# The Unofficial LED Club! DIY or manufactured, show'em off!!



## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Let's see your LED units! Hopefully I can get PAR readings on mine soon!!


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

I have 2 different LED units. One is over my 45g cube, the other is over an 11g, 36" long rimless tank. PAR Readings at the bottom!!!!

The 45g---------3 different drivers, all on their own dimmable driver. I can adjust color temp from about 5,000K up to way over 20,000K. TOTAL OVERKILL but I got the drivers, heatsink, fans, and some LEDs used... so it wasn't as costly as it could be. 

Whites only (8 Cree XPG neutral white, 2 10-watt Bridgelux 402). 









Blues only (12 Cree XRE blue.... one of them I somehow skipped when soldering the blue string). 









Dawn/dusk cycle (Merry Christmas!).... very experimental and a hodgepodge of LEDs leftover from when we did spectral analysis. It is 2 red Cree XPE, 4 Rebel Cyan, 1 20-watt Satistronics 15,000K white, and 4 Cree XPG cool white. Run at a fairly low current. 










All on! Looks like something from Area 51 or Roswell. 










I can't get a pic of the dawn/dusk cycle very well, but it looks a lot like a one of those greenish 8K PC bulbs.
FTS of them all on--- when adjusted properly, it looks very, very lovely. Whites at 500mA, blues at 120mA, dawn/dusk at 190mA. 










Hood in place (albeit kinda crooked, still needs adjustment).









Hood moved to the side for tank access.










*Finally got a PAR meter on loan!!!*


With all three arrays at full throttle (1,000mA on whites, 1,000mA on blues, and 700mA on the Dawn/Dusk cycle) I am getting about 400 at 1" deep, and 90-110 on the substrate. That's about 22" from the LEDs. WAAAAY TOO powerful lol. 

With all three arrays at 250mA, I am getting around 150 at the surface and 30-50 on the substrate.

In other words. Way overbuilt. But I knew that to begin with.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

11g Rimless. 

Array is 4 royal blue Cree XPE...... 3 warm white XPG.....3 neutral white XPG......3 cool white XPG...

Driver--- Meanwell ELN60-48P, set to run about 400mA. 

There is NO visible color spotlights, they sit about 4" from the water surface. No optics. 

EDIT: *On the bottom of the tank, I am getting around 60-70 micromols. *




















Pardon the overgrowth.... but this is them all on. The color is quite lively and about a 10K resultant color temp, but the reds have a lot more pop than normal 10K fluorescent bulbs have.


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## -tombba- (Jun 22, 2011)

Heres mine that's sitting on a 63litre or about 17gal:

Some testing going on:


















In use:









It's 12x Cree XR-E Q5 system running @ 1000mA, Driver is a cheap one from dealextreme.com


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## cggorman (May 9, 2009)

I'll have to get some better pics...

12 5w neutral whites
6 5w deep red
6 5w far red
6 3w cyan


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## madhatter4 (Dec 13, 2007)

Here is mine, I have a standard 90 gallon tank.

I am using 12 Satistronics 10W LEDs running at 900mA each. Im using a custom controller for dawn/dusk simulation and switching my humidifier and T5s on/off. I would guess that the LEDs have around an 8000k color temp, they look nice.





























Here are the T5NOs added to help the DHG grow a bit faster. 1x 6500k, 1x 10000k


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## dafil (Jul 17, 2010)

10g tank.15x1w cool white chinese leds.60deg lens.350mA.non dimmable but 5pcs of leds with own driver+10pcs of leds with own driver


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

These look great! Keep'em coming!

Hopefully Hoppy will show us the ones he's done!


