 3 10'ks and when just the 10'ks are on it's extremely yellow I like something more in the 14k range, but I suppose that is for saltwater. I don't know alot of baout freshwater, jsut trying to help my dad get his 75g going.
 

Jstdv8

AC Members
Feb 22, 2010
356
0
0
47
I was thinking if we built a setup like in this thread i would have the blues and whites on two seperate dimmers so I could adjust in whatever I wanted.

So over the 75g wich is 18" from front to back and 48" wide I would need 48 fixtures if we went by the 4"x4" coverage area per LED, does that sound right?
 

acfans

Registered Member
Nov 4, 2010
4
0
0
41
Led Strip lights

The led strips lights make the set-up much fancy.... like it :p:, prefer blue mixed with cold white rated at 20,000 kevin rating.
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store