Considering a DIY lighting hood for My 150. but no real clue...

velbar

velbar

Member
So I am doing a lot of things DIY, making my own rock, working on trying coral frags of My own....
in the midst of keeping things going, piece by piece adding of this and that or making My own, one of My bulbs is going out, its not the balast, (changed to another working bulb and it works fine) so the moderately insane thought occures that I dont really like the hood and set up I have for lighting anyway, why not build one of My own....
carpentry I can do, even some wiring, but I really dont have a clue what lighting, balasts to put in to such a hood..
I have a150g tank that is rapidly becoming the reef tank I wanted for years (thanks to DIY rock) and some livestock...
the tank itself measures
w 18"
h 23"
l 72"
as in My primary tank thread, I am on an extremely low budget and would have to acquire pieces here and there until I had enough but I havent a clue for a layout or which types of leds or bulbs to use and could really use some input...guidance..outright help lol
thanx
Mike
 
monsinour

monsinour

Active Member
3 watt Cree LEDs
Depending on what you want to see, usually a 2 to 1 mix of blue to white
With such a long tank and a multitude of corals, you might want to place a few red and green LEDs on there. An intersting thought would be to not use lenses on these to get more "spread" off these LEDs. Someone with experience want to chime in on that?
Since we cant post competitor sites, PM me and I can give you a few places to look.
With LEDs, you can definatly get little by little and eventually build what you want. I would start with the heatsink as that will not improve with technology like the LEDs will. Then there are the cooling fans and wires, no tech upgrades there. After that, I would get the drivers and finally the LEDs.
 
velbar

velbar

Member
ok, cree leds then, I need to figure out how many total I need then I will figure out the color division later..
the other idea that was thrown at me is kinda neat but its with flouresent bulbs still, its another DIY thing making hoods out of plastic rain gutters and pvc pipe. the completed one I saw was kinda cool but I think I want a more finished decorative look when I am done, ie boxed in frame etc...
I am no electrician so I am not sure what kind of heat sink I need or how big for enough lights, guess I need to find a LED / area ratio some where and start a design for the underside where the lights will ultimately go...
keep the help coming please...
Mike
 
monsinour

monsinour

Active Member
I will PM you a site that you can use for research as well as price information. Keep in mind, there are pleny of sites that sell DIY LEDs so the one I send you shouldnt be the only place you go. PM coming....
 
saltfan

saltfan

Active Member
Less than $200. Metal Halides. (3 250w) Peice it together from E-Bay. I am on the low budget DIY plan also. I did it. =)
 
saltfan

saltfan

Active Member
I know you can get the 96 LED's strand 12v meant for cars. But they are only 1 watt.... If you strung together enough of them perhaps?? I know they are fairly chaep.
 
1snapple

1snapple

Active Member
Nope saltfan.
1W don't have the penetrating power of 3W.
I can probably come up w/ an LED set for under $800 or less.
 
velbar

velbar

Member
well sounds like I will be staying with the ole tube bulbs for a while then, I am thinking heavily of looking at building the raingutter assembly idea I found but building a nice wood enclosure for it...ah well...more dreaming....
I will keep you guys posted
 
saltfan

saltfan

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1Snapple http:///forum/thread/383934/considering-a-diy-lighting-hood-for-my-150-but-no-real-clue#post_3362082
Nope saltfan.
1W don't have the penetrating power of 3W.
I can probably come up w/ an LED set for under $800 or less.
Hey Snapple, if I were to put 1920 watts of LED's over just half of a tank (240g) is this not enough light?? 20 Strands of 96 1watt LED's.Just curious, I don't know enough about the LED's yet to make a judgement. I know that each strand of 96 is only $8.
 
1snapple

1snapple

Active Member
Probably could.
But how much power are you running to your 1920w of LEDs?
You can probably use 90W of power and cover 2/3 of your tank, or all of it if brought high enough, using the right optics.
It is one thing to use ALOT of 1W and not get the penetration of 3W.
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
I measured PAR on one of the 1 watt fixtures and it was pathetic. I think there was 1 LED every inch in the thing but no optics.
 
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