# Advice on DIY LED build for nano tank?!



## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Hey guys, I'm setting up my first freshwater planted in a long time. I've kept some fresh before immensly over the years, but transitioned to reefing the last decade or so. I've decided to build my own pendant for my new (Amazon prime deal) Marineland portrait 5.5g setup. 

The tank measures (approximately) 9.5x8.5x16", so it wont take much to get some good light going on. I wanted to be able to adjust it up later if I ever get into anything higher light/advanced, but for now will likely do Java Fern, Anubias, Banana plant, Water sprite, and whatever else I can find that does well for me :wink2:

So far I was thinking that a CPU heatsink would be a decent pendant, and this would allow me to have a backup fan for summertime or high-intensity operation, but I intend to passively cool this setup ideally. I was thinking of a couple different setups, but either way the light would hang from 3-6" above the tank.

Possible LED selection, keep in mind I'm a bit fuzzy on the state of freshwater lighting, last time I set up a planted tank PC Fluorescent was still the choice lighting!!! I would like to be able to have a nice range of adjustability, from a stark white to a deep blue. I will likely be using a Typhon or similar controller, still undecided. 2-4 channels possibly, but I'd likely do just fine with 2. Most likely will use LDD type drivers. I have ways of making by when I first build it up and test it out though.

All on 3-up stars (separate wiring, and spread around for good mix) from stevesleds most likely, stars tightly spaced-

2x NW (5000k)

1x WW (3k)

1x RB (440nm?)

1x Lime 

1x hyper violet 

I was thinking of possibly doing that, but adding the following as well-

1x NW (5000k)

1x CW (6500k)

1x B (460nm?)

I like a nice crisp white, I despise the heavy yellow tint a lot of tanks end up with. I like a bit of blue too, but will tend towards more of a neutral tone to this little tank. Something like these are the look I'm after...



















I tried to do a ton of research, but since photobucket nuked the offsite links it's not that easy to find any pics of smaller buiids...


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

SPECTRA

Helps w/ estimating..need to do a few assumptions i.e w/ "lime"..










Came up w/ this (used green for lime..)
Diodes are multiplied to simulate the pattern w/ "hyperviolet (a "blue") and normal blue (substuted for rb) at 1/3rd power

----------------------------------------


> PhilipsLumileds Luxeon-Rebel PLUS (4000K) [120°] x6
> PhilipsLumileds Luxeon-Rebel PLUS (3000K) [120°] x3
> PhilipsLumileds Luxeon-Rebel Blue (460-480nm) [120°] x1
> PhilipsLumileds Luxeon-Rebel Green (520-540nm) [120°] x3
> ...


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## TeamTeal (Mar 31, 2010)

will be following. i am also thinking about making an LED pendant with a CPU heatsink


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

jeffkrol said:


> SPECTRA
> 
> Helps w/ estimating..need to do a few assumptions i.e w/ "lime"..
> 
> ...


Neat. The "lime" LED from Steve's supposedly peaks at 567 nm, if that makes a big difference.

Does this look like a decent layout? Would nine total emitters be overkill?


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Well, since from what I can tell (and additional simulation and playing around on spectra) the original lineup looks to be a pretty good and reasonably flexible mix, so I ordered two 3-up stars (separate wiring) from Steve's LEDs.

Star#1
1x 4000k white
1x 2700k white
1x lime (490-750nm, 567nm peak)

Star#2
1x 4000k white
1x blue (460-480nm "cool blue")
1x true violet 3.0 (430nm)

I dug out a decent size CPU heatsink that should work well passively cooled, just need to drill/tap it or grab some adhesive thermal pads. Not sure what driver/dimmer I'm going with yet, probably just doing a linear constant current regulator per channel to get an idea of what I want, and then order the appropriate LDD drivers to suit.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Please show us how it looks on the tank when it is done.

