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DIY LED Demo presentation: Questions and Answers

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BZOFIQ

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stage3-S4 said:
Yea i was thinking of making 2 threads, one for my diy driver and one for my diy controller. The diy driver deff would require some understanding of electronics and working with smt components, which was not a problem for me being an EE. The controller is a board that i found that utilizes an ardunio type setup but has a ds rtc chip built in. Mostly this is all programming. Hopefully this weekend i can get everything finished up and write a small diy thread.


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Click to expand...

I'd be interested in seeing it as well.
 
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Before I go all out on a fixture for my 180G I'd like to build a "trial" fixture for the fuge. This way I can improve on my technique and change the design in the process. I'm pretty anal about quality so I believe this will be the best route to go.


Question, what are the best LEDs stricktly for growth of macro algae and how many would I need? Currently I have to 12W fluorescent bulbs (spot lights) with reflectors. One is on 24/7 the other one is reverse with tank light.
 
stage3-S4

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xoomercom said:
Before I go all out on a fixture for my 180G I'd like to build a "trial" fixture for the fuge. This way I can improve on my technique and change the design in the process. I'm pretty anal about quality so I believe this will be the best route to go.


Question, what are the best LEDs stricktly for growth of macro algae and how many would I need? Currently I have to 12W fluorescent bulbs (spot lights) with reflectors. One is on 24/7 the other one is reverse with tank light.
Click to expand...


you can try out a few neutral whites with cool whites. Put a set of each on different drives to allow you to dim them. This way you can really dial in the proper spectrum to give you close to natural sunlight. I would probably shoot for the 6500k spectrum range. Also you can throw a red led in there as well.
 
regal

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For me, I was able to use the aquasurf module ($80 used) as a dimmer/controller of my led arrays connected to the AC3. With 4 different channels, it supplies the voltage to dim up to 3 MWs (can probably handle more)by a single channel. The only down side is the programming is limited by the max # of profiles and commands you can put in your aquacontroller. If you have an Apex, using the ramp command to change the intensity gradually, you can save alot of programming room.

Here is my program:
Pmp MODE sd for PF1
Pmp Int 000/000 for PF1
Pmp OSC 10/10/00 for PF1
Pmp MODE sd for PF2
Pmp Int 020/020 for PF2
Pmp OSC 10/10/00 for PF2
Pmp MODE sd for PF3
Pmp Int 030/030 for PF3
Pmp OSC 10/10/00 for PF3
Pmp MODE sd for PF4
Pmp Int 040/040 for PF4
Pmp OSC 10/10/00 for PF4
Pmp MODE sd for PF5
Pmp Int 050/050 for PF5
Pmp OSC 10/10/00 for PF5
Pmp MODE sd for PF6
Pmp Int 075/100 for PF6
Pmp OSC 10/10/00 for PF6
If Time > 07:00 Then LB1 PF2
If Time > 07:00 Then LB2 PF2
If Time > 07:30 Then LB1 PF5
If Time > 07:30 Then LB2 PF5
If Time > 12:00 Then LB1 ON
If Time > 12:00 Then LB2 PF5
If Time > 15:00 Then LB1 PF5
If Time > 15:00 Then LB2 PF5
If Time > 19:30 Then LB1 PF2
If Time > 19:30 Then LB2 PF2
If Time > 20:00 Then LB1 PF1
If Time > 20:00 Then LB2 PF1
If Time > 07:30 Then LW1 PF2
If Time > 07:30 Then LW2 PF1
If Time > 08:00 Then LW1 PF2
If Time > 08:00 Then LW2 PF2
If Time > 12:00 Then LW1 PF4
If Time > 12:00 Then LW2 PF3
If Time > 15:00 Then LW1 PF3
If Time > 15:00 Then LW2 PF1
If Time > 17:00 Then LW1 PF2
If Time > 17:00 Then LW2 PF1
If Time > 19:30 Then LW1 PF1
If Time > 19:30 Then LW2 PF1
 
B

BZOFIQ

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stage3-S4 said:
you can try out a few neutral whites with cool whites. Put a set of each on different drives to allow you to dim them. This way you can really dial in the proper spectrum to give you close to natural sunlight. I would probably shoot for the 6500k spectrum range. Also you can throw a red led in there as well.
Click to expand...

