DIY: LED Nano Lighting

[Integral9]

History:

A while back I built my own and first T5 canopy. I also installed some LEDs for night lighting and to my surprise the LEDs were so bright I only needed 6 of the 24 I had purchased. I really only needed 3, but the beam angle wasn't wide enough for a single bank of 3 to be able to illuminate the entire tank. So 2 banks of 3 spread out was the solution. They were so bright that I though I might be able to use them as day lights at some point and even said I should've just gone that route instead of the T5s. So here's the experiment to see if it will work or not.

 

Abstract:

I bought an Nanowave 9 by Aqua Medic from Nano tuners not long ago. I opted for the fan upgrade kit and the timer upgrade kit. Nice, but in retrospect and had I decided to do this back then, I wouldn't have purchased them. So I am going to remove the 2x24W PC lighting fixtures and replace them with 48 x 1W LEDs that I bought from www.superbrightleds.com. I plan to put SPS in this tank to see if it will grow. I've seen Zoas and mushrooms grown under less lighting so I fully expect them to be fine and will limit this to an SPS only tank. Thus far I have two frags to use, a tri-color tort and a ORA green bird's nest.

 

Purpose:

To prove that spending $1000s on those Super Duper LED fixtures is a complete waste of money. Why do they have those stupid lenses on them? Why do they come with 3 different power supplies and a huge trunk line? Why do they look like somebodies garage built prototype POS instead of a finely tuned Tek Light when you are spending $1000s on them? Where is all that extra $$$$ going?

 

Goal:

The finished product will consist of 2 independent circuits on a timer to produce morning and evening effects. (what the H-E-double hocky sticks, why not). The Mornings and Evenings will be 2 hours long each with 8 hours of Full LED illumination. The LEDs will take up the same amount of space as the power compact bulbs and will be installed in the same location. I will keep the factory night LEDs and re-use them. Mineral supplemental needs will be determined and dosed accordingly using Liquid Reef from Brightwell. (it's what I use in my other tanks)

 

Items:

8 Light Bar mounting tracks $0.45 ea.

2 LB1 series LED Light Bars (White) (5500K) $15.95 ea.

2 LB1 series LED light Bars (Blue) (470nm) $16.95 ea.

2 LB1 series LED 6" interconnect $0.45 ea.

2 LB1 series LED 36" power connector $0.45 ea.

2 12V 25W Power Supply $29.95 ea.

2 Power cord for Power supply $4.95 ea.

 

Total Spent on LED lighting: $131.10 + $10.00 S/H = $141.10.

 

So far, not including my time, I'm going to get this done for the cost of 24" PC light.

 

Please post any comments you have. I would like to hear them.

 

I just ordered the parts, so I expect them to be here anywhere from 3-5 business days.

[paenian]

I've been thinking about LEDs for a while; the Luxeon models output significantly more light, but are rather expensive - it's what the commercial models use. Those generally have a 140 degree beam, so the lenses are fairly useful. My plan was to construct a small tank with them as an experiment; still trying to find a source for the high-end bins that aren't ridiculously expensive or located in Hong Kong.

 

I think those LEDs are about 10 lumens each - might not be enough.

 

I believe that the group has a lightmeter on loan; not sure who to talk to, but you should definitely check that out. I'm worried about the wavelength of the LED light not being particularly conducive to corals, and of course the intensity.

 

Let me know, though - I'll probably be making a high-power pendant in the near future with the Luxeons. My goal is a lighting fixture that makes the critters happy but takes up as little space as possible.

[ctenophore]

I'm interested in working on one of these too. I'd like to build something for my 29gal. I currently have a 175w 15k MH over it, which is great for the center of the tank but doesn't really light up the sides very well.

 

I agree that the 3w or even 5w luxeons would be the way to go to get good intensity for sps.

 

Oh, I have a PAR meter, I will bring it up from FL on my next trip down there.

[Larry Grenier]

Keep us posted; I've been curious about using LEDs for aquariums. They've been slowly replacing several other applications. My Son and I have a part-time DJ business and we've replaced some of our old bulky extreme heat producing lights with LED fixtures. Bright, more vivid colors, cool running, energy efficient, and lighter.

[Integral9]

The LEDs should show up today. According to the data I got from the website, the total Lumens from aall 48 of these should be about 507 with a luminous intensity about 11500. Not bad for only .5A. I'll take pictures and post them up when I test fire the LEDs.

 

btw. I don't expect this to be able to replace a MH, but I hope it will bridge the gap in lighting from flourescents to MHs. And possibly might be good for shallow frag tanks or additional lighting over frags.

