greg0385
Valuable Member
INTRODUCTION:
This build is a step by step with lots of pictures, full spectrum 90- 3watt dimmable led build.
First, allow me to explain why i chose leds. I have a 150 gallon tall fish/reef tank (48 x 24 x 31)( l x w x h). I was using 2- 250watt Metal Halides Phoenix 14k, 4- 54watt ATI t5 bulbs overdriven by a icecapp 660 ballast. My rockscape is two islands that are 15" tall, which leaves 16" of water for the lights to penetrate. I have around 30 high end acros on my rockscape and the tank has been running for just over a year. Over the last year i have tried to solve my problem of acros not being as colorful as other people's tank. After borrowing my local reef club' s par meter, i realized that the par was only 200-225 ontop of my rockscape and 150-180 on the sandbed. Not being satisfied with the results my options were to replace the Metal Halides with- 4 more t5s or 2- 400watt Metal Halides or LEDS.
With leds becoming more popular and the savings on electricity and bulbs replacement made me choose leds over my other options. Now the choice was how diy or commercial? Being that I enjoy diy projects, i began doing research on a diy led kit. I knew I wanted the leds to be full spectrum. With some help from some local members(dwilliams, gmoney) I decided to buy Aquastyles 90-3watt bridgelux dimmable led kit. With this kit I had it customized to the following:
18- blue(460nm), 18- royal blue(452nm), 9- 10k, 9- 6500k, 6- UV(398nm), 8- violet(420nm), 6- green(525nm), 6- cyan(520nm), 6- pink(448/600nm), 4- red(660nm). The kit came with 5 dimmable drivers and 60° optics. I purchased a extra driver to allow me to have full control with each spectrum. Blue, royal blue had their own driver, 10k and 6500k are on another driver, UV and violet on a driver, cyan and green are on a driver, red and pink are on a driver.
LED BUILD:
With the kit ordered, I had a local member(dwilliams) help me draw out how I wanted the layout of the leds. I wanted the layout to replicate my MH reflector, so we decided on a 5 rows with 9 leds per row. This layout gave me 45 leds per side in a 9" x 17.5" design.
Here is the layout on paper:
Within a week my leds were at my house, so i made a trip to Home Depot to buy materials to build a heatsink and material needed to hang it. The material i bought was:
2- 3/4" x 96" aluminum C channel, 2- 3/4" x 36" aluminum 90° angled and misc drill bits, s-hooks, eye screws and chain
I cut the C-channel into 17.5" peieces
More to come on the next post in a few minutes
Sent from my ZTE-Z990G using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app
This build is a step by step with lots of pictures, full spectrum 90- 3watt dimmable led build.
First, allow me to explain why i chose leds. I have a 150 gallon tall fish/reef tank (48 x 24 x 31)( l x w x h). I was using 2- 250watt Metal Halides Phoenix 14k, 4- 54watt ATI t5 bulbs overdriven by a icecapp 660 ballast. My rockscape is two islands that are 15" tall, which leaves 16" of water for the lights to penetrate. I have around 30 high end acros on my rockscape and the tank has been running for just over a year. Over the last year i have tried to solve my problem of acros not being as colorful as other people's tank. After borrowing my local reef club' s par meter, i realized that the par was only 200-225 ontop of my rockscape and 150-180 on the sandbed. Not being satisfied with the results my options were to replace the Metal Halides with- 4 more t5s or 2- 400watt Metal Halides or LEDS.
With leds becoming more popular and the savings on electricity and bulbs replacement made me choose leds over my other options. Now the choice was how diy or commercial? Being that I enjoy diy projects, i began doing research on a diy led kit. I knew I wanted the leds to be full spectrum. With some help from some local members(dwilliams, gmoney) I decided to buy Aquastyles 90-3watt bridgelux dimmable led kit. With this kit I had it customized to the following:
18- blue(460nm), 18- royal blue(452nm), 9- 10k, 9- 6500k, 6- UV(398nm), 8- violet(420nm), 6- green(525nm), 6- cyan(520nm), 6- pink(448/600nm), 4- red(660nm). The kit came with 5 dimmable drivers and 60° optics. I purchased a extra driver to allow me to have full control with each spectrum. Blue, royal blue had their own driver, 10k and 6500k are on another driver, UV and violet on a driver, cyan and green are on a driver, red and pink are on a driver.
LED BUILD:
With the kit ordered, I had a local member(dwilliams) help me draw out how I wanted the layout of the leds. I wanted the layout to replicate my MH reflector, so we decided on a 5 rows with 9 leds per row. This layout gave me 45 leds per side in a 9" x 17.5" design.
Here is the layout on paper:
Within a week my leds were at my house, so i made a trip to Home Depot to buy materials to build a heatsink and material needed to hang it. The material i bought was:
2- 3/4" x 96" aluminum C channel, 2- 3/4" x 36" aluminum 90° angled and misc drill bits, s-hooks, eye screws and chain
I cut the C-channel into 17.5" peieces
More to come on the next post in a few minutes
Sent from my ZTE-Z990G using Reef2Reef Aquarium Forum mobile app
cant wait to come see em.
