Sorta DIY LED Lighting

MoreDakka · #1 01-10-2014, 10:15 PM

I'm assuming there is at least 4 of these threads created per day but not sure if anyone has tried this on this forum. I ran across this at reefcentral, using LED flood lights to get a low cost, waterproof, decent LED solution.

My tank isn't that big and I'm still learning all this but the problem is my funding is quite low so trying to keep some things cheap. I know lighting isn't something to cheap out on but with the changing in technology I might be able to cut some corners. My tank is a 45g 32Wx16Dx24H

This is what I found
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquarium-Ree...-/281134561130

That should be enough to run the whole tank from what I've been reading. However I also see that blue lights make your corals 'pop' and I could leave it on for moon lighting and have the white come on during the day.

So was thinking this as well:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10W-Red-Blue...-/271334232740

Either one on either side of the 20w (or if that is too much then find some 5w ones.

Anyone used those before with good/bad results?

If that option doesn't work then I'll have to save up for a while to get something like this http://www.reefbreeders.com/it2060.html

Thanks!

NickC · #2 01-10-2014, 10:37 PM

Dont use either of those lights imo. Already one case of a fire started by those floodlight style aquarium lights.
Being cheap is ok, the reefbreeders photon you linked is a great light. Or you could use some PAR38 bulbs to for pretty cheap. You can get his stuff local to at
http://www.reefsupplycanada.com/led-lighting-solutions/

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk

MoreDakka · #3 01-10-2014, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickC

Dont use either of those lights imo. Already one case of a fire started by those floodlight style aquarium lights.
Being cheap is ok, the reefbreeders photon you linked is a great light. Or you could use some PAR38 bulbs to for pretty cheap. You can get his stuff local to at
http://www.reefsupplycanada.com/led-lighting-solutions/

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk

Wow, didn't know about the fire issue there....there is always that fear when you have something running all the time, specially some cheap china brand... Maybe I'll just save up and get the good stuff.

mike31154 · #4 01-10-2014, 11:02 PM

I think the issue with those floodlights you linked to is that they're really designed for outdoors and it appears they lack sufficient cooling for indoor application. The LEDs used in them are multi chip arrays that come in sizes from 10 watts to over 100 watts. My DIY fixture uses all 10 watt multi chip LEDs that I ordered from eBay, 3 rows of 9 LEDs over my tank, various colours from 10000K white to royal blue. Each of my multi chips is open to the room though & has it's own heatsink with fan. For moonlight & dawn/dusk, I added a couple of strips of waterproof RGB SMD5050 LEDs, also purchased on eBay, a 5 meter reel, so plenty left over.

For additional info, check the link for my build below. There are other options I looked at as well, including PAR38 bulbs & MR16 bulbs. My fixture has been running great for almost 2 years now, only issue is the cheap fans, but I have spares.