Help me revamp my DIY led

[MattL22]

I actually bought these DIY led fixtures but have done some work on them (ie swapping out bad LEDs resouldering connections!
They r 2 separate fixtures 48 LEDs each 24 blue 24 white
They r not dimmable but do run off meanwell dimmable drivers ! At the moment I'm running them with no lenses and at 100% this is a sps tank!
They r hung in the canopy of my 225
72x24x30 deep (this is the kicker)
I wanna make sure I'm giving enough par etcand also wanted to change up colors bit!

I know this is a terrible pic ill get a few better ones up of entire setup!

 

[MattL22]

What r my options here?
Is this 2 fixtures enough for my deep tank(I know the middle is a lg dead spot I plan on building something for that possible a lumia 5.1 DIY multi chip that's a thread for another day!

 

[MattL22]

Because of the canopy LEDs r hung 5-6" from water
Each one has a computer fan on it and canopy has 4 computer fans running when lights r on

 

[ReefLEDLights]

For a tank that size I would go with another fixture or add more LEDs and angle the fixtures inward.

Optics are a serious force multiplier often doubling the penetration and reducing the spill.

If your LEDs are the older XP-E or the newer XT-E driven at 700mA without optics your a looking at just under 100 PAR on the sand BED. With optics you will double this but given the fixture height you may not get the coverage.

Bill

 

[ValorG]

I would definitely add lenses to your leds if you have a deep tank. Or add more leds if its viable. I recently took out the lenses from my whites and the power difference is very noticeable to the eye. I did so because my whites were running at a low % and were still overpowering my blues.

 

[MattL22]

Thanks for the help !!
What PAR should I be looking for on the sand bed??
I'm not worried about the middle of the tank I'm gonna add something in the middle down the road!
Do I have coverage on the right and left sides as it is now?

I do have some room in the middle of the heat sink was thinking about adding
Some 9 watt Cree LEDs what u think?

 

[MattL22]

Also which LEDs can I swap out for other colors how many etc?

 

[ValorG]

If i remember correctly 100-150 par on sandbed is sufficient. Add the 9 watts to achieve the spectrum/color you want. And I would get rid of some whites for other colors. I run a 1:3 white to blue ratio now and and would not go lower than 1:2. Depends how much blue you like. On my tank I have 66 3watt cree leds over a 75 gal. And have t5 supplementing too, so you can definitely add more leds on your fixture.

 

[MattL22]

Yes I def prefer more blue

Can I run 6 9 watt Cree off 1 driver?
Should I make all of them blue too add the blue I want without bothering swapping out other LEDs?

How many other colors and which ones should I add?

 

[ReefLEDLights]

I would add 12-15 5 watt Cree XT-E Royal Blue.

Choose the 450nm Bin as this will give you better colour pop.

A 700mA 48v driver will run 12-13 a 54v driver will run 15.

You can drive them harder but 700mA seems to be the sweet spot between performance and efficiency.

I have over 200PAR on my sand bed and my Carpet Anemones are very happy

Bill

 

[ValorG]

Yes I def prefer more blue

Can I run 6 9 watt Cree off 1 driver?
Should I make all of them blue too add the blue I want without bothering swapping out other LEDs?

How many other colors and which ones should I add?

Check what the maximum voltage your driver can support, and what voltage each led runs on. Try to match the total voltage used in each string to the max the driver outputs. If its a similar driver to mine, you may have to adjust the svr1 using a multimeter.

Color is up to you, I'm trying to go closer to full spectrum by adding regular blues, warm white and neutral whites and uv. Already have green and red leds and don't like them. Nuetral whites and warms should be good enough to supply the same wavelenths of light. I think the only thing I'm missing to go full spectrum is violet which I can supplement with ati purple plus bulbs on my t5ho.

 

[MattL22]

Thanks again for the help guys this hobby has really kept me interested involved just never gets old!!

Bill that sounds like a good plan too me
Now I gotta figure out if I have the room on my heat sink for them I'm not worried bout heat the fixture has a good computer fan on it and my canopy has 4 computer fans
Just wanna figure out if I have room on my fixture or if I need a seperate heatsink???

 

[MattL22]

Or remove an existing string of white and replace with them???
Would rather just add if possible hard too see here but in middle of fixture there's few inches might be able to do it

 

[MattL22]

Should they be pitched differently?

 

[MattL22]

Bump

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Thanks again for the help guys this hobby has really kept me interested involved just never gets old!!

Bill that sounds like a good plan too me
Now I gotta figure out if I have the room on my heat sink for them I'm not worried bout heat the fixture has a good computer fan on it and my canopy has 4 computer fans
Just wanna figure out if I have room on my fixture or if I need a seperate heatsink???

I've mounted a lot of LEDs to a single heatsink...More than I normally recommend. As long as you have a quality Heatsink like one that's 5LBs per foot with lots of surface area. Quality airflow will keep it cool to the touch. The down side is you have to ensure the fans are working...A 50,000 hour Fan can fail in short order with enough salt covered dust interfering with its bearings. Keep the fan clean with a CRC Duster.

On my personal system I have several 24" Heatsinks with 72 Cree X series and Semi UV driven at 700mA. With a Fan blowing down between the fins the temp is cool to the touch.

The Cooler the LEDs Stay...The Brighter They Are & The Longer They Last....

Worse case just add another fan....

Cheers

Bill