Dial in the spectrum? I though the only thing that we are dialing in is the brightness. Maximum growth in macroalgae has been shown with temperatures between 2700 and 4300K. Please elaborate.
 
2Sunny

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Peak PAR.

According to Sanjay's article the peak PAR at 24 inches for an LED light system was 224 and for a 250 watt MH it was 278. I don't think a 250 MH system would "get the job done" on my tank so I am certain that a lesser PAR would be a total failure. I love the "POP" of blue LEDs, but where's the PAR? Please don't get me wrong . . . I really want LEDs to be the answer, but before I take a chance on my own tank, I'd love to have more info.


What am I missing?!?

Thanks guys,


Joe
 
Deep Dive Coral

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2Sunny said:
According to Sanjay's article the peak PAR at 24 inches for an LED light system was 224 and for a 250 watt MH it was 278. I don't think a 250 MH system would "get the job done" on my tank so I am certain that a lesser PAR would be a total failure. I love the "POP" of blue LEDs, but where's the PAR? Please don't get me wrong . . . I really want LEDs to be the answer, but before I take a chance on my own tank, I'd love to have more info.


What am I missing?!?

Thanks guys,


Joe
Click to expand...
Does it state what optics, what drivers, what brand of led, how many watts per led, what ma are they being ran at?
 
stage3-S4

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xoomercom said:
Dial in the spectrum? I though the only thing that we are dialing in is the brightness. Maximum growth in macroalgae has been shown with temperatures between 2700 and 4300K. Please elaborate.
Click to expand...

What I mean by that is you can adjust the total spectrum of the fixture by dimming the different leds. For example: if you run royal blues at 50% brightness and run the cool whites at 90%, you will have a spectrum closer to 10,000k as apposed to runing the royal blues at 90% and the cool whites at 50% which would bring you closer to a 20,000k spectrum. Thats what I mean by "dialing" it in. You can play around with it to acheive what you want. Thats the best part about using LEDS. I wasn't sure what the best spectrum of macro algae was if its 2700k-4300k then you would most likey use more nuetral whites then cool whites.
 
wld1783

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2Sunny said:
According to Sanjay's article the peak PAR at 24 inches for an LED light system was 224 and for a 250 watt MH it was 278. I don't think a 250 MH system would "get the job done" on my tank so I am certain that a lesser PAR would be a total failure. I love the "POP" of blue LEDs, but where's the PAR? Please don't get me wrong . . . I really want LEDs to be the answer, but before I take a chance on my own tank, I'd love to have more info.


What am I missing?!?

Thanks guys,


Joe
Click to expand...

Joe

I recently tested a 60 LED Fixture with optics and measured 432 PAR at 24" with 70 degree optics. The LEDs were Cree XR-E driven between 650 and 800mA. Here's a link to the write up.

http://www.reefledlights.com/how-to-diy-led/optics-evaluation/

BTW once you go LED you never go back.

Bill
 
wld1783

wld1783

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stage3-S4 said:
What I mean by that is you can adjust the total spectrum of the fixture by dimming the different leds. For example: if you run royal blues at 50% brightness and run the cool whites at 90%, you will have a spectrum closer to 10,000k as apposed to runing the royal blues at 90% and the cool whites at 50% which would bring you closer to a 20,000k spectrum. Thats what I mean by "dialing" it in. You can play around with it to acheive what you want. Thats the best part about using LEDS. I wasn't sure what the best spectrum of macro algae was if its 2700k-4300k then you would most likey use more nuetral whites then cool whites.
Click to expand...


+1

Also I'm using a Cool White PAR 38 LED over my fuge and macro algae grows well. Spent lots of time scuba diving and below 30 feet things get blue or cooler in colour temp quick. The algae adapt. If your unsure the XP-Gs normally run a bit warmer than the XR-E Cool White.

Bill
 
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