 

I forgot to mention about the Nano Wave 9. The first one I ordered from nanotuners was a leaker, so i contacted them and they drop shipped me a replacement for free direct from the manufacturer. So I basically have two of everything. The only difference being the reflector on the leaker is sheet metal while factor model looks like polished aluminum. I don't think it will make much of a difference to the LEDs since the reflectors are built into the LEDs. I'll be modding the sheet metal one as it has already been modded by nanotuners.

 

paenian:

I wondered if they used the 3W Luxeons or not. I tried to find out what kind of LEDs they were using to see if I could copy them. Then I saw the price of the Luxeon LEDs; Eff that. $25 for a single LED, HA! And I've ocean front property in OK.

 

One thing I learned while reading up LEDs. Lumens and Luminous Intensity are completely different. Lumens measures total output of the light source and with 140 deg angle, I think you are loosing a lot of the lumens as they are reflected and absorbed by the surrounding material. Luminous intensity measures the intensity of the light regardless of the beam angle. I think that it's the intensity of the light that moves photosynthesis along, not so much the total amount of light. Anyone know for sure? Also, if I remember correctly, 520nm is the light wave size for peak photosynthesis in zoaxanthalea <sp> algea.

 

I saw the thread about the PAR meter. I would definitely like to borrow it once I get the lamp ready. But I'd hate to borrow it, then have something come up and end up monopolizing it for several weeks. So I'll ask for it when I'm ready for it.

[paenian]

I was looking at the 1w batwing luxeons - 45 lumen, 110 degrees, $6 each @ ledsupply.com

18 will run off of a single driver, although you need a 24 volt supply for that.

 

That same site also carries Elara strips - 3w, 200 lumen per 12" strip, 120 degrees, $25 each, again without power supply. These are more cost and power efficient, although not by much in either case; they'll fit into regular reflectors to compensate for the 120 beam angle, too.

 

I won't be to the testing phase for at least a month, however; have to figure out where I'm going with the aquarium thing.

[Integral9]

Update: Sorry for the delay, been busy with work and stuff.

 

First the good news.

 

I finished building the light and installed it this weekend. It looks good. Albeit, not as bright as I thought it would be but the appearance of the tank is *awesome*; it almost looks like a MH. I put 3 corals in the tank as a test to be sure the tank was ready to accept life: a blue spotted purple mushroom colony, a blue leptastrea colony and a green zoas colony. The mushrooms and zoas are more or less excess from my other tanks and the leptastrea was a gift from a friend. Over the last couple of days, all the corals have responded well to the tank's environment. The mushrooms, while upset about their departure from a 150MH, have resumed normal appearances. The zoas came out of my 55g with T5 lighting and seem to me to be doing very well. The leptastrea, while it wasn't the healthiest duck on the pond when I got it, it has really made a turn around. It came out of a tank w/ PC lighting and was very brown in addition the polyps had receded far pretty far back into the skeleton. I am happy to say that the polyps have returned and the color seems to be coming back. It has a yellow center, with a blue ring around it, then further out there is the brown.

 

I also caught the mantis shrimp in my 55g.

 

Now the bad news.

 

My awesome Canon S1 IS camera has decided to become a total POS. For some reason, it has decided that all pictures will be over exposed with horizontal lines. It's very hard to see anything in the pics it takes, much less make out minutia like color and brightness. I'll have to use my phone to take some pics to post... Wish I had thought of that last night... ugh.

 

The mantis I caught in my 55g needed a home until I can find him a new one, so I put him in this 9g. He's made a home under the leptastrea. I have one person who has expressed interest in him, but I am waiting to hear back. If this person does not want it, I'll post a new thread to find him a good home. I put some mysis in there to keep him fed so he won't eat the coral. hopefully...

[Integral9]

I took some pics w/ my phone, but they came out as total crap. Here are some of the highlights. I tried to correct the color and photoshop them up a bit, but nothing worked. The color is all wrong in the pics. It doesn't look that bad all, you'll just have to trust me. Maybe I can get a friend to let me borrow their camera for a day.

 

Here are the lights. I took the acrylic splash gaurd and reflector panel off the canopy on the tank. Then I removed all the wiring, balasts, and end caps for the PC lighting. I left the switch on the top of the tank for the PC lights so there wouldn't be a hole, but it's not functional. The LED switch for the night LEDs is still functional but the lights are on a timer now. The balasts for the LEDs wouldn't fit up under the hood so I ran the wires out the hole the power cord for the PCs. The balasts are sitting next to the tank. I'll mount them to the back of the tank eventually. I decided to leave the acrylic splash gaurd off the canopy as the fans that Nanotuners installed will now blow down on the water and cool the tank. Not that the LEDs produce much heat, but if need be I can turn on the fans and cool the tank down.

 

 

[Integral9]

Sorry folks, but for some reason, I'm out of space to post more pics.... What?

 

I tried to post in the tank forum as well. Same story.... grrrrr...