Based on those low spectrum whites, I would think it looks quite yellow. But perhaps the colored leds will somehow make it look more white?

Regarding attaching the leds, because you are using a CPU heatsink, you have a few options. You can drill and tap. I recommend this because you have so few leds.

Adhesives are the other option. The thermal adhesive is easiest, but if you ever remove the leds and want to reuse them, you will have to figure out how to remove the old adhesive from the led backing.

Alternatively, you could use thermal paste and use epoxy on the edges. It looks worse, but has the advantage that leds can be swapped and reused.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Lingwendil said:


> I dug out a decent size CPU heatsink that should work well passively cooled, just need to drill/tap it or grab some adhesive thermal pads. Not sure what driver/dimmer I'm going with yet, probably just doing a linear constant current regulator per channel to get an idea of what I want, and then order the appropriate LDD drivers to suit.


Linear regulators need to be balanced w/ the ps or you get heating issues..
Best to go w/ something like Meanwell LDD's 
Low heat
Proven
Dimmable w/ 5V PWM
little "fuss" about design

Heatsink plaster isn't the best thermal compound but being basically "thermal silicone" both an adhesive and fairly easy to remove.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

jeffkrol said:


> Linear regulators need to be balanced w/ the ps or you get heating issues..
> Best to go w/ something like Meanwell LDD's
> Low heat
> Proven
> ...


What kind of PWM dimmer do you use with a Constant Current driver?

Most of the PWM dimmers I've seen are designed (i think) to be used with constant voltage. 

https://www.amazon.com/Triangle-Bul...388877&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=PWM+dimmer&psc=1


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

ChrisX said:


> Please show us how it looks on the tank when it is done.
> 
> Based on those low spectrum whites, I would think it looks quite yellow. But perhaps the colored leds will somehow make it look more white?
> 
> ...


Yeah, I'm thinking drill/tap with some nice thermal grease is what I'll do. The beauty of using just two LED stars is I only have four holes to drill, and it's much less fuss.

As to the color, the "lime" LED from Steve's is a great way to offset the warmer color temp of the 4000k/2700k whites, and running lower temp whites gives me a bit more red without resorting to using separate red emitters. That and the blue should give me a good range to play with in getting the look I want while still providing a nice spectrum. From previous experience with these LEDs the lime works perfectly to get everything to look right, especially with the blue I've got in there. My last reef fixture had 4000k white with a ton of royal blue, and the whites with the lime alone made a nice crisp white even before the blues were switched on.



jeffkrol said:


> Linear regulators need to be balanced w/ the ps or you get heating issues..
> Best to go w/ something like Meanwell LDD's
> Low heat
> Proven
> ...


I'm fairly convinced that the LDD drivers are what I'll be using. The linear regs are only for testing, not for the finished product. I've got a pile of LM317 and some huuuuuge heatsinks that I can use just to figure out the static current I'll need per channel. Unfortunately I don't have much on hand that's LED specific so these will do as constant current sources for now just to ballpark what LDD drivers I need.

Nice thing about this build is a simple 12 volt supply of several amps will be plenty, especially coupled with the LDD drivers, and only six total LEDs.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Lingwendil said:


> As to the color, the "lime" LED from Steve's is a great way to offset the warmer color temp of the 4000k/2700k whites, and running lower temp whites gives me a bit more red without resorting to using separate red emitters. That and the blue should give me a good range to play with in getting the look I want while still providing a nice spectrum. From previous experience with these LEDs the lime works perfectly to get everything to look right, especially with the blue I've got in there. My last reef fixture had 4000k white with a ton of royal blue, and the whites with the lime alone made a nice crisp white even before the blues were switched on.
> 
> 
> Nice thing about this build is a simple 12 volt supply of several amps will be plenty, especially coupled with the LDD drivers, and only six total LEDs.


I put those LEDs (or as close as possible) into the Spetra tool, and it said the apparent look would be around 19K! Perhaps I don't understand the value of that tool. I've been guessing what led combinations will look good.