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## IWANNAGOFAST (Jan 14, 2008)

Here are mine

24 cool white steve's leds (i think epistars) ran at 700ma




















24 cree xp-g's ran at 1050ma with 4 cree xr-e blues for moonlight at 350ma









no pic of the finished product but here's a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpOdHdt6_ew

And lastly
11 cool white steve's leds ran at 700ma, ada style hood


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## cggorman (May 9, 2009)

Wow...I feel like I went over the top with heatsinking. How hot are you guys running? I run between 105-110 F


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## Globe182jp (Apr 25, 2010)

*Solar mini LED*

Hey guys I retrofitted my ADA Solar Mini with 6 Cree XR-E, along with a cooling fan and a large heatsink. UG is spreading out nicely and over water I get a nice shimmering effect.












































and my New Scape


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## dafil (Jul 17, 2010)

cggorman said:


> Wow...I feel like I went over the top with heatsinking. How hot are you guys running? I run between 105-110 F


105-110F without fansroud:


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## Globe182jp (Apr 25, 2010)

There is no such thing as over heat-sinked. The cooler you can get the LEDs the better, Heat is the ultimate enemy of the lights. If I could have fit a bigger sink I would have, I had to add the fan to bring temps down.


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## -tombba- (Jun 22, 2011)

dafil said:


> 105-110F without fansroud:


I'm running 115-125F without fan, but I keep the fan on all the time and get more like 90-95F with fan on that is completely silent.


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## Booger (May 17, 2004)

Anyone have any advice as far as photographing LED's? My white balance seems ever so confused.


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## cggorman (May 9, 2009)

I set mine on sunlight. Just take a few sample pics with each WB setting and see which one reproduces the colors most accurately.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Folks this is AWESOME roud:

Keep 'em coming, lots to learn here!!!




Booger said:


> Anyone have any advice as far as photographing LED's? My white balance seems ever so confused.


Fiddle with the camera for 30 minutes before each pic, and be SURE to forget how you got it right the last time you took pics. That's what I do!


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## O2surplus (Jan 31, 2010)

Ok here's an image of my current led system. It consists of 90 Cree XR-E Q5's mounted (in groups of 30) to 3 heat sinks and driven by my own DIY constant current drivers. The heat sinks were sourced from identical Sony car audio amplifiers. 










And here's an image of my latest creation. It's 6 BridgeLux BXRA-C4500 led arrays mounted to individual heat sinks inside an old CURRENT power compact lighting fixture.
The led arrays consume 300 watts through my own DIY constant current drivers.










Lastly, a shot of my 225, from one end.


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## Rockhoe14er (Jan 19, 2011)

I don't want to post pics because everyone's fixtures look soo professional and mine, as dave-H puts it, looks more like a mad scientist project.


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## cggorman (May 9, 2009)

Excellent clarity on that 225, O2Surplus!


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## Sd760 (Apr 25, 2011)

Awesome thread. Great work everyone. Looks good


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Those big Bridgelux LED's are awesome. They seem to have wonderful color rendering, better than the Crees from what I've seen. Not as efficient as the Crees, but definitely beautiful.


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## PC1 (May 21, 2010)

Rockhoe14er said:


> I don't want to post pics because everyone's fixtures look soo professional and mine, as dave-H puts it, looks more like a mad scientist project.


Mad scientists are the geniuses of tomorrow lol


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## O2surplus (Jan 31, 2010)

redfishsc said:


> Those big Bridgelux LED's are awesome. They seem to have wonderful color rendering, better than the Crees from what I've seen. Not as efficient as the Crees, but definitely beautiful.



Yeah - I really like those big BridgeLux arrays. I'm gonna have to pull my cree's off the tank for just long enough to get some good photos of the BridgeLux in action. I put them under the hood for a side by side comparison,but the test was not really fair to the BridgeLux leds. They were only suspended above the tank by about 2 inches at the time, so their light spread was diminished, as compared to the Cree's, which are mounted 12 inches up.When viewed,the 6 BridgeLux arrays produced a sickening amount of "shimmer" and really sharp shadows on the substrate. I liked the effect a lot.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

I have PAR data on my LED array. 

