Has anyone made a nice looking LED not in canopy?

[nrosdal]

Has anyone made a nice looking DIY LED not in a canopy? i have seen lotsa pics of diy leds and not really any that are mounted/hung above a tank with no canopy.

I am considering going LED (since my m/h ballast just burnt out) i like the idea of a diy but i do not have a canopy on my stand and do not want to buy one as i like the look of a wire hung fixture.

i was considering a couple different options if i couldn't figure out a pretty way to put a diy fixture together.

1. i have a reefbrite led and i could use it and maybe anotherin their 3 or 5 led bracket and make either 1 or 3 diy rails for the middle or even all of them could be diy for that matter but i dont mind the idea of it coming out looking something similar to this:



2. have a coralife pro fixture currently and they are probably about 8" deep which would leave quite a bit of room to fit a diy fixture if i gut it of all old components.



3. show me a nice diy led someone has made

[GinaReef]

It depends on your definition of nice. I put 3 rails with leds into a surround made from opaque black acrylic. Mine stands on top of my tank but it was based on one made to hang, that I saw on another forum.
Mine is 8 inches high because I needed the height, but it only needs to be 2-3 inches if it's hanging.

[daplatapus]

I found this site in my travels and am thinking of doing something for my new nano with it to try. Looks like a clean way to do an LED build.
www.MakersLED.com

[bioload]

Here is mine, but nice is quite subjective

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=85771

[nrosdal]

Originally Posted by bioload

Here is mine, but nice is quite subjective

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=85771

Bioload, Yours is one of the only ones that makes me feel happy inside and consider doing a diy... Nice work

[nrosdal]

i am also having a hard time getting past how much some of these sites are charging for a diy kit(most of them not even including the heatsink). wondering if i would be better off buying something like these and getting more light and paying less then a lot of the diy kits i have seen.

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/3178...with-Lens.html

i also am wondering if there has been a standard set as to how many watts per foot you need. I have read quite a few threads and the number of leds used varies quite a bit and also have noticed that most people down even end up getting their fixtures up to 100% intensity once they are acclimated. so, do i really need 200-300 watts of leds over a 4foot 120 mixed reef with a bit of sps near the top??

[mike31154]

I'm about 90% done with my DIY fixture using 10 watt multi chip emitters. I've had it hanging over the tank for just over a month but need to take a more recent picture since I've stained the wooden frame I've made to hold the LED rails. Used a mahogany stain on the wood & am trying to figure out how to best attach gold coloured aluminum trim around the edges to hide the corner joints & screw holes. Also need to make some sort of cover to hide all the wiring on the top.

Here's my build thread, but like I said, photos are out of date as far as the wooden frame goes. It looks much nicer now with the stain applied & wiring cleaned up.
http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=82206

I'll try to get a new photo up tomorrow. Have the corner trim pieces on & one of the long trim pieces taped in place. Looks good.

[nrosdal]

cant wait to see the pic mike... i really do like the idea of the multi chips from ebay as they are very economical and i liked the look of the light they put out when i saw you set it up at the frag swap.

is there a reason that you went with numerous rails of the 10w chips as opposed to just one rail of larger 25-50w emitters?

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by nrosdal

is there a reason that you went with numerous rails of the 10w chips as opposed to just one rail of larger 25-50w emitters?

Several reasons. Price, more flexibility as to colour blending, availability of the heatsink/fan combos for cooling, forward voltage of 9-12 volts (more common voltage for power supplies, possible solar power). For me the 10 watt emitters are a good compromise between the more commonly used 3 watt Cree, Bridgelux, Phillips, Osram etc and the larger multi chip LEDs. You don't need quite as many as when you're using the 3 watters, they put out plenty of light and cooling isn't as much of an issue as with the 20 and higher watt emitters.

[sphelps]

Mine is kind of a cross between fixture and canopy. Doesn't hang, it's supported by the wall behind and hinges up for full access.