Many of the commercial planted LED lights are mainly 6500k supplemented with varying ratios of red, blue, green. Some of them have some warm whites mixed in. Obviously each manufacturer has different ideas.

I believe that RGB lights in equal proportion and added together should create a "white" light. By varying the balance you can theoretically get any tint you want. The next evolution of my DIY light will contain RGB leds and the ability to control each RGB channel. I'm trying to figure out the most cost effective way to build this. This beats the alternative of continually swapping leds to find the color tone I want.


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## Aqua99 (Jan 6, 2017)

Not sure if this helps at all-

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/10-lighting/1144546-quick-easy-diy-led.html

I had similar thoughts but went with a slightly more elaborate heatsink in case I move it up to a larger cube.

I swapped the LED's since that thread, and presently run 2x Cree xm-l2 CW, 1 400-410 UV, 1 Lime, and 1 660 red. I love the color (I prefer cooler color temps). I had a far red in there too but have it disconnected at the moment. Great growth when it was primarily a planted setup.

I will update that thread soon with everything as it stands now, and include PAR data as soon as I can get a few moments to collect the data.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

ChrisX said:


> I put those LEDs (or as close as possible) into the Spetra tool, and it said the apparent look would be around 19K! Perhaps I don't understand the value of that tool. I've been guessing what led combinations will look good.
> 
> Many of the commercial planted LED lights are mainly 6500k supplemented with varying ratios of red, blue, green. Some of them have some warm whites mixed in. Obviously each manufacturer has different ideas.
> 
> I believe that RGB lights in equal proportion and added together should create a "white" light. By varying the balance you can theoretically get any tint you want. The next evolution of my DIY light will contain RGB leds and the ability to control each RGB channel. I'm trying to figure out the most cost effective way to build this. This beats the alternative of continually swapping leds to find the color tone I want.


you missed the fact my "estimate" actually assumes violet and blue are dimmed to 33%..By multiplying the others

PhilipsLumileds Luxeon-Rebel PLUS (4000K) [120°] x6
PhilipsLumileds Luxeon-Rebel PLUS (3000K) [120°] x3
PhilipsLumileds Luxeon-Rebel Blue (460-480nm) [120°] x1
PhilipsLumileds Luxeon-Rebel Green (520-540nm) [120°] x3
SemiLEDs C35L-U-A UV (410-420nm) (U70) [120°] x1

As designed ,and all channels at 100% it is a very high k..


Bump:


Aqua99 said:


> Not sure if this helps at all-
> 
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/10-lighting/1144546-quick-easy-diy-led.html
> 
> ...


Have been readiing a bit about far red.. Timing is an issue.. Only needs to be on like first 20 min or last 20 min..


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

jeffkrol said:


> you missed the fact my "estimate" actually assumes violet and blue are dimmed to 33%..By multiplying the others
> 
> PhilipsLumileds Luxeon-Rebel PLUS (4000K) [120°] x6
> PhilipsLumileds Luxeon-Rebel PLUS (3000K) [120°] x3
> ...


Was this directed at the OP? I didn't pick any leds. I just wanted to know about the spectra tool. The OP's led choices set off an "alarm" because it didn't seem like it would be good viewing.

If you input a combination of leds, and it says the combined output has a peak at (say) 15K, does that mean it will be an overall very cold/bluish look?

I input the leds selected by the OP and it said peak was 19K. IDK if he had plans to dim some of the leds to create a warmer look.. or he actually wanted a 19K look... or I just don't understand what the Spectra estimate means.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

ChrisX said:


> Was this directed at the OP? I didn't pick any leds. I just wanted to know about the spectra tool. The OP's led choices set off an "alarm" because it didn't seem like it would be good viewing.
> 
> If you input a combination of leds, and it says the combined output has a peak at (say) 15K, does that mean it will be an overall very cold/bluish look?
> 
> I input the leds selected by the OP and it said peak was 19K. IDK if he had plans to dim some of the leds to create a warmer look.. or he actually wanted a 19K look... or I just don't understand what the Spectra estimate means.


hmm talking around each other a bit here..
But yes when combined they are what they are..
O/P was doing separate channels and apparently control..