It's a big post that I don't want to clutter up this thread with, so read about the PAR numbers in my build thread, HERE:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...mless-cube-11g-rimless-glass-post1436796.html

*PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POST, OR LINK TO, ANY PAR NUMBERS YOU HAVE OF YOUR LED ARRAY!*


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## narhay (Feb 28, 2007)

Some nice tanks under these LEDs...


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## Pen3 (Jan 2, 2007)

I have a 40 breeder salty that i want to go back to planted and was wondering if i have enough to light my 40br. I currently have 22 royal blue xp-g and 2 cool xr-e q5 and 150 hqi. I want to loose the HQI and make a new LED setup with all Cool XR-E Q5. Will 24-26 of them be enough for a 40BR? The driver is two Mean Well LPC-35-700W


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Pen3 said:


> I have a 40 breeder salty that i want to go back to planted and was wondering if i have enough to light my 40br. I currently have 22 royal blue xp-g and 2 cool xr-e q5 and 150 hqi. I want to loose the HQI and make a new LED setup with all Cool XR-E Q5. Will 24-26 of them be enough for a 40BR? The driver is two Mean Well LPC-35-700W


Yes, it should be plenty. Hang on to a few blues, I really like having a little blue to bring some color pop. 

4 blues would be plenty along with 22 whites.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

I just added PAR data to my own array. 

The second post in the thread is my main array---- see the bottom of the post. At full blast (3 Meanwells, maxed out with LEDs, at 800-1000mA) I am getting around 400 at the surface and 90-110 on the substrate. Obviously I don't run them that high, I have other data there for lower drive currents.

The third post is my 11g tank (which I'm soon converting to a reef) which is giving me around 60-70 micromols on the substrate.


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## WingoAgency (Jan 10, 2006)

Color adjustable LED with Discus

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/6199232126/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/6198713589/in/photostream

A new DIY I did in a LED DIY party. The whole light is constructed within 1 hour.
2 colors: 3 Royal Blue and 3 Cool White Cree
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/6199232698/in/set-72157626054771511
the core
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/6198715515/in/set-72157626054771511/
the modular plug does not require soldering!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/6198716141/in/set-72157626054771511


Excuse me, how do you guys load the pic into the thread directly instead of a link?


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

The pics don't seem to be showing up, double check your BB code.

I can "copy link" and look at them though, and it looks pretty cool, especially over that round tank.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

WingoAgency said:


> Excuse me, how do you guys load the pic into the thread directly instead of a link?




Click on the







icon and it will give you the IMG code to insert your link into the middle of.


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## WingoAgency (Jan 10, 2006)

redfishsc said:


> Click on the
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Did that but still not working, may be size of the pic or limitation on certain source site.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

LED and Discus B IMG_2041 by WingoAgency, on Flickr


LED and Discus A IMG_2043 by WingoAgency, on Flickr




Flickr is apparently odd. What you need to do is copy/paste the BB code that Flickr provides. Go to your photo, click "SHARE", click "GRAB HTML/BB CODE", then click the dot-box that says "BB CODE"--- and copy/paste that EXTREMELY HUGE code link.


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## Bjielsl (Sep 13, 2011)

redfishsc said:


> Folks this is AWESOME roud:
> 
> Keep 'em coming, lots to learn here!!!
> 
> ...


Use the Flash WB or manually set the WB to the color temp of the lights. I would also set Exposure Adjustment down to force the camera to take a darker picture so as to not blow it out.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Bjielsl said:


> Use the Flash WB or manually set the WB to the color temp of the lights. I would also set Exposure Adjustment down to force the camera to take a darker picture so as to not blow it out.


That worked for my old camera for a while, but it now gives me odd results when I tell it to adjust the WB. The older it gets, the more weird it reacts to the blue, especially on my reef.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Anyone using PAR38's or pre-manufactured units? 

What do you have, and where did you find them?


