LED Project List

[Jimbo7]

So I have been reading lots about LED's and I think i have finally wrapped my head around everything. I have a 12 gallon JBJ, I'm looking to gut the stock hood and retro in the LED's.

Im going to get the heatsink from heatsinkusa.com 10x6 should fit with the stock splash guard
http://heatsinkusa.com/storename/heatsinku...l-10502828.aspx

1 standard 3 prong power cord, to this power supply, 24v 6.5A
24V, 6.5A POTRANS POWER SUPPLY-MPJA, Inc.

(16ga, 24ga?) wire to 3 of these buckpucks, one string of all white, one of all blue, one of half and half.
3023-D-E-1000P Wired BuckPuck - LED Supply.com

LED's from nanotuners.com, the standard Cree XRE's and their mounting pads.

Spacing would be as shown below



My questions are
1) Do I have all the right parts, and correctly configured?
2) Is this too much light? 12 didn't seem like enough. This is going to be SPS dominated (12+ sticks?), with acans and a small zoa garden
3) I was going to get some PC fans to assist the two already in the stock hood, could I wire them to the power supply as well?
4) Does anyone have any other comments, concerns, questions?

I am taking this tank to college, and am going to take small frags 1-2" and watch them over a year to test growth. Thanks!

 

[neilanh]

Let Ziggy find this thread, he did a bunch of research and bought supplies to do the same thing to his 24g pod.

 

[Ziggy953]

Your wiring configuration looks correct to me. That is very similar to how I'm going to be doing it. The buckpucks can handle a max of 6 LEDs but that doesn't mean you have to have 6 on each. The reason I got 4 pucks is so I can have the white and blue completely separate to allow for the dawn dusk independent control.

 

[Jimbo7]

You already know this, but for anyone else. Yea im planning on phasing in the blue series, then the whites, then the mixed. I think it will give an even better effect. Like the sun has risen but then gets even more intense in the mid day. Super stoked about getting them ordered. Do you think it could be too much light? worst comes to worse, i can just leave them all at like 700mA or not use the mixed string. But i would like to be running everything at 1000mA if possible.

 

[krap101]

I'm going to start one of these soon, but is there any reason you used nanotuners rather than lets say.. dealextreme? I'm planning on using the starred xre-p4's and I think they go for like 3$ with free shipping.

Also, what are your guyses ideas on lenses?

 

[Jimbo7]

In all my research, I have just found a bunch of people who were less then satisfied with their services. Things like items showing in stock, but it took them 2 weeks to ship, poor customer service, not replacing items when they arrive broken. It just doesn't seem worth the hassle. The guys running nanotuners are not really any different from any of us, and I like the idea of supporting them. Plus they have LEDs for 6 bucks, which is still 1.50 cheaper on average then anyone else.

As far as optics go, i might buy a set of 80 degrees ones, but my tank is so shallow that i doubt i will need them. If i can get away with using them without a spotlighting effect, then i might. They do boost PAR ratings substantially. What size tank are you going to run them on?

 

[Bige]

Did you consider just a driver? Like meanwell? You could skip the power supply and puck and just have one driver per strip. Then you can have a timer for your blues and whites.

I dont think that is too much light. You should ditch the stock fans and upgrade them. I use the silent x and one could replace 3 stock. Very strong but small. That might solve your power connection problem too. If you usestock power. Mine are wired into main power for my blue driver. When dusk lights come on, fans start.

 

[Jimbo7]

The reason i did it this way is i have one power supply and one power cord, and i have control over each string of lights individually. I may be wrong, but to accomplish this with meanwell, i would have had to have 3 separate drivers. Meanwells are just a packaged power regulator and driver, it didnt make sense to me to pay the extra to get more then i really needed.
Plus i am in development of an arduino board to automatically control everything, and i didnt like how the meanwells interface with that aspect.

Please correct me if i am wrong in any of this. This is how i understand it after my research, but i may be wrong.

 

[Bige]

You can daisy chain the drivers. I have three drivers one cord and two on another. But I see what you are saying. Also I forgot you were making the board. Mine is manual, controlled with timers. Yours will be automatic, controled with the board. Plus it will be fun doing that board. Post pics when you do it. Are you going to post build pics here? You should. Show all the parts because I think it looks cool.

 

[Bige]

As far as the fans go. I would go with the silent fans. Mine are high output and are "silent" but they are not the super quiet ones. Mine sound like a helicopter taking off when they start. Noise evens out though after that.

 

[Jimbo7]

Yea my plan is to document everything. Make it sort of a guide or maybe an article. I am getting a wide array of corals, mostly SPS and i am going to *try* to take weekly or bi-weekly photos to show growth. Me and Ziggy are both starting around the same time so i plan to compare our setup and our eventual results. I'm really excited for the board aspect, should be pretty sweet.

 

[ilostnemo]

i will be taggin along cause i wanna see how well leds do work