starting a new tank.......nee help with DIY LEDS

[MPevine11]

i want to do a DIY Led lighting system.

i have a head-sink ( 7x7.25)

what size tank should i plan on with that size light?


also how many leds will i need? and could i get a complete like this?
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-59/12-Ultra-Premium-LED/Detail

will i be able to dim the blues and whites separately?




i plan to keep simple corals, and 1-2 fish. so im not planning on a large tank by any means





thank you in advance;
mike

 

[beckbrass]

To be honest I think I would pick a tank size then get a heat sink to match. Depending how you set it up you can make the blues on a different dimmer the white you can also add reds if you like and put them on another dimmer/driver.

 

[MPevine11]

I plan for a small tank and already have he heatsink......I can get another no big deal but I dono what size/demsion tank I want. And I deffently want to dim the whites and blues sepretaly

 

[Jocko]

This is the cheapest AIO kit that would get you two channel dimming:
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-54/24-Ultra-Premium-LED/Detail

One of the things there you'll see is that you have to pick the optic angle that you want. A narrower angle will penetrate more but cover less area and obviously the opposite is true of the wider angles. So you can get different results from the same heatsink footprint.

Not sure if you'd be into it, but I personally used Google sketchup to create a simple 3D model of the light and optics I wanted to use and then was able to see what kind of spread of light I would get at various heights.

 

[MPevine11]

with that kit it comes with 24 leds, should i get a bigger heat sink and plan for a larger kit?

what else would i need with that kit?
what size tan can it handle (coral wise?)

any pics of the optics would be awesome! because i dont know what optics to go with.......

not i just need to plan for a tank size so i know what heat sink to get.....

 

[uhupong]

What happen to your awesome bc29hqi?

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

 

[MPevine11]

i still have it

just did work on it yesterday (check other thread, adding pics in about an hour)





im just starting another tank, its going to be a slow process as im starting with dry rock an i think im going bare bottom......

 

[JonsReef]

i just finished a DIY led upgrade for my 14g BC. im happy to share my parts list with you if you would like to see it. i used a 8.5 x 5" heatsink and 12 CREE LEDs (6 cool white XP-G R5 and 6 royal blue 450nm XP-E. i used separate drivers (for dimming each color independently) and separate power supplies (for creating sunrise/sunset).

i dont think you would want a tank much bigger than a BC29 for that size heatsink. i agree with what was posted earlier about picking a tank THEN deciding on a heatsink. i think the problem that you will run into is that the LEDs will need to be mounted pretty far from the water surface to get adequate coverage on a tank larger than a BC29 with a heatsink of that size. when you increase the distance between the LEDs and the surface, you sacrifice the amount of light reaching the sandbed. therefore, the depth of the tank is also an important consideration.

also, the kits from rapidled may be nice, but i think you can do better (price and quality of components) by assembling the kit yourself. ledsupply.com is based in Vermont and there shipping to boston is super fast. i got the LEDs and drivers from them.

feel free to PM me any time and i can share some of the threads from other forums that i used as a reference as well as the details of my build.

 

[MPevine11]

heres what im thinking:



Tank&stand:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4449731&lmdn=Shape
Powerhead (mp10):
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewi..._campaign=mdcsegooglebase2&utm_content=EM1253
Skimmer (tunze 9002):
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_viewi...aign=mdcsegooglebase2&utm_content=PST1-TZ5311
Rock:
http://www.marcorocks.com/5lbs50lbsliverockdryrockcombo.aspx
sand:
BARE BOTTOM
Lighting(diy led): (WHAT optics?)
http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-...ium-LED/Detail
Heatsink:
????? what size ?????



hows the plans looking so far?

(also i know its alot of rock, but i plan to add some to my existing tank)

 

[JonsReef]

what are the dimensions of that tank? that would be a good staring point to determine the size of the heatsink. also, what type of canopy do you plan to use (i.e. how far from the water will the light fixture be)? i think you need to determine these two things before determining heat sink size and type of optics. once you iron this out, we should then discuss optics, LED type/number, drivers, power supplies, etc.

 

[MPevine11]

Tank is 20x18x20

I plan to moun the library on a light tree (I thinks its called. Mounts on the back of the stand and the light hangs above the water.

 

[MPevine11]

heres the mounting system i plan to use.......

http://www.zeroedgeaquarium.com/light-tree-slb-light-bracket/


would i be able to light that tank significantly?