People still diy leds?

[twwety]

Mines been going for 5ish years had to replace a cheap driver a couple time. Just ordered parts to upgrade it with a light controller.

 

[TerraFerma]

Rapidled is more in the plant game now and doesn't offer as much for reefing. Steve's LED's has all you need for reef applications. I used to run several of their bar type heatsinks the full length of my tank and I enjoyed the results versus any off the shelf LED I've run (and I've tried a lot). It's just unsightly if you don't have them hidden in a canopy.

 

[Tre' Landrum]

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[Tre' Landrum]

I have gone with a DIY for my 1000gal tank... I wanted to make sure I could do something with the deep lenses so the light would reach the bottom better. In the end I really have not saved any money, and the work to build them was substantial, but the debug them is a LOT more work than a small build.
I really enjoyed learning about colors, lenses, amps, and all that... but I would never replace these on a tank this size again... a smaller one... for sure. but don't expect to save a lot of money!

 

[KenO]

I would agree with what others have stated. Doing diy LED's is not going to save you any money. I wanted to try some different LED's for my build over my 250 gallon. I setup 4 channels per light; UV, Blues, Whites and Others (Limes, Far Reds and IR LED's). For the UV's I got a wide range of them. For this build I used a true dim to zero driver/power supply from Meanwell. I like to keep things neat, so I put all the power supplies for each light in a larger enclosure box. To control the lights I am using the L ports on my GHL expansion box. This will be my last diy build. On my other tanks I am using the GHL Mitras LX 7206 series. I like them.

 

[TerraFerma]

I have gone with a DIY for my 1000gal tank... I wanted to make sure I could do something with the deep lenses so the light would reach the bottom better. In the end I really have not saved any money, and the work to build them was substantial, but the debug them is a LOT more work than a small build.
I really enjoyed learning about colors, lenses, amps, and all that... but I would never replace these on a tank this size again... a smaller one... for sure. but don't expect to save a lot of money!

That is how you do it right. Very nice.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

No but the quality of the parts are at your choice.
Leds are made in batches and color sorted by grades.
Say grade A
Grade B
Grade C

Just like materials of aluminum or steel thats sold to a manufacturing site.
Dont think the components will be cheap or the work cuz its not.
Imo worth the effort. Specially if your like the poster that needed those 40deg or 60deg optics on their custom 1000g deep fish tank.
Very kool! Ty for sharing.
-d

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

When leds 1st came out they were only blue and white. Lol. This im sure many know im just saying. Lol
D

 

[A4goulet]

Just ordered leds today for a diy supplemental light bars. Custom blend of violet, royal blue, blue and turquoise. Half the price when comparing to name brand led bars of equivalent power.

 

[BradB]

I have had 640 watts of DIY LEDs over my 270 gallon tank for at least 5 years now.

The advantage of DIY has gotten better over the years - mostly because I've learned what combinations work, how to solder, how to repair.

The cost is much cheaper than buying fixtures. The ballasts and everything else except the LEDs last forever. LEDs are probably $0.50 / watt, fixtures are probably around $2 / watt.

The real trade off is flexibility and efficiency vs your time. I am running LEDs with no lenses or anything else between diodes and my water and I am running 320 watt ballasts - so I get more light per watt than commercial fixtures. Everything is neatly concealed in my canopy with only 1 fan that is silent - plus LDD boxes near the tank and ballasts in the basement. I am still learning my preferences, but I can do the exact ratio of RB to 470nm Blue to whatever other colors I want. Using LDD drives, I can adjust the output of various strands further.

I had working dimming with an Arduino but gave up on this when I had problems. Although I will go back when I have time.

LED options have not gotten better. I use a lot of Luxeon 16s that I can still buy and are discontinued, other large RB arrays are available and cheaper but inferior. Cheap large LED arrays of 470ish are available and work well, whites from Bridgelux have gotten better and cheaper, violet and UV high wattage arrays are reasonable. Cyan is still ridiculously expensive.

About once a year I remove half my canopy to repair and replace LEDs - although I do this less often now that I got better. I dedicate a full day to each side - although as I get better I can do this in about 4 hours.

 

[HomebroodExotics]

I have gone with a DIY for my 1000gal tank... I wanted to make sure I could do something with the deep lenses so the light would reach the bottom better. In the end I really have not saved any money, and the work to build them was substantial, but the debug them is a LOT more work than a small build.
I really enjoyed learning about colors, lenses, amps, and all that... but I would never replace these on a tank this size again... a smaller one... for sure. but don't expect to save a lot of money!

Honestly what you have built is amazing and I don't think there's anything on the market you could even compare it too so it's kind of priceless. I would love to build a fixture like this. Great work.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

My.moonlights for a 48" tank in the checkout right now is $67. Dimmable and will probably provide the shimmer im looking for during daylight at full power.
If i like this 1...i will make another with whites to see what i like better.
Ive got two old diy fixtures that need a run through so these moonlights will be a good step stone. Lol.
D

 

[KenO]

I think the other benefit to diy is when t comes to repair. I've heard horror stories of people sending in their commercially built light and having to wait weeks or longer to have them repaired. My one diy light that had been in use for about 7 years, I noticed the blue LED's weren't on. From the time I took the light off the tank, tested it and replaced the power supply and back on the tank was about an hour. I keep spare parts on hand for quick repairs.

 

[iMi]

The funny thing is that I’ve missed the time when hobbyists were making their own LED assemblies. I’ve spent a few years away from the hobby and when I came back, commercial, well-priced options were available!

 

[Hermie]

My.moonlights for a 48" tank in the checkout right now is $67. Dimmable and will probably provide the shimmer im looking for during daylight at full power.
If i like this 1...i will make another with whites to see what i like better.
Ive got two old diy fixtures that need a run through so these moonlights will be a good step stone. Lol.
D

honestly I just got the turbelle Moonlight which pairs with Tunze turbelle pumps, its just a single LED that puts out about 10K light, it was about 30 bucks, its virtually waterproof and it also turns my powerhead down at night time. I know I could throw together something for probably 10 bucks but if you have any Tunze turbelle pumps id recommend the moonlight sensor to give your tank moonlight

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Gonna get the tunze optical sensor and a stream3 before i upgrade. Just to turn the flow off when lights go out.
$67 might seem a lot to some but seems good to me for a good quality diy moonlight. Ill do another in white prob like i said and decide and go with two on the upgrade.
Diy is part of this hobby for me. Its better than store bought all day.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Still waiting to here from some ppl in my email about the old and new r2 solutions moonlight. The reefbrite mags looked good too.

 

[BrandonP]

I still run my DIY LED set up. I saved around $400 compared to buying Radions at the time. Here's a video of them:

Don't mind the poor videographer and editing skills lol!

 

[blasterman]

DIY is almost a waste of time. Radions are expensive but their proprietary optics are beyond anything you can get off the shelf and thermal mgmt outstanding.

You really want to mess around doing all that soldering given the price point of a viparspectra?

I have some massive sinks laying that are obsolete.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Yes i would rather spend my $600 on the components and build something quality. Not that theirs isnt quality i just prefer things my way.
They make solderless leds now days...
Ive said this already. Lol.

You want something done right. Do it yourself. Lol
D