[Larry Grenier]

Keep us posted, this is a really interesting subject... thanks

[Integral9]

Keep us posted, this is a really interesting subject... thanks

 

Glad to. I'm sorry this is sucking so much. I can't understand what happened to my camera. It worked fine the last time I took it out of the bag. And it's been in the bag ever since...

 

I think the problem might be the shutter not closing quick enough. As the viewer (which displays what the lense sees) works fine, until I take a pic. Also, I seem to be able to make short movies. Maybe I can frame capture a few shorts of the tank to get some pics... Won't be as high a resolution, but at least you'll be able to make out minutia, like color... you know, minor things...

[jamesbuf]

Just use photobucket and link your pictures. Its the easiest way to post pics here. Plus photobucket gives you alot of space, either 1 or 2 gigs of space.

[Larry Grenier]

We use a couple of these with our DJ business and they blow-away any conventional 200w light while using much less power and almost no heat and much more vivid colors. I can't see why these don't take-off with other applications like aquariums.

[paenian]

I did go ahead and order 18 one watt luxeons; will try to build over the next few weeks; hoping to get/borrow freebies - anyone have an old reflector or heatsink lying around? Some of that non-conductive thermal tape you use on processors?

 

Paul

[Grav]

Very cool stuff.

 

I have 2 9g Nano Waves and I'm a big fan. I'm not happy with the heat the stock light puts into the tank, and the fan kit worries me for a few reasons (noise, look, etc...)

 

How have you found the temp to have been affected? Could you have fit more LEDs in there if you wanted to?

 

Good luck and keep posting those updates!

[Integral9]

Update:

My camera has apparently fallen victim to the infamous Canon CCD SNAFU of 2006. I guess I don't use it as much as most people do or the problem would have manifested itself sooner. Anyway, Canon is going to ship my camera to one of the factories, repair the camera and then ship it back to me; all for *FREE*!. That's what I call customer service. However, based on the forums I read, they were extremely reluctant to add my model to the list of affected cameras. Thankfully they did and I don't have to go drop $400 on a new DSLR.

 

I measured the light output of the tank with the PAR meter through the loaner program here. While I don't have my notes from the lab session with me (left it at home) I can say that I was disappointed with the results. I also went ahead and measured my 30g and 55g tanks for comparison. The 55 is a 4' long tank, so I took the measurements at the midpoint between the brace and the side of the tank.

 

Here are the results (will edit when I can get to my notes)

--9 gallon (48 1W LEDs. LEDS are about 1" from the surface)

top dead center: 50

bottom dead center: 25

 

 

--30 gallon (1 150W Helios 14K, 4 2' T5 HO Current. stock ballasts from Current Outer Orbit. Light hangs about 15" from the surface)

top dead center: 350

bottom dead center: 150

 

--55 gallon (4 4' T5 HO with Sunlight Supply Ballast and Tek II reflectors. Bulbs hang about 10" from the surface)

top dead center: 175

bottom dead center: 75

[Integral9]

tank update:

So the LEDs have been on for over a week now and I have the following corals in the tank.

 

Purple spotted mushrooms. btw.

Blue Leptastria

Green zoos.

 

Also, I accidentally fragged my red monti cap (got sloppy w/ my magfloat), so I tossed it's frag in there as well. While a new addition to the tank, it seems to be doing fairly well considering I can't seem to keep it on the rock. Someone keeps knocking it off. darned Mantis. I think it would do ok if I could keep it in one place long enough to encrust a little.

 

All the corals are doing great. The leptastria is really starting to get it's color now. This is going to be one really nice piece once it comes in.

 

Some crappy pics of the 9 gallon w/ my cell phone can be seen here:

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/forrestd991/9GallonLEDLight

 

Also, you can see older pics of my 55 and 30g tanks here:

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/forrestd991

[Integral9]

About the PAR readings:

I'm not sure if they are even an accurate measure anymore. I did a bit of research on PAR meters and I can't find a single one that is meant for aquariums. I see that some are aquarium safe and water proof and what not, but they all seem to measure the amount of light in the spectrum best for photosynthesis in plant life, not coral.

 

Now, here is my problem. Photosynthesis in plant life is highly specialized to the red end of the spectrum. This is why plants thrive in infrared light and die in UV light. Coral or more correctly, zooxanthellae algea, is specialized to the UV side of the spectrum. I forget where I found this, but I read that 520nm is the best wavelength to promote photosynthesis in coral.

 

LEDs are highly specialized lights and unlike all the other lights available (except for the white LEDs) LEDs only emit light in a very small range of wavelengths. If you get 470nm LEDs (like I did) roughly 95% of the light is going to be very near the 470nm wavelength.

