Diy led lighting for a 60 cube.

biglurr54 · 03/10/2016, 10:27 AM

I'm trying to get a light figured out for my 60 cube I am building. I thought I had found the ticket with a helios light I purchased. It has 48 bridgelux leds in 4 pucks of 12. It's full spectrum with cw blue royal blue uv and green.

I mounted it on the tank and it is horribly blue and it's disco town.

Channel 1 is 12 cool white 8 rb 1 uv and 1 green. It looks nice. But channel 2 is for the corals and it's all b rb and uv.

Some of the rb and uv leds are brown when you look at then with the fixture off. Is that bad?

I have considered changing out the cw for nw. And replace the brown rb and uvs. By that time it would make sense to build a new system.

What are some ways to build a diy led system that doesn't spotlight and can cover 24 x 24 x 24.

DSMreefer · 03/10/2016, 01:03 PM

It is disco or is it shimmer? Disco is when the is different colors at the bottom of the tank. Shimmer is when the light is mixed at the bottom but is distorted by the water movement at the top of the tank. Here is the light I built

Let me know if your interested and I can you the details on it. Has great shimmer but no disco effect.

biglurr54 · 03/10/2016, 01:04 PM

It's disco there are blue and white spots everywhere. Also I have a lot of shadowing. My aqua scape is tough for shadows though.

biglurr54 · 03/10/2016, 01:05 PM

I would love to hear your specs.

DSMreefer · 03/10/2016, 02:23 PM

I used a makers led heat sink ( google search will bring up a bunch of places to buy). I had a power supply that I got from work. The light is 72 watt input, using 16 Phillips luxeon es rb 3 watt chips and 8 Phillips luxeon es 4000k 3 watt chips. I got all of leds from steves leds online. He sells everything necessary to build a led. I didn't use his heat sink as they were a little different than I was looking for. They are refeers themselves and make lights for coral farmers. They are the ones that recommended the led combo. My tank dimensions are really close to yours (24×16×20) so I think coverage wouldn't be a problem.

biglurr54 · 03/10/2016, 02:44 PM

You don't have any uv or blue leds?

DSMreefer · 03/10/2016, 03:36 PM

Just royal blue and 4000k white combo. The guy I spoke with about leds said this is the best combo, they have found so far for sps coral growth. Uv lights would just make it more of a purple light. Not sure if this is true or not but I followed what he recommended. Didn't want to use any other colors as I wanted to keep it simple for my first build.

biglurr54 · 03/10/2016, 04:12 PM

I have another question for led experts. Why does everyone recommend nw for diy and popular commercial fixtures use cw leds.

03/10/2016, 10:27 AM	#1
biglurr54 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Averill Park NY Posts: 406	Diy led lighting for a 60 cube. I'm trying to get a light figured out for my 60 cube I am building. I thought I had found the ticket with a helios light I purchased. It has 48 bridgelux leds in 4 pucks of 12. It's full spectrum with cw blue royal blue uv and green. I mounted it on the tank and it is horribly blue and it's disco town. Channel 1 is 12 cool white 8 rb 1 uv and 1 green. It looks nice. But channel 2 is for the corals and it's all b rb and uv. Some of the rb and uv leds are brown when you look at then with the fixture off. Is that bad? I have considered changing out the cw for nw. And replace the brown rb and uvs. By that time it would make sense to build a new system. What are some ways to build a diy led system that doesn't spotlight and can cover 24 x 24 x 24.

03/10/2016, 01:03 PM	#2
DSMreefer Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 116	It is disco or is it shimmer? Disco is when the is different colors at the bottom of the tank. Shimmer is when the light is mixed at the bottom but is distorted by the water movement at the top of the tank. Here is the light I built Let me know if your interested and I can you the details on it. Has great shimmer but no disco effect.

03/10/2016, 01:04 PM	#3
biglurr54 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Averill Park NY Posts: 406	It's disco there are blue and white spots everywhere. Also I have a lot of shadowing. My aqua scape is tough for shadows though.

03/10/2016, 01:05 PM	#4
biglurr54 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Averill Park NY Posts: 406	I would love to hear your specs.

03/10/2016, 02:23 PM	#5
DSMreefer Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 116	I used a makers led heat sink ( google search will bring up a bunch of places to buy). I had a power supply that I got from work. The light is 72 watt input, using 16 Phillips luxeon es rb 3 watt chips and 8 Phillips luxeon es 4000k 3 watt chips. I got all of leds from steves leds online. He sells everything necessary to build a led. I didn't use his heat sink as they were a little different than I was looking for. They are refeers themselves and make lights for coral farmers. They are the ones that recommended the led combo. My tank dimensions are really close to yours (24×16×20) so I think coverage wouldn't be a problem.

03/10/2016, 02:44 PM	#6
biglurr54 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Averill Park NY Posts: 406	You don't have any uv or blue leds?

03/10/2016, 03:36 PM	#7
DSMreefer Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Posts: 116	Just royal blue and 4000k white combo. The guy I spoke with about leds said this is the best combo, they have found so far for sps coral growth. Uv lights would just make it more of a purple light. Not sure if this is true or not but I followed what he recommended. Didn't want to use any other colors as I wanted to keep it simple for my first build.

03/10/2016, 04:12 PM	#8
biglurr54 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Averill Park NY Posts: 406	I have another question for led experts. Why does everyone recommend nw for diy and popular commercial fixtures use cw leds.