Neptunes 72" Custom LED system.

king_neptune

Active Member
Ordered my parts a few hours ago, but I'm so excited I decided to make a build thread early!
This will be a culmination of input from half dozen fellow reefers, so if anything looks familiar, it probably came from someone you've seen. Course by now, a majority of these builds look similar anyways. Ill see if I can make a 3d model later to wet some appetites.
My system:
72" 125g DT SPS dominated. So Ill need potent lighting to manage everything.
I want maximum flexibility in this rig, as such I will have it divided into 4 ten inch panels.
Each consisting of 24 bulbs, 12w/12b.
Each panel will have 2 Mean Well Drivers, 12 LED's each driver.
Each driver will have a POT controlling it.
The idea will be to control an entire section of the tank separately from the rest. Say I have corals on one end that are in need of low light, I can dim the far end to fit these needs. But now imagine I have corals in the middle that need intense light, I can shoot the power to the middle sections to compensate these needs.This flexibility will also allow me to choose color schemes that will really cause the corals to pop out!
I already have plans for "The dark side" of the tank, it will be like looking at a separate eco system. Id like to even have some under water plants that can take root in the sand. Who knows, well see where this takes me!
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I already ordered a 48 LED kit. It contains:
4 mean well ELN-60-48D dimmable drivers.
24 Royal Blue Cree XR-E LEDs
24 Cool White Cree Q5 XR-E LEDs
thermal compound, cables, wiring and a custom mix of Lenses all for $525.
I chose
12x80 degree optics
12x40 degree optics
24x60 degree optics.
I mainly wanted the row closest to the foam wall to have the widest spread so I could get good light all the way down it, the middle to have the narrowest beam so I could focus on corals near the bottom, and the two rows closest to the viewer to have the middle ground optic's(the 60's).
This will help blend in any gaps between the other two optic patterns(since they were pretty well separated).
Since the viewer is primarily viewing the tank from a lengthwise angle, the human eye shouldn't detect varying beams of intensity.If this doesn't work like I intend, I can remove/add optics as needed.
I also ordered my shrink tubing(got some glow in the dark as well to play with).
Two power supply's, one for the diming box, one for the fans.
The heat-sinks are 8.48x10" each. So fitting 4 with a 6" gap between will be the most likely scenario. I have it in my head, just not on paper. I picked up some L brackets from home depot so I can make a frame as soon as I get the Heat sinks in the mail.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
The shrink tubing was shipped. Still waiting on shipping conformation of LED's and heat sink!
headed to radio shack to pickup some supplies. Gonna try to make a crude controller as an experiment while I wait!
 

king_neptune

Active Member
any free wiring schematic programs out there?
something simple and crude.
Otherwise Ill be using paintbrush to illustrate my questions/ideas.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
LED's shipped! should get em sat or monday.
Haven't heard conformation on heat sinks. So Ill be contacting them tomarrow afternoon, if I still havent heard.
 

swimmer4uus

Member
You probably wont get a confirmation from the heatsinks. Mine where at my door before the money was even out of my bank. I wouldn't worry about them, as they are very efficient.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
For those unfamiliar with my system, here is a shot to show you what I'm working with.

Its an old shot, my camera optics is failing so all i get from under artificial light of whats over the tank is a blurry picture(I think the light is too intense).
It looks a bit different now with corals and maturity, but the overall look with the foam wall is pretty cool!
 

i<3reefs

Member
The cost to purchase a manufactured LED light at that length would be frightening to a cheap skate like myself.
 

gill again68

Active Member
Would you mind keeping a good cost log on this. For most, meaning me, money is a key factor in considering these builds. Will tag on from here. Thanks in advance. Cool build.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
KN,
What will you be using for the acual structure? The bars that you attach everything to.
 

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by I<3Reefs
http:///forum/post/3271330
The cost to purchase a manufactured LED light at that length would be frightening to a cheap skate like myself.
I agree, it is frightning to me. Espeically since my only income is a meager dissability check fromthe VA, and my GI bill for attending school. But since I quit smoking weed I have a few hundred to spend each month. I saved for about 2 months for this.
Originally Posted by Gill again68
http:///forum/post/3271453
Would you mind keeping a good cost log on this. For most, meaning me, money is a key factor in considering these builds. Will tag on from here. Thanks in advance. Cool build.
So far, I have spend about $800 give or take.
The breakdown:
The kit was $525.
A cheap anoalog Volt meter(digitle ones read eddy currents and for my design, that makes it impossible to calibrate),Project box, misc wireing, couple walwart power supplies so $50ish.
2 really nice 200mm coolermaster fans at $20 a pop.
I also ordered misc electrical shrink tubing and other lines at an extra cost(they were glow in the dark, I couldnt reesist), about $50 shipped.
Today Ill be pickingup 4 more pot's, I need 250ohm at the absolute most, but If they ahve around 100-150 Ill be happy add $30.
Heatsinks ran me about $60 by the time theywere shipped.
The parts for the frame altogether were about $50 at homedepot.
I did go a little extra on stuff I didnt need, So if I really had to I coulda trimmed off about $75 if I was really on a tight budget. But to me it will just be leftovers for future projects.
Next month Ill order one more $525 kit and 2 more heatsinks. I already have everything else onhand so no more than $600 to finish the project off.
Originally Posted by Jstdv8

http:///forum/post/3271524
KN,
What will you be using for the acual structure? The bars that you attach everything to.
I got steel "L" backets. Nothing fancy jsut enough to support about 30lbs. Dont have to get all heavy here.They at homedepot in the electrical section. Like $30 for two 7ft peices, and $10 for the two end peices.
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My core parts came in the mail lastnight. I got started on the project box for the dimming control's. Im proud of myself, I came up with the design in my head and tested out the rough prototype, IT WORKED!! Ill have two boxes, one for panels #1,#,2 and the second for #3,#4. EAch box will have 4 dials on it. A blue control and a white control for each panel(2 blue, 2 white each box).
 
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