my 48" t5/led fixture

reef*freak · Nov 13, 2010

very very nice

chadfarmer · Nov 14, 2010

thats a great idea what size tank? 55,75, 90 or 120

redhanded · Nov 14, 2010

thanks guys. the tank is a standard 75G.

florida reef · Nov 14, 2010

This is one of the best DYI led builds I've seen.
I know there are some sites that sell everything you need for a DYI build in one package. Is this the type of site you bought the materials from or did you piece everything together? Also, are they cree leds or some other kind? Again, great job! Keep the pics coming!!!

pumarjr · Nov 14, 2010

they look like cree led's, he probably has about $500-$1000.00 invested in that light. that would be my guess.

redhanded · Nov 21, 2010

Sorry for not updating, but I am using a total of 98 leds, cree xre's with 80 degree optics. I will try and tally up the total for the build when I get a chance to look at receipts. It wasnt cheap, but then again, this hobby isnt cheap. What matters to me is that the light works good, does what I want and is pretty efficient when it comes to energy.

I did some par testing with the leds set at 50%.
one inch below water surface - 500-600
halfway deep - 300-400
sand bed - 200-250

secretreefer · Nov 21, 2010

how deep is your tank?

_Alex_ · Nov 21, 2010

standard 75gal tank is 21" deep if i remember right

florida reef · Jan 12, 2011

Do you have any updates on this project? How has it been doing for the last two months?

redhanded · Jan 27, 2011

sorry for not updating, but here is a quick vid i took today....
YouTube - 75g reef tank with led lighting

redhanded · Jan 27, 2011

[video=youtube;amDMq_9S6pU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amDMq_9S6pU[/video]

MarvinsReef · Jan 27, 2011

looking really nice!

redhanded · Jan 27, 2011

Thanks! Im really happy with growth and color. At first I was a little skeptical with spending the money because there was alot of nay sayers saying that leds won't grow sps and you wont get good colors. Most of the sps started out as browned out frags. So all of the growth and color have been cause from the sps (besides keeping stable and acceptable params).

Reefer831 · Jan 27, 2011

Verry nice job!!!! I love the tank it is funny how simmalar our rocks are staked, and I am also running LED's. Great tank, can you give us a FTS

redhanded · Jan 27, 2011

I dont really have a good camera, but Ill try my best with a quick fts in an hour or so. Ill post up in a bit. Thanks for the props. Cant wait til the sps fills in and I have a mature looking tank.

edit - just tried taking a pic and my batteries died, lol.

FiReBReTHa · Jan 27, 2011

looks fantastic! how many drivers did you go with? The other question I wanted to ask is what size heatsink that is. (width)

How do you like the Reefkeeper and the ALC controlling it?

kudos again for the good job.

secretreefer · Jan 27, 2011

redhanded · Jan 27, 2011

FiReBReTHa said:
looks fantastic! how many drivers did you go with? The other question I wanted to ask is what size heatsink that is. (width)

How do you like the Reefkeeper and the ALC controlling it?

kudos again for the good job.

Thanks! I ended up doing 8 drivers for the display (4 drivers each for blues and whites). And on the little cube, I have 2 drivers, 1 each for blues and whites. The heat sink is about 10"s wide. The RKE and ALC does a pretty good job. It took me a little bit to get used to it, but thats because I suck at computers and anything that is related, lol. Also, the dimming, to be honest, wasn't what I thought it would be. The transition from off to on starts at 10%. So anything from 0-9%, the leds dont even come on....when it does, it isnt as dim as I would want it to be. I thought that At maybe 1 or 2%, it would be dim enough for moon light, but I was wrong. All in all, I am satisfied.

Secret - PM right back to you.

FiReBReTHa · Jan 27, 2011

redhanded said:
Thanks! I ended up doing 8 drivers for the display (4 drivers each for blues and whites). And on the little cube, I have 2 drivers, 1 each for blues and whites. The heat sink is about 10"s wide. The RKE and ALC does a pretty good job. It took me a little bit to get used to it, but thats because I suck at computers and anything that is related, lol. Also, the dimming, to be honest, wasn't what I thought it would be. The transition from off to on starts at 10%. So anything from 0-9%, the leds dont even come on....when it does, it isnt as dim as I would want it to be. I thought that At maybe 1 or 2%, it would be dim enough for moon light, but I was wrong. All in all, I am satisfied.

ah, good to know about the the variation. I understand now completely what I heard from another guy about it.

I wanted to start doing drawings of my concept for the build. too excited to do it but too underfunded. LOL

I cant wait to see your next post in the future to see the growth of all the corals!