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## WingoAgency (Jan 10, 2006)

redfishsc said:


> Anyone using PAR38's or pre-manufactured units?
> 
> What do you have, and where did you find them?



I don't understand your questions. Aren't all PAR38s are pre-manufactured or are you asking a fixture employing PAR38s?


Pacific Aquarium in NY is using my PAR38s 6,700K, 12,000K, Triband, Full Color ones. 

They use a light tree bracket to hang the bulb over rimless tanks and use the terrarium light Bulb dome housing-looks pretty good


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## h2oaggie (Feb 28, 2011)

I built an LED fixture for my 29 gallon using 12 cool white CREE XP-G's. 



















Here is my build thread: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/142868-29-gallon-led-build.html


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## Naekuh (Oct 19, 2011)

my trollololol avatar pic.









of course im not using it like that, as my fishes would need sunglasses. 

My setup is more like this:









here it is lite up:


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Nice work Naekuh, how does it look over the tank?


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

:icon_mrgr


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## mjproost (Feb 13, 2006)

My Fluval edge LED retrofit. It is mounted in an extra base piece I modded with a dremel.

5 Cree XR-E's on two 350ma drivers, mounted on individual heatsinks, with solderless connectors from Rapidled. Drivers are in the stand.








































picture of the tank a couple of weeks in:


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## Naekuh (Oct 19, 2011)

redfishsc said:


> Nice work Naekuh, how does it look over the tank?


lulz... v.3 i had to pull the reds...

it seems like high intensity red's only attacts unwanted hair algae on epic sizes...

now if i only knew what liked hair algae.. i could farm it. :biggrin:


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

NICE work guys!

That Fluval Edge looks so sharp, mjproost, I love it!


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

WingoAgency said:


> I don't understand your questions. Aren't all PAR38s are pre-manufactured or are you asking a fixture employing PAR38s?



What I meant was "is anyone using PAR38's or other pre-manufactured LED fixtures" like the Maxspect, or other pendant or fixture-style lights. Basically any kind of prefab light, really.


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

redfishsc said:


> ....."is anyone using PAR38's or other pre-manufactured LED fixtures" like the Maxspect, or other pendant or fixture-style lights.....


Post#42 those are PAR38s....link in in my sig line.


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## tentacles (Nov 28, 2011)

Finally got around to mounting my rough and ready prototype LED fixture over the 10 gal. The pics ought to be self-explanatory. I made the fittings that attach the SS rod to the threaded rod on my lathe, and the clamp pieces are made from 1/2" nylon plate, used my mill to cut the "C" sections out, but you could easily make these with a hand drill and just about any kind of saw. I'd just like to say, I made this thing out of junk I had laying around. The ONLY things I bought for this project were the LEDs and driver. 

The LEDs are 5000k-5500k cool white Cree XPG R4's (WH bin) from cutter. Plants in the tank include java moss and hornwort. I just pulled a huge mass of hornwort that grew last week with the LED fixture sitting on a piece of plexi on top of the tank. There's a pot on the back left of the fixture to adjust brightness, although the pot is the wrong size to dim it much. I am feeding it 5.5v from a USB charger adapter, and I found that this is fine, and in fact the current will still adjust up to 1100ma with this configuration. So no *need* for a 10v adapter in most situations. At night I simply unplug the 5.5v and the lights are the perfect brightness for a moon light. 

The tank itself is temporary until I move into a house, at which point I'll be upgrading to a 29 or 40B or so.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

DogFish said:


> Post#42 those are PAR38s....link in in my sig line.


VERY nice and I love the enclosures. 


What PAR38's are you using? 


(btw we're talking about this post, for those curious.... http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/l...ub-diy-manufactured-showem-3.html#post1642529)


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

tentacles said:


> I made the fittings that attach the SS rod to the threaded rod on my lathe, and the clamp pieces are made from 1/2" nylon plate, used my mill to cut the "C" sections out, but you could easily make these with a hand drill and just about any kind of saw. I'd just like to say, I made this thing out of junk I had laying around. The ONLY things I bought for this project were the LEDs and driver.



