i am thinking about tackling a diy led strip using 3w cree leds a meanwell driver connected to the apex will use two 24" heat sinks with 7 led’s each. I thought this was an expensive project and difficult to do, but actually looks to cost about $144-155 and very easy, the bulbs available spectrum are 470nm 460nm and white 6000k any suggestions these are the cree xp-e led’s
u know my opinion: if it doesn’t dim, it’s not worth it. but if it does, i’m first in line.
oh it dims!!! through the apex too ha ha 1-10v meanwell dimmable driver. It will be 14 3w led’s i think i am going with all royal blue 460nm and they are supposed to be more powerful then the par 38 we tested they are the new cree’s
I’ve been trying to do one for ever. If you gonna do one, I would like to see you do it first, then I’ll follow. LMK when you gonna do it.
My LED setup is using 3w Cree bulbs and Meanwell drivers. Check out Rapid Led, they have good info on how to DIY.
[quote=“houndsbayman, post:5, topic:4622”]
My LED setup is using 3w Cree bulbs and Meanwell drivers. Check out Rapid Led, they have good info on how to DIY.[/quote]
thats the place i am getting them from looks to be unlimited what you can do. very friendly and helpful. the only problem i saw was waterproofing them rapid said to use a splash cover of guard. I could use some plexi and have it cut and place it on the optics but i suggested silicone, they said if it can handle the high temp it would be fine so I’m going to use high temp silicone. the cool thing is the heatsinks come in a variety of sizes i’m going to try the 1.1" x 24 two of them
One thing to keep in mind when Building a DIY led system is to make a way to add that 420nm wave length.
Yes led doesnt have 420 yet. I am still leaving the vho’s up I still have full vho. And can fit these with them but I might remove some not sure yet. I just don’t want too much light.
Does anyone know if high temp silicone is safe to use. It will not be in the water but on the led circuit for water protection. Just in case a small piece falls into the tank
lights are on the way should be here sat. or mon. will try to take pics of progress and start a build thread if anyone is interested
I am, LMK when.
I’m interested also. LEDs are going to be my next project as soon as I get my next tank set up. Just out of curiosity, how many gallons would you say that 14 3w LED system plus the two VHO’s be good for? I’m trying to get an estimate as to how many I’m going to need for my own project.
I actually went with more I would think if I was starting fresh i would use 4 vho 420 nm with 40 royal blue LEDs and like 8 white all with optics. would be a nice look for me and that’s a tank 48"x24"x31" if ur tank is 48" I’d do 4 vho or ho overdriven and LEDs. But a guess for Sps with 14 LEDs and 2 vhos a tank around 24"x 12x24 maybe a bit bigger. The cool thing now about led is you can start with what u can get now then upgrade later. I would start with lps and a frag of Sps to see how it does. I suspect we all could have less light then were used to just growth wouldn’t be as fast.
Sounds like a plan Dunk. I like the idea of keeping the VHO for the 420nm light. As for the Blue LED’s, i would look for some that are in the 450’s peak range rather than the ones that say 460-475. 450’s come closer to the chlorophyl B 453 nm utilization peak curve. that curve drops almost straight down from there. so the high 460’s and 470’s might not be beneficial to coral zooxanthelae growth.
Lately many LED pendant manufacturers are offering high Kelvin white LEDs. like 16000K. I would like to see a spectrum curve on those if you find them. Probably have a blue peak at 450’s. I would hope.