> I will likely be using a Typhon or similar controller, still undecided. 2-4 channels possibly


Blue/violet one channel all the rest on another.
Though wouldn't recommend it for a few reasons like violets being driven better at lower currents.. say 350mA
and liking more color control in general

If one isn't planning on control or dimming certainly wouldn't have recommended the original pattern unless you wanted a reef blue look..

Normally I'd suggest a more target k at all at 100% but one needs to know exactly what that is..
Secondly by "neutral tone" almost any high CRI wil be fairly neutral by definition..
high CRI measurements around daylight (6500k) insure a fairly neutral tone..


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Yup. Separate channels and dimmed blue/violet to probably about a third the power of the whites and lime. I figure 1000mA for the whites, and 350mA on the blue/violet. By the Spectra tool this should give a nice ~7500k look (taking into account the way the emitters were multiplied for the simulation, which is a handy way to make it look like the singles were dimmed) and give room to play with.


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## Aqua99 (Jan 6, 2017)

jeffkrol said:


> Have been readiing a bit about far red.. Timing is an issue.. Only needs to be on like first 20 min or last 20 min..


Yep, definitely. Was running it on its own driver/timer just 30min before lights out. I felt like it was helping (plants had good overall growth- not too lanky/shrubby). Unfortunately I scaled everything back on that tank because it became home to some TB shrimp. Ferts are nearly non existent now and no use in going the extra mile with the far red.


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## Kubla (Jan 5, 2014)

Subscribed to this thread. I have the same tank that I picked up the same way, Amazon Prime deal. I've been wanting to do something with a light for a while and am definitely interested in rolling my own.
On a side note, Lingwndil, you're the closest member I've seen to me so far. I'm in Atwater, so about 30 miles from you. I haven't seen many planted tank folks around here. I'm always up for a plant exchange!


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## ChrisAZ (Sep 13, 2013)

What about cyan? Just mentioning it because someone usually brings it up in similar threads. Apparently it is used by plants and is lacking in most led setups.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

That's what the "lime" LED is for these days. It's a wider 490-750nm, 567nm peak emitter that works very well.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

ChrisAZ said:


> What about cyan? Just mentioning it because someone usually brings it up in similar threads. Apparently it is used by plants and is lacking in most led setups.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Lime isn't really "the best" substitute.. 
I've relegated it to a "specialty taste" since the color is overpowering for some people..
Lime was developed to replace inefficient green emitters for RGB tunable lights..
https://www.digikey.com/en/articles...e-green-leds-encourage-color-tunable-lighting

In small fixtures or few channel arrays I don't "push" them anymore..

Personally love them for the spectrum fill and their stand alone color.


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## Aqua99 (Jan 6, 2017)

Some people use Lime to help "blend/mask" (visual effect). On my high-tech tank I can run my uv's(400-410), reds (660's), 6,500k and 10,000k whites, along with my Luxeon Rebel Limes to have a light that looks great to me yet still offers the advantages over "white" alone. If I pull the Limes out it's horrible and I'd prob just run white only.

The effect is enough that I can even run hyper-violets without it annoying me (visuals only again of course), but I still prefer the 400-410's. I can't get the cyans to work in my setup no matter what I try. I'd either have to double the quantity of every other led in my heatsink or run them on their own driver dimmed very low (neither of which I'm willing to do). Then again, my main concern is my view of this tank over maximum plant happiness/growth...lol


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Kubla said:


> Subscribed to this thread. I have the same tank that I picked up the same way, Amazon Prime deal. I've been wanting to do something with a light for a while and am definitely interested in rolling my own.
> On a side note, Lingwndil, you're the closest member I've seen to me so far. I'm in Atwater, so about 30 miles from you. I haven't seen many planted tank folks around here. I'm always up for a plant exchange!


