Diy led

[dvenson]

so i have been doing a lot of research on DIY led and i am looking at heat sinks currently and had a couple questions

1. what quantity of 3 watt leds would be recommended for a 90 gallon tank?
(with the option to support a clam on the sand bed at some point down the road)

2. for those who were in the large group buy what would you change about your order?

3. what is the easiest way to drill your heat sink?
(i am looking at this heat sink http://www.heatsinkusa.com/products/10.000"-Wide-x-16"-Long-Heatsink.html)

i also read the build thread for http://www.thescmas.com/forums/showthread.php?9113-DIY-3watt-LED-Lighting i used this a a guide to get an idea of $$ and material

tank measurements are 48 long 24 tall and 18 deep

i am just exploring options currently since i just started my 90 gallon tank and i am not happy with the coloring of the CF and if i upgrade the lighting the cost for the DIY would be worth it later down the road if i decide to make it a full reef.

 

[Zooid]

1. I would personally run 72 LED's on that tank. (48 royal blue and 24 cool white)
2. I would NOT buy the drivers that are available from them. I would also consider buying CREE LED's from
http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut1019. The Bridgelux LED's are ok but they generate a
lot of heat to the heat sink which, to me, says that the CREE's are more efficient. I put 30 LED's on a 10" x 12"
heat sink from heatsinkusa and it needs a fan if all the LED's are operating at full power.
3. I had a young guy drill and tap my heatsink and used nylon screws to hold the LED's on the heatsink with some
ArcticSilver thermal paste (a tiny bit per LED) under the LED's.

Just my opinion though
I have one of my diy LED setups in operation right now if you want to look at it.

 

[hooked]

I have a clam in my reef on the sand bed. I am also only running my LED's at about 70% of full power. I have 130PAR on the sandbed.
Since my build, I have put 80 degree lenses on the front row of whites. This helps brighten the sand bed. and discontinued the back row of blues. For a total of 54 blue and 48 whites running. I can still make the tank look very blue. My heatsinks are running 105 degrees F with no fans. Growth is astonishing.
I'm not too happy with the drivers, but am not able to find anything comparable for the price. Still looking.

 

[lpsouth1978@msn.com]

Dvenson, I have done several LED builds using different sources and types of LED's. You are welcome to come by anytime to see them and see the difference between the LED's. All three of my tanks have LED's over them and all work well. I can say that the Cree LED's are ABSOLUTELY more efficient than the Bridglux LED's. They are much brighter and create less heat. I have 24 Cree LED's in one fixture and 72 Bridgelux in another and the 24 Crees are brighter than 72 bridgelux. The Cree fixture running at 100% uses only 72 watts while the bridgelux fixture uses 216 watts. Had I used the Crees instead I think I could have done 36 LED at 108 watts. I still need to get PAR readings with the Bridgelux and will post results when I get it done.

 

[kendog626]

hi everyone,im new to this forum. im gonna be buying the biocube 29 very shortly and was looking into doing a led upgrade on it. i found a kit on ebay for 179.99 its a biocube 29 gallon led light kit w/ballast dimmable 36w it says it contains 12 3w leds 6 white and 6 blue. they are bridgelux leds from proled. i was wondering if anyone has heard of these and or have used these? and do you know if that will be enough lighting for corals, clams or anenomes?​

 

[dvenson]

That should be enough light here is my build thread check it out

http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums/showthread.php?6781-28-Gallon-JBJ-LED-Build&highlight=Rock+wall