2.5g Pico Tank LED lighting!

[mrg02d]

http://ledsupply.com/docs/cree-xre.pdf

There is some more technical data there, The whites are typically 90 and the blues 100. Post up your diagram if you make one, it would be a good learning visual.

EDIT: Don't forget to take into account the refraction when it enters the water and how high off the water they will be. Thats going to be the hard part

I did a quick sketch and found that the light ought to have no trouble at all filling the tank. Each LED is going to fill the tank by itself from a height of 7in.

I figured 100degress, thats 50deg for each side of the tank. 7tan(50) gives me a little more than 8in. That makes for a 16in diamter circle on the bottom. My tank is only 12in long by 6in wide.

Now I need to make sure the PAR is good enough...

Matt

 

[Jimbo7]

How might you be calculating that? I have heard some rough estimates like lumens times blah blah but i thought those were estimations. I am trying to get my hands on a PAR meter but its proving difficult.

 

[mrg02d]

How might you be calculating that? I have heard some rough estimates like lumens times blah blah but i thought those were estimations. I am trying to get my hands on a PAR meter but its proving difficult.

Calculating the distances or PAR? I am using Trig for the distances. I am not calculating PAR, I will see if there is a chart online that shows something similar to what I am trying to do. I imagine at only 7-8in away, the PAR will be high enough that I need to tone it down some.

Id much rather them be inline though. So I might keep looking. I do like the pre-drilled heatsinks though...Just pricey for the size! But I do HATE drilling...Never seems to come out right! And I am very anal about things coming out right.

Matt

 

[Jimbo7]

Buy nanotuners berguist (sp?) pads. They are adhesive pads that cut out the drilling and all that nonsense. I haven't used them yet, but only heard good things.

 

[mrg02d]

Buy nanotuners berguist (sp?) pads. They are adhesive pads that cut out the drilling and all that nonsense. I haven't used them yet, but only heard good things.

Oh yea, deffinately will use them if I choose to do an inline layout. But I still have to drill holes for the standoffs and the holes for a fan. (If a fan will even be needed for 5 leds).

Decisions, decisions, decisions! I might as well go with 5 leds inline and save some money. I can get a decent heatsink on ebay for $16.00 shipped and just quit my griping and drill already!

Time to get this thing started!
Matt

 

[Jimbo7]

lameeee. I want to start. Gotta wait for this weeks paycheck to start ordering the masses. Good luck! keep us updated with lots of pics.

 

[mrg02d]

BAM! Its started!
Ordered from nanotuners.com:
3-3W CREE XR-E cool white leds
3-3W CREE XR-E Blue leds
1-Meanwell dimmable 27-30D driver
8-thermal adhesive pads
1-80degree optic for use with one of the white leds for the chaeto I have in my aquaclear 20 hob filter.

Left to do:
Get heatsink. Get acrylic. Hardware. Build a power supply with a linear regulator and power supply to power the fan (if needed) and the 0-10v signal for dimming.

Pics to come as things arrive!

Matt

 

[mrg02d]

So I was thinking about upgrading my tank to a 5.2g Mr Aqua rimless tank. Its just shaped funny! What do you guys think? Might my LED light still work fine as is? Id love to keep SPS in this tank with LEDs...
» MA-119-0, Glass Aquarium

Id much rather go with their 5g bowfront but have no idea who carries it. It goes from 3g (too small to upgrade to) to 7.5g (too big to upgrade to). So this "reverse" bowfront, 5.2g, is the best option since marinedepot.com carries it.

Matt

 

[mrg02d]

Thought I would update this thread...

Decided to go with the 7.5g 12in cube. Got it all set up and running with 8lbs of live rock from fiji. Put a tailspot blenny in the tank along with a porcelain crab that I caught myself! Also added two sexy shrimp, some tapestry nerites and hermits.

My led light is now hanging from a frame I made from aluminum bar stock. I upgraded the leds to a total of 12. 4 whites and 8 blues. The blues are on a dimmable meanwell and the whites are on a non-dimmable 700mA meanwell. The tank is a crisp white with hints of blue now.

When the whites are turned off, the tank looks an incredible blue! All the corals fluoresce totally wild colors! This is a lot of leds over such a small tank, but its more for coloration. I need to find a nice, clean way to dim the whites so I can adjust the overall tank color to around 16000k ( I like them blue!)

Pics coming as soon as my battery charges!

Matt