LED stringing?

[krap101]

Okay, I'm starting a little project for an led lightning for my 10 gallon. I've decided that I'm going to use cree xre r2 or q5's, and that I'm going to try to make the drivers myself. I'm going to use some sort of a charger for my power supply, except I'm not sure what kind yet. I have 3 options (I think) I can use a 12v, a 20v or a 24v. Right now I'm leaning towards the 12v, as it seems more flexible. I'm also wondering how many I should do. Right now the number is somewhere between 6 and 10, and I think 10 might be overkill. A q5 at 107lm-228lm depending on amperage, and the r2 is supposedly stronger, but there's not really much documentation online. I'm also not sure about which color (warm neutral or cool white) as most of the online guides are for saltwater, and I think they usually go for cool white. I think cool white is like 6000k, and warm white is somewhere in the 3500k's.

I'm also wondering if some electrician can help me interpret this diagram. Please and thank you!

The new stuff!! Constant Current Source #1

 

[partypalooza5]

I say it would be easier to just buy something like this:

Logisys 12" 12V LED Light Strip - White (LDS12WT) - FrozenCPU.com

And wire it to the 12V wall adapter with a switch. Atleast that's what I'd do.

(they come in blue too)

 

[krap101]

Thanks for the reply, but I don't think those lights would help (plantwise) any more than a moonlight. I posted on another forum, and instead of driving with a constant amp, they said it'd be okay if I just used a 2 ohm 1.25w+ resistor for each string (up to 30 leds on the 19.5v laptop charger).

I found this thread exceptionally helpful

DIY LED Lighting via Luxeon Stars - DIY Aquarium Projects - Aquatic Plant Central

 

[partypalooza5]

OH! xD Sorry I thought you were looking for moon lights! I haven't messed with LED's in a while. Are you planning on soldering them to a board or something? Like making panels of LED's? (I may be missing the point, it's been a long day lol)

 

[krap101]

Oh lol.. If I was I'd probably buy one made and save myself the trouble .

Right now I'm planning on buying the "stars" and using my 19.5v laptop charger as the power source. (120v is kinda bad for leds) I'm going to string 6 in a series, and according to the smart peoples' calculations, I'm going to need a 2 ohm 1.25w+ resistor (went to radioshack and no dice) I'm also kinda short on money, and I want to make a rimless ada type cube before I leave for college. I'm thinking maybe 1-2 strings for my 10 gallon (6-12leds) or 2-4 for the cube (12-24) This is going to get pretty expensive (on my budget) since each q5 costs around 4.50, and each r2 costs around 5.50. multiply by 24 and you're out a 100$ already. I can either use the simple resistor method, or somehow figure how what this diagram means .

The new stuff!! Constant Current Source #1

Do you know stuff like surefire flashlights (cops use those tiny really really bright flash lights?) Those use luxeon or cree leds, and I wanna put 12 of em on my 10 gallon.. The problem is I want to stay in medium light range (no co2) but there is no recorded way to measure it. Watts is pretty faulty. Lumens aren't really what help plants (it measures the brightness to humans) People are using something called PAR, which supposedly is expensive to measure, (measures the amount of light in the plant's absorbtion spectrum), and I think I'll just need to guess/check. Also eventually I might add some of those like .1v leds to try to get a nice colored light. (red and blue)