Biocube 14 LED Project

[boehm742]

I ordered fans online at a fraction of the cost of radioshacks. Saved money that way. Yes this is custom heatsink from nanotuners that uses the existing 4 screws to mount. Goodluck getting one tho..(All orders are subject to delay and will ship in order received) , they are quite backed up its taken a while for me to get shipped out. Should have it Thursday tho.

 

[boehm742]

Below shows the wall wart wired up to the potentiometer. The dimmer wire (blue) from the driver goes to the center hookup and the + and - on the outsides from the wall wart. The dimmer - (white) will just need a negative spot. The red and the black will run to the LEDS obviously.

As for the other end of the driver (AC IN) the blue is + and brown is - just wire it up to a cord with a plug

 

[Mantis]

Thanks for the step by step on this thread. Thinking about adding LED's to my BC 14 too. I want to make a zoa garden for my Mantis shirmp and pair of clowns to live in... LOL...

 

[boehm742]

Thanks for the step by step on this thread. Thinking about adding LED's to my BC 14 too. I want to make a zoa garden for my Mantis shirmp and pair of clowns to live in... LOL...

Your welcome, its Not a problem! I hope for this to be an easy thing to use for all the BC people and help them with their projects.

 

[boehm742]

Everything has arrived and i was able to get it all installed last night. Im in the process of moving back to home tomorrow but i will update this thread with pics and details when i get settled back in.

 

[boehm742]

Shot of the leds on the heatsink, before mounting.

Shot of what colors are where in the array

Basicly then i gutted the whole hood, i used the existing on off switches for the leds/fan, one for each. I also left the breadboard that the moonlights plug into so i could still have the night light, i look to browse at night Not sure if you can notice but on the BC hood the existing vents for the stock fans let little to no air thru. I dremeled out the grates that are on the bottom side and didnt touch the outside grate. This helped with airflow 10fold.

Heatsink and leds wired up

I then added a third fan between the heatsink and the top of the hood to help blow air from the middle, currently i have it bowing out. But it seems to blow both ways in that its a big fan and cant quite get all the air out the holes i added. Needless to say, there is still alot blowing out the top. Also i will add that i swapped out the power supply for the fans with an enercell adjustable 1.5-12v power supply and with it on 9v they run great, not to loud like they were at 13v's the wall wart i had laying around put out.

Overall i am very happy with the results, the shimmer is insane, and its not that dull looking lighting the PCS had. Was sick of the boring color the PCS put out, now i got a nice crisp blue. Plus i dont have to change out those stupid bulbs anymore. I will get some pics of the tank tomorrow, i still have frags laying at random throughout the tank that i havent glued since the move so ima wait till i get them in place. I will say tho, they GLOWWWWW!!

 

[boehm742]

If anyone has any questions about anything please ask, i want this to be as straight forward as possible for everyone elses use in there DIY projects.

 

[skinz78]

Looking great! I can't wait to see the pic's! Did you happen to get any recent before pic's just for comparison?

 

[boehm742]

Sure do, ill get them up in the am, Will be comparison shots of the corals 1 under PC 1 under led. Ive got several ill post when the lights come back on

 

[boehm742]

Stock PCS, 1 10k daylight, 1 Actinic

Same corals under the LEDS

More LED shots coming once i can find some AA batteries, lol

 

[boehm742]

Everything is running great. Forgot to buy batteries today tho...Cant find my rechargeables either. *mutter*

 

[boehm742]

I will add i tried putting the 80 degree optics on today but didnt really feel they were necessary and likes the look without them a bit better, not that there was much of a difference tho. I will continue running the LEDS without them.

 

[bjbass]

I want to do a build very similar to this. Did you run the power source to that breadboard?

 

[boehm742]

I want to do a build very similar to this. Did you run the power source to that breadboard?

No breadboard on this build. Just the Meanwell and the POT.

 

[Reloadeddevil]

Very nice build

 

[liv2mtb]

I wish I have the skillz. nicely done.

 

[Sugo]

Very nice build! Can we get some update photos?

Again, sweet build!

 

[boehm742]

Sure ill take some pics tomorrow! I completely forgot about this thread!

 

[boehm742]

My plans with this tank are to be an anemone and clownfish only tank. I was never able to keep any of my RBTA's long term under the PCS, but since the LED's ive had one out of my 180 downstairs in the BC for 3+ months and its flourishing. I plan to let it split and overtake the rockwork and let my maroon clown be in a BC full of RBTA's . Will try and duplicate the prior photos in this thread to show the much better coloration and how much growth ive had since!