Oh no! I just noticed I never updated my profile, I'm actually in the east bay area now, in Oakley. Sorry man. I feel your pain on local guys from when I lived out there though. I'll definitely keep this build updated though. This is a *killer* tank, and can't wait to get it lit well and stocked!




Aqua99 said:


> Some people use Lime to help "blend/mask" (visual effect). On my high-tech tank I can run my uv's(400-410), reds (660's), 6,500k and 10,000k whites, along with my Luxeon Rebel Limes to have a light that looks great to me yet still offers the advantages over "white" alone. If I pull the Limes out it's horrible and I'd prob just run white only.
> 
> The effect is enough that I can even run hyper-violets without it annoying me (visuals only again of course), but I still prefer the 400-410's. I can't get the cyans to work in my setup no matter what I try. I'd either have to double the quantity of every other led in my heatsink or run them on their own driver dimmed very low (neither of which I'm willing to do). Then again, my main concern is my view of this tank over maximum plant happiness/growth...lol


I never had good luck with discrete greens or cyan. Lime has been a good thing for me on my last few fixtures. Granted I've mainly done reef setups, and a macroalgae tank (very similar to a freshwater light, but a tad more blue) where it worked very well. I used it to get a nice white before the blues were even used, and it gave a nice clean 10,000k look. I tried both cyan and a couple greens before going with the lime, and noticed no real difference in growth, but it looked so much better with the lime.


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Well, I ordered a couple 3-ups from Steve's LEDs, and a blemishes/dent 6" makersLED heatsink kit ($24 shipped!) So I brought some stuff with me to work, and threw something together. This is one 3-up with 1x 4000k, 1x 2700k, 1x Lime, and the other star is 1x blue (465 "cool blue") 1x 4000k, 1x 430 hyper violet, all driven at 300mA for testing. I think it looks fantastic! Maybe a hint more blue and I'll be happy. Best way to describe the look is close to a GE 6500k T5HO with better color. I have a single royal blue I might throw on just to see how it looks, but once I get a controller rigged up I might just leave the cool blue and violet on their own channel. Maybe I'll add a 410 nm violet for some extra PAR without effecting the overall color temp so much? Maybe a cyan?

Either way, I love it. Even if I don't add or change any stars, I think I can get the color and power I need just by playing with the ccontroller and settings once I get to that point.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Great build! I like the heatsink and wiring.

I think it looks OK, but its not close to the original pics you posted. To me is has a very reddish/yellowish look, which may be what you're after.

Possibly its because you have a violet substrate, but it doesn't look "natural" in the pics. It looks like a fairly low combined K. What did these combinations say in the spectra tool?

I would agree it needs more blue, but perhaps not more blue leds, but replace some of the natural whites with 6500k?


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Shutting off the cool blue (or dimming) should, theoretically push it to 6500k-ish w/ high CRI.


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Yeah, I've got a #16 garnet substrate, so it looks a little funky (the substrate is a pretty good purple) but my phone's camera doesn't take photos of LEDs well at all, it looks a lot less yellow in person. I've got the blue, violet, and one of the 4000k whites on separate wires on the second star, so I should be able to play with the levels of white/blue once I lash up a typhon or similar controller. I've considered picking up another star with a cool white, or some other combination of LEDs on it (not like ~$10 is expensive) to try out, but we shall see where this gets me.