Ah, nice! A metal version of "me". I do the same kinds of things---- making nice stuff out of scrap..... on the lathe..... except i use wood. I'm not much of a metal machinist, I'm not set up for it. I did make the dimmer knobs for my big pendant on the lathe, from morado hardwood. 




> I am feeding it 5.5v from a USB charger adapter, and I found that this is fine, and in fact the current will still adjust up to 1100ma with this configuration. So no *need* for a 10v adapter in most situations. At night I simply unplug the 5.5v and the lights are the perfect brightness for a moon light.



10000000% agreed, esp if you are talking about Meanwell ELN models. I'm using a 5.2v phone charger on my reef tank (and... at that, I'm using it on a "P" model Meanwell which is supposely only supposed to interpret PWM signals for dimming, but it takes analog voltage just fine). I'm running mine around 700-800mA over the reef.


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

redfishsc said:


> VERY nice and I love the enclosures.
> 
> 
> What PAR38's are you using?
> ...



Hit the link in my Sig Line for info.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

DogFish said:


> Hit the link in my Sig Line for info.


I was hoping you'd share with us the place or brand of light you had, but now i see that you got it from ebay and can't post a link. 

Nice stuff though, and the dimmer was a VERY good idea, otherwise you'd be living in BBA hell..... 18w of Cree in 30 degree optics is an extraordinarily strong concentration of light, but it appears that you have the footprint very well matched for your tank. I love the whole look.


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## samamorgan (Dec 31, 2011)

20 Long with 2x Panoramas mounted on a 30x6 piece of glass and hung. I really wanted a clean look, and whats cleaner than glass?! 

From the front (this is actually an extremely overbuilt shelf, not a stand)









From Above


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

WOW that's a lot of light! How many watts is each of those panoramas drawing? I'm hoping you have your CO2 turned up to something like "soda water" CO2 levels 


BTW is that one of those nice blue pearlscale angels I see in the bottom right?


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## samamorgan (Dec 31, 2011)

Actually i dont have the CO2 in yet, regulator is on its way. I've just been dosing excel daily. Haven't seen any algae problems yet. And yes, that is a blue angelfish, heres a better pic:









My LFS just happened to have him. I'd never seen an angelfish before that wasnt either marbled or mostly white, so i just had to have him. Him and the other angel i have will get a bigger home when they outgrow the tank 

Ecoxotic says they draw 13 watts, but the DC power supply that came with it says its rated at 12 watts. So somewhere in there. I don't have a meter of any sort.

Light is ~60 par substrate, ~100 par mid water, if aquanerd's numbers are correct. Source:http://blog.aquanerd.com/2010/02/ecoxotic-panorama-module-par-numbers.html


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Oh dude what a gorgeous angelfish. I have a nice golden angel in my system (see http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...ess-cube-11g-rimless-glass-3.html#post1655478) but it's not as pretty as that one you have!

OK Now that I look a little closer, I see those LED units aren't as big as I thought they were. I was thinking they were around 10" wide (like a square shape) but they are light strips. Looks like the perfect light for your tank.


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## samamorgan (Dec 31, 2011)

Ohh haha yeah theyre the single modules, 24 LEDs total, 6 blue and 18 6500k white. The blue really makes the fish pop. If i had two of those big panorama tablet lights, i couldnt imagine a plant actually surviving under it, but it would be a sight to see!

And t hanks for your praise, i really like the little bugger, he's got quite the personality. I really like that sunbathed angel as well, theyre so pretty. But the king of my tank is actually my little rainbow shark, he sits under the little rock territory i set up for him and judo chops any unsuspecting creature that tries to enter. Its pretty funny to watch.


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## samamorgan (Dec 31, 2011)

Theres gotta be more people out there running LEDs, come on, lets see em! This is a great thread.


