9 Gallon Nano - In Wall / Staircase - 2 Sides Visible - Modualar LED

[Ross]

January 1, 2012

Modular LED build

The existing lights on the tank are Coralife Aqua light 18watt 2bulb CF units
They are all in need of new bulbs (approximatly $60).
The plastic end caps are desintegrating due to over heating of the aluminum housing. (They reach upwards of 85°C when on for a few hrs.)

Rather than waste anymore money on these exceptionally poor products, I picked up a bunch of components from Modular LED. (www.modularled.ca)
3x Royal Blue XP-E LEDs (6 bulbs total)
2x Cool White XP-E LEDs (4 bulbs total)
1x 5.9" x 12" Aluminum Heatsink
1x Mean Well LPC-35-700 (non dimmable)
and a bunch of misc. parts.


These are the components Martin and I selected:





Since this tank is so oddly shaped, and i dont like having light spill around my tanks, im going to be running these LEDS without any lenses.
Determining the placement was critical to achieve an even spread of light without any hot spots.
I tried a few different configurations with pencil on the heatsink.





I preped the aluminum with rubbing alcohol prior to using the artic silver glue to attach the boards.
Once that was done, I simply mixed up a small portion of the 2 part epoxy and place a small drop on the backs of the led boards and stuck them down.





After a few hrs of cure time, I plugged the wires in and the heatsink portion was complete.





The driver took a bit of fiddleing around as I wanted it to be soldered and heat shrunk to the wires rather than the clamp together junctions that modular led sells.





Another small thing that I wanted was a removable power cord from the heatsink.
I grabbed a junction from an old broken portable dvd player running similar power consumption as the LEDs.
I drilled a Ø3/16" hole in the heatsink and routed the modular led lines through it.
Since there isnt the room to grommit this hole, I ensured that there wouldnt be any cable fraying issues by applying a small amount of RTV around the hole.





Once the power adapter from the driver was attached we have light!!

HOLY COW THESE THINGS ARE BRIGHT!!!





Martin was really easy to deal with and knowledgable about the products that he carries
If your in the market for a DIY LED fixture I highly recommend modular LED.

Before I mount this fixture to the top of the tank, I'm going to be adding some formed sheet aluminum around the perimeter to control excess light spill.

[Ross]

January 22, 2012

Time to rebuild!

Live stock (2 sexy shrimp, a chromis and a tail spot blenny), live rock and sand out.

All coraline algae removed with razor blade and vinegar.
Tank scrubbed down with bleach and throughly cleaned/rinsed.

I have been curing Marco dryrock from Red Coral in my other tanks sump for a few months.

Time to move that all over and fill with newly mixed salt water.

[lastlight]

I really like how you fit the tank into that hole in the wall. Was that already there?

This thread needs an update I think?

[gregzz4]

Agreed, nice job ...
Where's the pics

[Ross]

Originally Posted by lastlight

I really like how you fit the tank into that hole in the wall. Was that already there?

This thread needs an update I think?

Yes, this opening was already in the staircase.
I got sick of it holding a "decoration" and build the tank to suit.

I'll post an update in a few days after I snap a few new photos.

[Snaz]

New photos needed please!

[mseepman]

Really like your little setup here. Looking forward to some updates

[HaZRaTTy]

Hey,

Thinking about setting up a small nano as well, just wondering without any type of HOB, or Sump. How much maintenance do you find yourself doing on a weekly basis.