My First Attempt At DIY LED Lighting

Sawdonkey

Sawdonkey

Premium member
A month or two ago, I posted looking for recommendations on supplemental strip lights. I have two Evergrow IT2060's, but they don't light all the way to the ends of my tank and they don't do a good job of spreading light the entire depth of my tank. I want to move the IT2060's back about two inches (where most of my corals are located). Then i want to put a strip of LEDs all the way across (72 inches) the front or the tank. The idea is that it will help light the front of my rockwork and light the front of my fish, rather than their current back-lit look.

I looked at all of the strip options and decided to go DIY LED. I bought my stuff from LEDgroupbuy. It will be one aluminum C-channel with 28 LED going all the way across the tank. Even though I could have gone a cheaper route, I went with the Makersdriver because it looks clean and easy. Here is what I bought:

  • Makerdriver dimmable 2-channel driver
  • 6 white Bridgelux solderless LEDs
  • 24 blue Bridgelux solderless LED's
  • 180w 48v 3.75A DC Power Supply

I'll have one channel that runs all blues, and another that runs the six whites and eight blues. I will be able to adjust the color of each channel and I'll control the on/off with my reefkeeper. I could also upgrade to a Makerscontroller down the road if I want to do a sunrise/sunset like my IT2060's. Total cost, about $200, which is pretty much the same as the strips I was looking at.

I'd like to hear any thoughts or tips from the DIY LED guys on here. Thanks

I'll update as the build begins.

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It's about to go down. Off to buy some c-Channel and wire. Looks like the girlfriend will be mad at me tonight for ignoring her while I work on my project!

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Just a few hours later and the light is up and running. Just need to clean up some wiring and move my ever grow lights back a few inches. The light is doing exactly what I wanted it to do....light up the front and ends of the tank. Not a single wire showing. I'll post better pic tomorrow.


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Very clean job. My only suggestion would be to set a fan to blow air down the heatsink to help keep the LEDs cool, which prolongs their life (spectrum and par). Looks great though.
 
jm23 said:
Very clean job. My only suggestion would be to set a fan to blow air down the heatsink to help keep the LEDs cool, which prolongs their life (spectrum and par). Looks great though.
Click to expand...

Thanks. The Makers driver has a built in fan plug so all I need to do is get a fan and plug it in.
 
Have you considered optics?

You will double or triple your PAR as there is a lot of spill.

Also are those Bridge Lux or Cree LEDs?

Bill
 
They are bridgelux. I didn't want to spring for the Crees on my first build.

These lights are in the front of my tank and aren't really above my live rock and sps. Having this strip will allow me to move my evergrows (that do have optics) back, directly over my coral, and still have light in the front of my tank. The ever grows will still do the heavy lifting. I may try optics, but I'm worried that they may put a noticeable bright strip on my sandbed? Also, I don't really grow things on my sandbed cause I have angels that eat LPS for lunch.


I did this as cheaply and with as much ease as possible. I used the makersdriver because it was easy. I used thermal adhesive rather than drill and screw the LEDs down. I used solderless because I didn't want to solder. All in this was less than $200.

I still have an open channel on my power supply so I might do a quick 16 led build for my sump so I can grow frags in it. I don't like the look of frag racks in a DT. Using a $7 driver, bridgelux LEDs, and stuff laying around the house, I think I can do this for about $30.

I'll post some pics tonight that show the tank with and without the new light.
 
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I put 60 degree optics on this tonight. I'm not sure I like it. I have to turn the channel with the whites way down. If I don't they light up the sandbed with a really white light. Here are some pics with an without the new supplemental lighting. The camera doesn't really pick up the difference too well. I'm happy with it though and it it was fun to build. Sorry for the bad pics, but you can see how the new LEDs light up the sandbed and the fish:

Without new DIY LED strip:
View attachment 1422

With new DIY LED stip:
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Yea 60 degree is over kill for what u want u be better off with 120 degree will blend better. I have the same issue with my 75 gal because i have a canopy and can only raise leds so far. I went as far as mounting two t5 ati bulbs but wasnt happy still with par. 90degree optucs on my lights made crazy par but horrible spot lighting. So my solution was gona be build while new light system then serching ebay i found 120 optics. Everyine told me they wont do shat cause the lense on the bulbs r 120 i didnt listen. I bought em put them on andi was amased the light blend was like haveing no optics which was perfect no spotlighting and the par even though people said wouldnt do any thing doubled my highest was 400 with no optics same spot is 800 my sabd bed is 250. Any way i ended up keeping lights . If u just looking for good color mix and to keep some light in front so u can move your main lights more over coral id check out 120 degree optics
 
madjoe said:
Yea 60 degree is over kill for what u want u be better off with 120 degree will blend better. I have the same issue with my 75 gal because i have a canopy and can only raise leds so far. I went as far as mounting two t5 ati bulbs but wasnt happy still with par. 90degree optucs on my lights made crazy par but horrible spot lighting. So my solution was gona be build while new light system then serching ebay i found 120 optics. Everyine told me they wont do shat cause the lense on the bulbs r 120 i didnt listen. I bought em put them on andi was amased the light blend was like haveing no optics which was perfect no spotlighting and the par even though people said wouldnt do any thing doubled my highest was 400 with no optics same spot is 800 my sabd bed is 250. Any way i ended up keeping lights . If u just looking for good color mix and to keep some light in front so u can move your main lights more over coral id check out 120 degree optics
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input Joe. I think I'm going try pulling the optics on the whites. The blue isn't spotting, so if I pull the optics off of the whites, I should be able to run that channel closer to 100% without the spotting.
 
I took the optics off the whites only and the look is perfect. Now I can run both channels at almost 100% without spotting.
 
Beautiful system! You have my favorite angel in there! I used to have a big one in my old FOWLR. Everything looks amazing, keep up the awesome work.
 
I remember back in the day we would mount our MH 18"+ off the water to keep them from exploding in the event of a cold water splash would hit a hot $100+ MH Bulb...

BTW I was walking to school barefoot in the snow up hill both ways back in the 90s when this was all happening...

Optics are indeed a force multiplier. Their quality and penetration vary greatly.

90 v 60 degree optics there is no standard... Is it max spread or FWIM...Then the counterfeits from China...

Its good you found a mix that works better than MH.

Your trigger is awesome they can be trained like a dog for feeding.

Given my corals I could never have one again. Unless I do a FOWLR but then my wife will have grounds for divorce...

Cheers

Bill
 
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