I'd like to get some of the Luxeon C 90CRI whites, but it doesn't seem it's possible to get them already mounted yet, so I might need to order a few and some stars separately, and get some reflowed, but, that's not a huge priority.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Lingwendil said:


> Yeah, I've got a #16 garnet substrate, so it looks a little funky (the substrate is a pretty good purple) but my phone's camera doesn't take photos of LEDs well at all, it looks a lot less yellow in person. I've got the blue, violet, and one of the 4000k whites on separate wires on the second star, so I should be able to play with the levels of white/blue once I lash up a typhon or similar controller. I've considered picking up another star with a cool white, or some other combination of LEDs on it (not like ~$10 is expensive) to try out, but we shall see where this gets me.
> 
> I'd like to get some of the Luxeon C 90CRI whites, but it doesn't seem it's possible to get them already mounted yet, so I might need to order a few and some stars separately, and get some reflowed, but, that's not a huge priority.



You have SO MUCH real estate on the heat sink, why are you concerned with having them on the same chip? If you are tuning the look based on individual leds, IMO you should just buy separates and keep testing until you find the perfect combination.


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Oh, I'm not married to the multiple chip stars, I just like how compact they are. I think I'll order up a handful of different LEDs to mess with next.


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Well, I dug through my parts bin, and the only extra LEDs I had on hand (other than cheap Chinese 10 watt multichips) were Luxeon Rebel Lime, and Cree XT-E royal blue, so, I threw the extra royal blue on there, and it looks great. Hard to tell on the full tank shot due to the glare screwing with the camera, but in the up close pics and in person it looks way better. Much less yellow. I still think maybe it needs something, but I'm not sure what, so I'll order a few different emitters next time I grab parts. If I had a working controller I'm sure I could play with it to get a better look, but this will work just fine for now.


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Better (and cheeky) picture of the color-


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## Gamezawy (Apr 3, 2012)

Hello

I have learned how to build A DIY LED Lights from here with the help of many members , and i have built so many Lights for myself and friends,

My personal opinion about what LED colors to use in planted aquarium is to use 6500k Leds for the main lighting and add some RGB LEDs or separate Red Green Blue LEDS for color tuning for personal taste. well 6500K white LEDs are very enough to grow your plants with healthy growth, I have made an experiment with two LEDs a Cree XML-2 white 4000k 80 CRI led VS Cree XML-2 6500K LED with normal CRI the growth was almost the same, each LED have been tested for about 3 months on the same tank same plants same conditions the tank was high Tech 

My main Tank is 120p and i have built a bridglux led light for it using vero high cri leds with 5000k 90 CRI leds along with 3000k 97 CRI LEDs and a lot of blue, deep red, lime, Hyper violet, royal blue, cyan and the result is Crap colors the plants looks very pale Growth was very good 

While in other builds i used 6500 white LEDs with normal CRI and RGB leds, results was fantastic in growth and color 

The pic attached is for a tank i made its light and it was using of 20X Cree XP-G2 normal CRI leds for base light and 3 XPE2 red , 3 XPE green and 3 XTE Royal blue, in reality the tank looks much better

this photo was taken by phone not with pro cam


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Cant see any pics from your post.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Gamezawy said:


> Hello
> 
> I have learned how to build A DIY LED Lights from here with the help of many members , and i have built so many Lights for myself and friends,
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing your experience. I can't see your pictures either.


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Well, I couldn't help myself. A Luxeon Cyan came in from Steves'LEDs yesterday, and I just ordered a pair of Vero 10 to play with, a neutral and a cool white, both 90CRI, and the little wiring harnesses. Just need to dig out my 36 volt power supply to try them out once they come in, since the current configuration is using an HP laptop supply that only gives 19 volts. I'm thinking since I've got the violet, blue, and a neutral white on one star, I'll swap out the 2700,4000, and lime star for the neutral and cool veros to see how they look. I'm thinking that the current blue, neutral and violet 3-up with the new cyan rebel, and the cool vero will be a nice starting point. Nice thing is I can just bolt them on, and swap a few wires around without even firing up the soldering iron, thanks to that terminal strip I put in there. Should be fun.

