figured id share my led setup

[WeePee]

so after using 6x T5 lights on my 30 gallon for over a year, and moving to a 75 gallon tank i decided that spending $100 per 8 months on new bulbs is no longer for me.

I though about a nice DIY canopy using 2 MH's and 2 T5's, but that would still give me a large bill every 8 months along with a larger electricity bill every month. so LEDs were my way to go, pay a little more now in order to save a lot more later on. I chose to go with two 36 LED kits i could buy online. and so far, heres the outcome:

36 LEDs per side, center is a line of white, outer rows are both blue.

theres so much room for activities!

oooh, artsy bokeh

final look:

 

[mr_z]

I have a 29 gallon I kinda wanted to do this also but idk about LEDs yet everyone is still iffy about them. How much did u pay for the kit? Can u post a list of what the kit comes with ?

 

[misenplace101]

I'm actually doing MH with led supplements. I'm not completely sold on the longevity of of the LEDs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WeePee]

I have a 29 gallon I kinda wanted to do this also but idk about LEDs yet everyone is still iffy about them. How much did u pay for the kit? Can u post a list of what the kit comes with ?

each kit included:
36 Cree XRE LEDs w Optics, i chose 80 degree
2 X Ultra Quiet 23 dB Fan w Powersupply
1 X 18″ x 8.46″ Heat Sink
2 X Thermal Adhesive and End Caps
3 X Leviton Polarized 15A Plug

price for this: $309

and to drive the lights i chose to use 3 Mean Well ELN-60-48D drivers.
with these I am running 3 strings of lights, left blue, all white, and right blue. each light string has two series circuits of 12 LEDs in parallel. Wiring them like this slightly under drives the LEDs, which makes them run a little dimmer, cooler, and can lengthen their life span.

also, since i have the 48D driver, they are dimable. meaning i can take them from 10% to 100% over the course of an hour for sun rise/set effects using my ReefKeeper Lite (tho prolly upgrade to elite soon).

 

[mr_z]

nice. and what you do to your old fixture id like to maybe take it off your hands if its not longer in use and for the right price.

 

[Smitty]

That is gonna be one kick ass set-up!!!

 

[scotty]

but what would he put on top of his frag tank if you took the old setup?!

 

[scotty]

i can't wait to see this setup up and running. hes been talking since September about this setup!

 

[WeePee]

and some updates, ive got 2/3 of the lights working and my new ALC came in the male today. so tomorrow it shall be complete!

just 24 whites:

24 whites and 24 blues:

24 blues:

 

[WeePee]

spent the day working on actually making my lighting and canopy look presentable.
rewired everything, build a top to the canopy which houses the power supplies, the LM324 circuitry, all wiring circuitry, added fans, and a power strip.

pics below:

left
right

full

wiring diagram

op amp housing

the next step is actually wiring everything together and testing!