DIY LED Reef lighting
- Thread starter mrunlucky07
- Start date
I can't see running upwards of 1000 watts on a reef tank with the heat management issues and all??
LED's are for sure the way to go, Super low wattage and voltage, cool running...tons of spectrum...what else can you ask for??
LED's are for sure the way to go, Super low wattage and voltage, cool running...tons of spectrum...what else can you ask for??
mr.reef24;3584004; said:
just waiting for the prices to become reasonable. While $250 is still high for DIY its a great price compared to store bought that usually start over 1k.Do you have anymore full tank shots with the lights on?
Can you give my details on wiring these?
Do you have anymore full tank shots with the lights on?
Can you give my details on wiring these?
Yeah, I think in the next couple years the component parts prices will drop considerably, the tech is still new and no competition yet. It was very hard to justify spending that much for a DIY on a tiny tank, and without seeing it firsthand I would still say its a stupid expensive amount.
My only experience with LEDs up until recently were the small ones. The difference is unreal. The best thing I can compare these to are the HID lights that some cars have. Try and picture those shining directly into a tank.
Nano-reef is a great place to look for ideas and instructions. There are new led builds on there everyday. Here is a good place to start:
If you have specific questions I would be glad to help what I can.
I have 2 more whites on order and some different degree lenses. Ill post up some more pictures once I get them in. One thing everyone agrees on with these is they are impossible to catch accurately on a camera. I may try a video. The put out a super intense clean light, but it comes out way over saturated on the camera. The shimmer is also crazy, but is totally lost on the camera and comes out as shadows.
Probably, I don't know how though. In pictures the sand looks like it is glowing, but in person it is dancing with shadows and light/dark. I tried the video camera and the blue threw it so far off it was ridiculous. When I was researching the build everyone said basically the same thing.
The tank itself is not all that exciting, 4 months of watching rocks, learning, testing and tweaking so far.
That shimmering effect is what sold me on Metal Halides about 12yrs ago. Ever since then they've been my first choice. I run six under cabinet LED puckets from home depot on my 180 and get the same effect but not bright like yours. They make great moon lights. My point and shoot over exposes on video too.
dimming LED's requires "pulse width modification". PWM modules can also be used when you are using RGB LEds to adjust the color of your light. And even thought the pulses are not visible to the human eye. Do you think it would effect the growth of the corals if you were frequently use PWM?