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Anyone get any LED surprises for Christmas?


BTW check this out. Reefkeeping LED competition (just a simple viewer-vote thing). I know Dave, who created the NanoBox LED rig, who's kicking tail in this competition and *I'm encouraging him to make a freshwater version.*

Round 1:
http://reefbuilders.com/2012/01/03/aquarium-led-showdown/

Round 2:
http://reefbuilders.com/2012/01/04/aquarium-led-lighting-showdown-2/

Round 3
http://reefbuilders.com/2012/01/05/elite-narrowed-2011-aquarium-led-lighting-showdown/


Not sure when round 4 is, but he'll have a much bigger challenge against the Ecotech Radion unit. It's pretty beefy.


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

redfishsc said:


> I was hoping you'd share with us the place or brand of light you had, but now i see that you got it from ebay and can't post a link.
> 
> Nice stuff though, and the dimmer was a VERY good idea, otherwise you'd be living in BBA hell..... 18w of Cree in 30 degree optics is an extraordinarily strong concentration of light, but it appears that you have the footprint very well matched for your tank. I love the whole look.


Thanks for the nice complement, I put a lot of thought into this one. From stand to lights.

>>> anyone interested can PM me on the "E" seller I got my Bulbs from

Dimmer - It only makes sense to use a dimmer in the set up I built. I would advise anyone to use the height/lenght of the pendant cord to dial in the foot print coverage/light spill. Then you have the dimmer to adjust light intensity.

Having run the lamps now for a while I would say 30-40 degree optics are the answer. 60 and up and you'll have more light on the floor around that tank than you want.


I'm still in the final stages of planting. I'll post pc when it's fully planted.


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## WingoAgency (Jan 10, 2006)

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/new-york/157809-tank-pix-my-new-wingo-led.html


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Beautiful bowfront Wingo!!!!


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## tentacles (Nov 28, 2011)

Made another LED setup for my new 7.5 shrimp tank. This one is 6 bridgelux 4500k from aquastyleonline.com The driver is a 10w LED driver (7-12v @ 900ma) from dealextreme. I'm running 2 strings so they're running at 450ma each. They are mounted on some strips of 1" wide x 1/8" thick aluminum sheet. The LEDs run plenty cool, warm but not hot to the touch. Another fixture made from junk laying around. 

The rods supporting the strips are 3/16" stainless rod bent over a suitable round object with a vise. I used .035" stainless wire to tie the strips onto the rods, they are wound tightly enough to hold the strips in place but are still moveable. I may spot weld them in place at some later date. The tank clamps will also fit over a standard 10g tank rim and are made out of 3/4" thick nylon (Nylatron GS).

Apologies for the color of the water, it's a dirt bottom tank and the peat moss in the dirt really stains the water for a while.


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## tizzite (Mar 28, 2010)

24 DIY kit from aquastyle.


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

tentacles said:


> Made another LED setup for my new 7.5 shrimp tank. This one is 6 bridgelux 4500k from aquastyleonline.com The driver is a 10w LED driver (7-12v @ 900ma) from dealextreme. I'm running 2 strings so they're running at 450ma each. They are mounted on some strips of 1" wide x 1/8" thick aluminum sheet. The LEDs run plenty cool, warm but not hot to the touch. Another fixture made from junk laying around.
> 
> The rods supporting the strips are 3/16" stainless rod bent over a suitable round object with a vise. I used .035" stainless wire to tie the strips onto the rods, they are wound tightly enough to hold the strips in place but are still moveable. I may spot weld them in place at some later date. The tank clamps will also fit over a standard 10g tank rim and are made out of 3/4" thick nylon (Nylatron GS).


I love the mad scientist look, needs a Tesla coil. :biggrin:


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## redfishsc (Aug 29, 2010)

Tizzite, I love the way you suspended the heatsink over your tank. Very effective at a clean, modern look.


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