Sparty's LED Build

sparty059

sparty059

Active Member
Hey all! Looks like I'm hopping on the DIY LED wagon. About three months prior to taking my tank down I upgraded to T5's from fluorescent bulbs. After three months and not seeing any of the shimmer effect that LED's provide I've decided LED will be the way to go. This just so happens to be perfect timing to work on this build too as I will be doing a revamp of my tank. As it's currently broken down I will be buffing out all of my acrylic scratches and potentially rebuilding my sump as I'm not fond of the two tanks under my main tank.
So for anyone that doesn't remember, and anyone that doesn't know I have a 150 gallon tank. Dimensions are 5 1/2' Length, 1 1/2' Deep, 2 1/2' Tall. As you can imagine the 30" in height is my concern and I will need to make sure the LED's can reach the bottom of my tank without any problems.
Currently I'm looking at getting two heat sinks that are 20" in length. I'm going to remove my T5 fixture and mount these within my canopy. Ideally they'll be one unit with a spacer between the two so I can distribute the light around all part of the tank and not just down the center of the tank causing a spotlight effect.
So now what I'm trying to find is what the appropriate amount of LED's would be. From everything I've read from previous builds is it's best to have a 2:1 ratio of Blue to White. I also want to have the ability to dim these lights should I need to scale down for any reason. Lastly, I will also have a few violets and greens to get the full color spectrum that I'd need.
I have to throw this out there... the last time I did any type of soldering was back in high school... about ten years ago. So bare with me if I don't catch your lingo immediately.
I also won't be gluing these LED's down onto the Heat Sink, instead I will be drilling them on in the event I need to remove one or adjust my lighting. The heat sinks I'll be buying will have 36 already drilled spots for the LED's to sit. Doing the difficult math, that'll leave me with 72 LED openings. Will this be enough for my 150 gallon tank, or would I need to get another set? Looking forward to hearing from everyone, and can't wait to get this tank up and running and looking professional!
I should mention, I will eventually be making my reef mixed. It won't be at first, but I know I will want to have the ability to put anything in my tank without having to worry about if light will be sufficient enough.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
My husband could really go into much further detail, but I don't think 72 lights is enough. I have 120 over my 180.
You don't necessarily have to go 2:1 blue to white, if you're going to run dimmable drivers and add other colors besides the basic blue and white.
If you're worried about penetration all the way to the bottom, there's always the option of adding on the optic lenses to get more focused light down further. But I will say, LEDs are strong (at least CREE which is what I have experience with). We find ourselves having to hide a lot of the LPS and softies, even at the bottom of the tank because they get blasted by the LEDs. The SPS love it. It's a fine balance, so don't totally stress about penetration if you're going with a good amount of bulbs and a good brand.
My husband builds fixtures, so if you have any questions, feel free to send me a PM that I'll pass along to him. Good luck!
 
sparty059

sparty059

Active Member
Regarding the lens, I see there is an option of 40/60/80. If I decide to go with lens LED's should I do it for all of them, or would it only be necessary for a number of them? Right now I see this is the best scenario for building my LED set up. If anyone has any recommendations as to what should be changed feel free to chime in.
The items I plan to get are the following:
36 XT-E Royal Blue - $3.40/each - $122.40 + $36 for the lens if I need for all.
18 Regular Blues - $3.60/each - $64.80
I'm not sure of the difference between the XM-L and the XP-G. If anyone thinks XM-L is overkill or not suitable for this project then let me know. Otherwise, here is the price point for each.
15 CREE XM-L Cool Whites U2 or CREE XP-G R5 5W Cool White LED - $8/each - $120 or $4.50/each - $67.50
15 CREE XM-L Neutral Whites or CREE XP-G 5W Neutral Whites- $9/each - $135 or $5/each - $75
6 Moonlights - $2.50/each - $15
9 Violets - $5/each - $45
9 Greens - $4/each - $36
Three 6"x20" 36 LED Drilled Heat Sinks - $55/each - $165
I'll buy some wire, and the heat sink will also come with a splash guard.
I need to figure out what drivers I need to get and also need to figure out how to make them work... I don't really know how they function...
Lights and Heat Sinks alone total price will be: ~$600.
From what I understand it seems like I'd need to get nine drivers for this to work correctly... someone please tell me this isn't right, otherwise the drivers will add an additional $300 to the price putting me just under $1000.
I thought this was supposed to be something that could be accomplished spending around $500!?
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Hey, Sparty!
Are those measurements accurate? Cause I'm seeing something like a 360 gallon tank if they are. The amount of leds needed is relative to your tanks needs and led choices. There's so many options nowadays you can build a light with a lot of leds or a light with fewer but more powerful ones. XPG's for instance are 5 watt capable and XML's are 10 watt capable. And XTE's are the most efficient of cree's royal blue options.
How's your canopy built, I don't remember. Does the whole top lift open or just a door on the front? I would prefer to mount lights on top of the canopy vs inside of it if possible.
 
sparty059

sparty059

Active Member
The canopy lifts open. From everything that I've seen I might have to rebuild my canopy. I see that 12"+ above the water gets the best range. However, if I can do this fairly cheap (or at least less than what I was figuring) then I might just build the equivalent of four units and keep them contained within the canopy. So what are you thinking would be necessary for my tank? I ask this especially since you just mentioned it looks like that above list would be suitable for a 360 gallon.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
I was just inquiring about the actual tank measurements. And if I remember right, your canopy wasn't very tall was it? So you're thinking mount the lights to the bottom of the canopy top and they lift up with the top when you open it?
Cost is relative. If you're talking about putting descent numbers at the bottom of a 30"+ tank then you need to put some punch into it. When your start adding color's and multiple channels it requires multiple drivers. But I don't see why you couldn't do it with like 2 bigger drivers and 2 smaller drivers. Then a tiny one for moonlight. Or something along those lines. But if you're looking to do a kick a$$ light then I'd expect to spend close to a grand when it was all said and done. Initial investment is going to cost if you want to do the big boy stuff. Savings in efficiency comes along, down the road. If you want high light demanding corals it's going to cost you. Softy tank or fish only lights can be built for pretty cheap.
I haven't kept up with it all that much lately. But last time I was looking at ideas for my build I had noticed that bridgelux had come out with some really sweet leds that I was kicking around trying once they were available. They were being touted as the best color producing white leds to hit the market, yet! I think they were going to be 25 watt chips. I'd have to dig all that back up. But I was thinking just having a handful of those and then like 48 blue's for my 120g. Then I wanted to accent with U.V., moonlight and probably a few red, maybe some green. But that's for if there are going to be a lot of high lighting required corals in the tank. I was looking at spending around $1200 to do something nice and custom. But could realistically pull it off for around $800 or $900.
 
sparty059

sparty059

Active Member
Hm, I might opt to spend a few extra hundred then and get the AI Vega's :-/... I think I will have to look into this a bit more. I was initially under the impression that I might be able to do this for $600.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparty059 http:///t/392898/spartys-led-build#post_3491896
Hm, I might opt to spend a few extra hundred then and get the AI Vega's :-/... I think I will have to look into this a bit more. I was initially under the impression that I might be able to do this for $600.
If you want to build a bare bones rig you could probably get it done. You could probably make it with just royal blue, neutral white, U.V. and moonlight. Forget about the reds and greens. And you'd probably still end up with something you're happy with.
 
sparty059

sparty059

Active Member
Decided to spoil myself with my bonus and will get three Vega LED lights. I won't be getting them right away (I have work on the acrylic first that needs to be done) but I've decided on it!
 
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