Need help with first LED light project.

[Reef Tank Lighting]

Hello Everyone,

I am in the coral reef aquarium hobby. For this type of aquarium we need massive amounts of light to maintain the photosynthetic corals that depend on it to stay alive.

The project I want to try out is a smaller and simpler version of a very expensive LED fixture currently available. The tank this will be lighting is very small at only 3 gallons. The appx dimensions are 11 L x 8 W x 8 H.

The leds I have chosen are about 4-6 cool white Seoul Z-Power P4s, and 2-3 Blues. The light spectrum I need is around the 10K-15K range which is why I need the blues.

Also I have an $80 max budget for this project not including shipping. The tank it will be applied to is entered into a small contest on my reef forum and the amount of modifications is limited by dollar amount.

Here are my problems. First of all I cant find the leds at a decent price. I had a very bad experience with deal extreme. Does anyone know another place?

Second, how much current should I give these? I know they can handle 1000ma but only for a few seconds without a heatsink which I dont even know where to begin obtaining. These need to last at least a year, but at the same time give off as much light as possible.

Third, any recommendations on lenses?

Fourth, I was thinking of using an AC led driver, or maybe just a cheap wall wort type ac/dc converter. What would you recommend for my application?

Lastly, I have never done a project like this before. Are there any special wiring I need to do other than what would be done on a standard led?

Thanks in advance!
Steve

 

[Reef Tank Lighting]

^^^BUMP^^^

 

[Norm]

:welcome: You could start by looking at this search of CPF for the words LED & aquarium http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sitesearch=candlepowerforums.com&q=led+aquarium&btnG=Search
The google search box at the top of this page is very helpful, limits your search to CPF.
Norm

 

[LukeA]

I don't know where to get blue SSCs, but you don't need lenses, any type of aluminum or copper channel, tube or sheet will do as a heatsink. Sheet will be the best (most surface area for least $). Thermal epoxy the LEDs to the heatsink. For drivers, you'll want a pair of

, each running four LEDs in series. That MicroDriver will run the emitters at 700mA, which I consider a good upper level for fixed lighting. Above it, you don't get very much more light but you do get a lot more heat.

 

[A123Powered]

Have you checked out the buckpuck, it may work for your project and it is simple to use:

http://www.ledsupply.com/wired-buckpuck.php

Datasheet:

http://www.leddynamics.com/LuxDrive/datasheets/3021-BuckPuck.pdf

Here is a blue cree which will run at 350mA, and it is cheap:

Blue Cree:
http://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=3311

You may also want to get some Arctic Alumina thermal adhesive to mount the stars to the heatsink material (maybe an old CPU heatsink would work?).

 

[DM51]

Welcome to CPF, Reef_Tank_Lighting!

I have a feeling this thread may belong in Beyond Flashlights > General Light Discussion > Fixed Lighting.

Perhaps you could take a look in that sub-forum, and let me know if you think it will do better there.