 

So I think it's entirely possible that all 24 of my 470nm LEDs are emitting light undetectable by the PAR meter. Also, with my narrow beam angle on the LEDs, I was not getting a reading from all 48 LEDs. Just the ones nearby; I'm estimating about 6 max.

 

I'm not saying that I'm unwilling to accept this experiment as a failure, but I do not think it's a failure yet. If my coral bleaches and browns, then I will say, yes the lights were too dim. But that hasn't happened. In fact, I'm seeing the opposite in the leptastria.

[sheac12]

About the PAR readings:

I'm not sure if they are even an accurate measure anymore. I did a bit of research on PAR meters and I can't find a single one that is meant for aquariums. I see that some are aquarium safe and water proof and what not, but they all seem to measure the amount of light in the spectrum best for photosynthesis in plant life, not coral.

 

Now, here is my problem. Photosynthesis in plant life is highly specialized to the red end of the spectrum. This is why plants thrive in infrared light and die in UV light. Coral or more correctly, zooxanthellae algea, is specialized to the UV side of the spectrum. I forget where I found this, but I read that 520nm is the best wavelength to promote photosynthesis in coral.

 

LEDs are highly specialized lights and unlike all the other lights available (except for the white LEDs) LEDs only emit light in a very small range of wavelengths. If you get 470nm LEDs (like I did) roughly 95% of the light is going to be very near the 470nm wavelength.

 

So I think it's entirely possible that all 24 of my 470nm LEDs are emitting light undetectable by the PAR meter. Also, with my narrow beam angle on the LEDs, I was not getting a reading from all 48 LEDs. Just the ones nearby; I'm estimating about 6 max.

 

I'm not saying that I'm unwilling to accept this experiment as a failure, but I do not think it's a failure yet. If my coral bleaches and browns, then I will say, yes the lights were too dim. But that hasn't happened. In fact, I'm seeing the opposite in the leptastria.

 

Any update on the health of your corals? I am very interested in your experience with the LED light.

[Integral9]

Actually everything is going very well. Mushrooms and zoas are doing just as well as ever. The blue leptastria continues to impress me. It's still getting bluer and the polyps are full now. The only fatality so far is the red monticap I put in there. Elian, the mantis, decided it would make an excellent door and I'm not one to argue with him or go sticking my fingers in his hole. But honestly, it does make a good door...

 

Pics are coming. I finally got my camera shipped out to canon for repair. Should get it back next week. I will post pics as soon as I can.

 

btw. I'm still looking for a home for the mantis shrimp. He's got a great personality, always poking his headout and flaring his smashers with a "are you threatening me?! you want some of this? how about a little bit of that? yeah, didn't think so." look. Quite the digger. Each day he opens and seals his cave entrances.. all 5 of them. If anyone's interested pm me.

 

update:

Canon is still working on my camera. They said I should have it back by the 10th. ugh. I was hoping to get pics of the fireworks...

 

update 2: 7/18/08

Canon is still working on my camera. I called them and they said they are waiting on a part, but that they don't typically repair my camera with the kind of problem it has and just replace it with the current model. So I'm stoked that I'm gonna get a refurbed S5, but at the same time I'm pissed that I still don't have a camera.

 

btw. Corals that I put in there are still alive.

Edited July 18, 2008 by Integral9

[Integral9]

Well my camera finally came back from the repair facility and it works!

 

Here's the gallery for the tank:

http://picasaweb.google.com/forrestd991/9GallonLEDReefTank

 

 

Edited August 1, 2008 by Integral9

[jason the filter freak]

You still want a reflector? I'll donate one. Lol you figure these out and maybe we could swap DIY projects.You looking for any other parts? I have a bunch of blue LEDS and Resistors (bunch is 50 - 100) for a 12v vircut if you want them as well. They'd make good moon lights. You looking for any other parts?

[Integral9]

You still want a reflector? I'll donate one. Lol you figure these out and maybe we could swap DIY projects.You looking for any other parts? I have a bunch of blue LEDS and Resistors (bunch is 50 - 100) for a 12v vircut if you want them as well. They'd make good moon lights. You looking for any other parts?

 

I'm good on the reflector. Thanks anyway. I still have the 'uber shiny' one from the replacement tank that I could use. Also, LEDs have their reflectors built in so I'm not sure how much it would help.

 

I'm kinda done with my LED projects for the moment. As always, I'm willing to share info or help with a project if need be. Feel free to hit me for Qs.

 

I left the stock moon lights in the tank. They work just fine.

 

Tank is still rocking. I turned the fans on full time just to see if it would make a difference and WOW. I think there is a noticable difference in the LED's light output and the leptastria really seemed to like it too. So I'm going to leave them on while the LEDs are on from now on. Only problem is now the tank actually looses water. Before I only had to fill it about once a week but it could go probably two. Now I'll have to fill it everyday but it could go probably a week, tops.