Looking for people who've done a DIY LED kit

Joe5688

Joe5688

Active member
I'm thinking about going w/ a DIY led kit. I did a quick build on aquastyle.com and this was my cart

72- LED DIY kit
2- 3w red LEDs
2- 16" Heatsinks.

Total came out to $260. This is for a 48" 75g tank. I figured 2 16" fixtures with 37 bulbs should cover my tank. I can go with a larger heat sink, i think 19" and 22" are avilable for a minmal cost. This is going to be mounted to my canopy which is i believe 8" off the water surface.

Just need opinions on what u have done, what u have found, and where is a good place to start. Now when i was doing the Build it was asking optics and what ratio i want blue/white and what drivers to go with. I wasn't sure on any of those answers lol.

Here is the kit I was looking at

http://www.aquastyleonline.com/products/72--LEDs--DIY-Dimmable-Kit.html

Thanks,

Joe
 
Very nice start. I like 3-1 rb to cw with red green and turquoise. If you cluster them its a 16k look. How do you plan to control these. This is allot of light IMO. Without a par meter acclimation is necessary. I'm not a big optic guy.

With what this will cost from LEDs, drivers, wire, soldering equipment, fans, and controller your better off contacting Gus from prestige led. His new 36" unit is awesome.

Whats the stocking plans. Are you a stick guy?
 
So i can go with less leds. Gus fixture is nice but almost double the cost. How many leds do i need? No plans fore controllers yet. Probably just set it to a % and put it on a timber. Id like to havemoon lights though. May run a rkl not sure yet.

Thanks for your responses.
 
A friend did 45 leds on his 92G. I put 60 leds on ma 75G and I'm keeping sps. It you're just looking to keep lps and softies, go with 45 max.

We can talk more when we meet up. Idk about today though. I should text ya huh? :p
 
I didn't do a do it yourself but I'm putting 112 3 watt leds over my 90 gallon 12 inches above the water they are full spectrum
 
I recently did a http://www.rapidled.com kit. They use Cree 3 watt leds, which i hear are good. During the build I had a number of questions which they where quick to help with. They also suggested a mix of colors. I would check they out also.
 
I did the rapidled kit as well. Cree LED's are the top of the line for quality and durability. I too second the fact that the staff at rapidled is very helpful. I went with the solderless kit with 36 leds on their 20" heatsink. Very easy to install, no soldering required. If rapidled has them available, I would go with the predrilled heatsinks. Predrilled and solderless together make for endless options and easy replacement. You can see some pictures on my build thread and I would be glad to answer any more questions you might have. Also give rapidled a call and ask them for a discount even if no sale is going on and they will probably help you out, however you are only 2 months away from all the black friday sales, which are always the best if you are willing to wait. If you go with dimmable, you need to have a way to dim them. Also there are 2 different types of dimmable drivers, if you have an apex you need one type and a rkl another, so just make sure you plan ahead. I love the dimmable attached to my apex, I have Cool White on one, Royal Blue on the next, and my Blue, Green, and Red on the last one. I can control the temp and intensity with ease. Sorry for the jumbled response, any questions let me know.
 
I agree you are gonna have too much light unless you seriously plan out a controller your gonna cook your corals. Depending on optics you may have even stronger par. Unless your buying a controller, mp40s reactors and such for an sps tank then I would go with less LEDs and add them later. Rapidled is my fav site. Fast shipping. Spend the extra now. It will cost more down the road. How much is this costing you without controller and which LEDs and drivers are you planning to use?


115 LEDs over 90 is crazy. Is the tank three feet tall?
 
Matt, how many leds from rapid would i need? What would be a good mix of colors? What about optics? Better 2 led set UPS or 1 larger one?
 
Joe,

Send the guys at rapidled an email and they will give you a straight answer. I used 12 RB, 12 CW, 8 B, 2 R, 2 G and I like the look. The optics depend on how high you will mount the LEDs. The higher they are away from the water the narrower your optic (40) if they are closer go with the wider (60). I used all 60 and have them between 6 and 10 inches off the water (I angle mine) and they give a good spread. Also my tank in 30" high so the light will spread out more then on a shallower tank, so if you are shallower I would use the wider 60 or above. Rapidled suggests the 60 as they balance spread and PAR. If you are going to solder they have CYAN and UV that you can use, but I would be careful about UV as there are some mixed results on using it. The nice thing about having them dimmable and on separate strings (RB on one, CW on one, and your other colors on the last) is that you can control the temp/kelvin to find the look you like. I think your tank would do well with 48 - 60 of the 3w cree leds split between 2 heatsinks. Also remember that there is a difference between royalblue and blue, not just for temp/kelvin but in wavelength that the corals can use. I would suggest using blue in addition to royalblue. Good luck.
 
So i think George convinced me to do a LED cree set up.

Here's what i have so far.

3 Mean Well ELN-60-48D dimmable driver

CREE XP-E Red-Orange LED- 2

CREE XP-E Green 3W LED- 2

Violet UV LED- 4

CREE XP-E Blue 3W LED- 12

CREE XT-E Royal Blue LED- 12

Still looking for 3w Cree White leds. 6 of neutral and 6 of cool white.
Thermal Grease (5g)


and i'm thinking about maybe getting this

http://www.rapidled.com/diy-2-color-dimming-kit/

Now i know i need a 10v ac Power adapter. How many do i need? 3? I would like to have the colored LEDS on their own dimmer, blues on a dimmer, and whites on a dimmer.


Anything else i need/suggest?

The total for just the LEDs and the thermal grease is $137. I still need to add white leds in to the cost and the 3 drivers i can get for $75. I'm thinking i can get this done for under $250 unless i find other things i need lol
 
check out boostled they have this typhoon controller for like $50or60 and instead of just using a dial and setting your colors and then turning them on and off with a timer it will actually ramp up and ramp down your leds giving you a true dawn high noon dusk type setup.
 
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