Cool white

Neutral white


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Lingwendil said:


> Well, I couldn't help myself. A Luxeon Cyan came in from Steves'LEDs yesterday, and I just ordered a pair of Vero 10 to play with, a neutral and a cool white, both 90CRI, and the little wiring harnesses. Just need to dig out my 36 volt power supply to try them out once they come in, since the current configuration is using an HP laptop supply that only gives 19 volts. I'm thinking since I've got the violet, blue, and a neutral white on one star, I'll swap out the 2700,4000, and lime star for the neutral and cool veros to see how they look. I'm thinking that the current blue, neutral and violet 3-up with the new cyan rebel, and the cool vero will be a nice starting point. Nice thing is I can just bolt them on, and swap a few wires around without even firing up the soldering iron, thanks to that terminal strip I put in there. Should be fun.
> 
> Cool white
> 
> Neutral white


What drivers are you using?

Check out my thread on a cheap/easy way to make leds dimmable. Mutliple parallel strings can be run by a 12V, 5A supply. 

The LDD-Ls are only $3.50 from led supply. Because they are so inexpensive, its a viable way to add more leds to a lower voltage supply. And of course they are dimmable.


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Currently they are on some LM337 current regulators (LM337 is the negative version of the LM317, and does not need the tab to be isolated in this application, bolt straight to ground) until I get a chance to swap in the LDD drivers I have. I just need to figure out a nice way to put them in the fixture. I've got the LDD-300H and 700H on hand already, but they are the PCB mount version. I would like to order a few of the L's, but they won't work with the bluefish mini unless I go for the 1A or higher ones, and I'm strongly considering picking up the bluefish soon...

The 337 works great but it's a linear so it's pretty wasteful as far as heat goes. Fine for fixed current testing though, and I do have all that aluminum and a nice fan so it's no big deal for now.

If I get the chance I'm going to try and dig out my Arduino stuff when I get home from work, and throw together a controller this week sometime so I can actually start dimming the things.


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## Gamezawy (Apr 3, 2012)

Gamezawy said:


> Hello
> 
> I have learned how to build A DIY LED Lights from here with the help of many members , and i have built so many Lights for myself and friends,
> 
> ...


image corrected


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## Kampo (Nov 3, 2015)

Gamezawy said:


> Hello
> 
> I have learned how to build A DIY LED Lights from here with the help of many members , and i have built so many Lights for myself and friends,
> 
> ...


i'll agree with the general theory of this.

I've found really good luck with 6500k/3000k Rigid Strip LEDS mixed with RGB led strips. even just having the RGB 100% on all channels adds a certain pop to the aquarium. I imagine thats a lot of what the Finnex Monster Ray and Finnex Vivid lights do. 

i'm actually thinking about ordering a 50Watt White 6500k multichip and 2x10watt RGB chips and messing with them in a cheap pendent for a cube tank. figured it could be a fun project to test some theories.


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## Gamezawy (Apr 3, 2012)

I am in project now to test a cree XBD leds as shown in the pic you can mount 4 XBD LEDs on this MCPCB and i am going to try 1 cool white, red,Green,Blue 

it can be powered with 12v power supply but ofc a constant current source is the right way

i think it will be great, the only bad thing is i cant control every color separately but from my experience this mix will give nice colors and if it happened and found it too blueish for my tast i can change the cool white with natural white 4500-5000k


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Gamezawy said:


> I am in project now to test a cree XBD leds as shown in the pic you can mount 4 XBD LEDs on this MCPCB and i am going to try 1 cool white, red,Green,Blue
> 
> it can be powered with 12v power supply but ofc a constant current source is the right way
> 
> i think it will be great, the only bad thing is i cant control every color separately but from my experience this mix will give nice colors and if it happened and found it too blueish for my tast i can change the cool white with natural white 4500-5000k


I did a bunch of RGB/W testing today. With the cheap epistar leds I'm using, they need at least a 2:1 ratio of red to blue. Let me know if you find the same thing with the crees. 

