LED... Build or Buy?

[mike31154]

My DIY fixture consists of 3 rows of 10 watt multichip LEDs of various colours. I chose to keep it fairly simple using several 12 volt power supplies & manual dimmers. Auto control would be nice, but things get complex fast. There are some Arduino solutions out there if you wish to go that route. Changing from a Halide/T5HO combo with little in the way of control, I figured my livestock wouldn't notice a whole lot of difference if the new LED lighting just came on & off like the old fixture. After running the LEDs for at least a couple of years now, I suspect I was correct. Auto dimming, lightning storms etc. are cool, but does the livestock really care that much?

A link to my build is at the below my name down there.... not too many pages, so not a whole ton of reading, but there's a good bit of info in there, including some of the changes I've made during the build. I wanted to keep the fixture fairly light, so no massive heatsinks. Originally I started with small heatsinks with built in fans, but the fans were beginning to fail after a while & although I had spares, it became tedious. So I switched to larger heatsinks & built a cover that has 4 fans built into it to move some air. The larger heatsinks are supposedly enough to cool the 10 watt LED without a fan, but I think I made the right call with the fans in the cover. More info in my build thread. Have fun.

[Coral Hoarder]

Tryed diy LEDs hated them won't go back

[WarDog]

If you are serious about DIY LED's I would recommend you invest 30 mins of your life and watch this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7rp...vg8NwXIxydJ86A

[xenon]

Why type of corals are you planning to keep under LED's?

[Wildechild_01]

Originally Posted by xenon

Why type of corals are you planning to keep under LED's?

Hard to say Specifics at this point but I do know that I want to start being able to move towards a more sps dominated reef. My existing lighting is great for LPS and softies. The potential lighting upgrade is part of a larger project to turn my tank into what I've always imagined my reef tank could be rather than what is easy to keep. The build on the lights will be a little ways off as I have some other tank issues to address before I get there. As for look and functionality i am going for the Evergrow IT2080 is the main contender for purchasing a fixture but was thinking for the same or less i could probably build a better light (light ramping control aside)

[Craigdillman]

Have you looked at places like rapidled.com or Steve's led

I've had rapid leds over my tank in both my 30gallon and now my 125g love them and for 1000$ You can cover your tank and get the same if not better par for fraction of the price you'd pay

[Wildechild_01]

Originally Posted by WarDog

If you are serious about DIY LED's I would recommend you invest 30 mins of your life and watch this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7rp...vg8NwXIxydJ86A

Have not had a chance to watch the entire video yet, but did take a look at the BuildmyLED site, they may be another option depending on budgeting and what I decide i want the final product to look like. Would still need multiple fixtures as it doesn't look like they have multi channel fixtures. Regardless their suite could prove to be incredibly informative even with the DIY Route.

[Wildechild_01]

Originally Posted by WarDog

If you are serious about DIY LED's I would recommend you invest 30 mins of your life and watch this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7rp...vg8NwXIxydJ86A

Oh my.... well, that was an insanely thought provoking presentation. The technical stuff behind the LED's I know a fair bit, but when he started talking about the research they are doing... now that got me thinking. How awesome would it be to have your lighting look amazing when you wanted it to but like he said, who cares what it looks like when I am at work as long as the tank gets what it needs. Now to me this just increases my desire for programmable and switchable lighting schedules. I don't know too much about the controllers but that warrants even more research into the different controllers and what they are capable of doing.

Thanks for the link Wardog

[Wildechild_01]

Originally Posted by mike31154

My DIY fixture consists of 3 rows of 10 watt multichip LEDs of various colours. I chose to keep it fairly simple using several 12 volt power supplies & manual dimmers. Auto control would be nice, but things get complex fast. There are some Arduino solutions out there if you wish to go that route. Changing from a Halide/T5HO combo with little in the way of control, I figured my livestock wouldn't notice a whole lot of difference if the new LED lighting just came on & off like the old fixture. After running the LEDs for at least a couple of years now, I suspect I was correct. Auto dimming, lightning storms etc. are cool, but does the livestock really care that much?

A link to my build is at the below my name down there.... not too many pages, so not a whole ton of reading, but there's a good bit of info in there, including some of the changes I've made during the build. I wanted to keep the fixture fairly light, so no massive heatsinks. Originally I started with small heatsinks with built in fans, but the fans were beginning to fail after a while & although I had spares, it became tedious. So I switched to larger heatsinks & built a cover that has 4 fans built into it to move some air. The larger heatsinks are supposedly enough to cool the 10 watt LED without a fan, but I think I made the right call with the fans in the cover. More info in my build thread. Have fun.

Yeah had a great read through your build thread, was actually thinking of using the same heat sinks you did. For now the fixture will likely remain open since it is all mounted behind a wall. Adding fans to the rig is something i would plan for in case they are needed.

The programming and control is from me being lazy, and accustomed to sunrise/set cycling with my current fixtures (current USA) No real reason I couldn't use manual dimmers to adjust the look and intensity of the tank and go back to timers. Part of the awesome of the DIY would be the ability to change it down the road. I would agree too that the natural lighting cycle is likely more for us visually than for the livestock.

was just doing some looking at Mean Well LED drivers, can dim them with some controllers but taking that route may defeat the financial side of the DIY, unless I can justify the controller as something I should have anyway for dosing and monitoring the tank Muwahaha???