With equal ratios of red to blue, everything looks purplish.


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## Kampo (Nov 3, 2015)

Gamezawy said:


> I am in project now to test a cree XBD leds as shown in the pic you can mount 4 XBD LEDs on this MCPCB and i am going to try 1 cool white, red,Green,Blue
> 
> it can be powered with 12v power supply but ofc a constant current source is the right way
> 
> i think it will be great, the only bad thing is i cant control every color separately but from my experience this mix will give nice colors and if it happened and found it too blueish for my tast i can change the cool white with natural white 4500-5000k


wounder how these would run off 12V. specs say 12-14 so i'm guessing it would run prolly less than the 10 watt rated. could make some nice easy RGBW kessil style pendants by matching 1 of the 12v led chips with one of those 60mm RGB "halos" they sell for cars. would make a sweet nano light. for not too much.


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Gamezawy said:


> I am in project now to test a cree XBD leds as shown in the pic you can mount 4 XBD LEDs on this MCPCB and i am going to try 1 cool white, red,Green,Blue
> 
> it can be powered with 12v power supply but ofc a constant current source is the right way
> 
> i think it will be great, the only bad thing is i cant control every color separately but from my experience this mix will give nice colors and if it happened and found it too blueish for my tast i can change the cool white with natural white 4500-5000k





I would think a basic ~19 volt or so laptop power supply and a LDD would work fine to drive one of these.

Go for Cyan, rather than a green, if possible since cyan is much more useful than any discrete green.


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Well, I changed it up a bit. Swapped out the royal blue for a cyan, and I swapped out the white (neutral, warm, lime) 3-up for a 90CRI 5600k ("cool") white Vero 10. I pulled the LM337 current sinks out, and wired up a little harness for a set of four LDD-L drivers so I have room for future expansion up to four channels once the controller gets built.



So, currently I have it set up so that the Vero is running at 500mA, cyan at 350mA, and the violet/blue/neutral white are at 700mA. The neutral will get it's own channel as soon as I get in some more LDD-L drivers.

White balance is hard to get right on my phone, but here it goes, it looks dim and blue in the pics but it is very bright and not so blue in person...


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

Well, I screwed with my phone's camera a bit, and got what seems to be much better color accuracy, so here goes...







Stuck some electrical tape around the upper rim of the tank to combat the light spill a bit too...


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)




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## Jsnyder (Jun 11, 2017)

Here's my take on a mini diy led build, my fixture was formerly on a reef tank and I converted it for use on an planted ada mini m. The array is 3x cool white, 3x warm white, 2x lime, 1x royal blue ,1x cool blue, and 1x 430nm violet. I was originally using a cyan in place of the royal blue, but it was to much to balance out color temp wise. The driver board is 3ch using 1A ldd drivers, and a 12v buck module for the fan and controller, the driver board supports 3 pin or 4 pin pwm fans. The controller board supports 3ch 16 bit pwm dimming, 8 bit pwm fan control, battery backed ds3231 clock, esp8266 wifi, micro sd, it has a 1.5" color oled display. As for color mixing/timing, I'm driving the violet/cool blue at 53%, the royal blue at 10% and the white/lime at 34% max with a sunrise and sunset of 1 hr on each channel. If you have any questions on the set up feel free to ask.


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## Lingwendil (Nov 16, 2012)

THATS RAD!


Any details on the controller coding? That's the part giving me the hardest time on my builds!


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## paronaram (Jun 29, 2009)

Looks Good!
Do you know who makes that controller?
Looks very nice, and it has App support


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

paronaram said:


> Do you know who makes that controller?


My guess.. He does.. 

Jsnyder


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## Kubla (Jan 5, 2014)

I think that's a good guess! (His name is printed on the board in the pic.)


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## paronaram (Jun 29, 2009)

I see that too, but there is no references on the web about his name and LED controller


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