omarortiz Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I decided to take the plunge on the DIY LEDs but I needed a canopy to give it a nice clean look. I am pleased with the results so far and now I am waiting for my shipment from rapidled.com. (plotting) The canopy fits over a 36X12 acrylic aquarium (30 gallon). The wood is 3/4 inch birch ply trimmed in cherry. I used Kreg pocket holes as the joinery method for the wood (no glue, no mess). It still needs sanding and poly sealant (I prefer an unstained, natural wood color). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 looks nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Nice job Omar! I am interested in seeing your LED project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Thanks. I am pretty excited to get moving on this. I'll go more in depth with the images for the LEDs. For now, I will have to watch my mailbox like a hawk for the next couple of days while I wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 rapid LED is pretty quick in my experience. i got both orders i placed with them within 2 days of order. look forward to seeing your progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Rapid LED did inform me that they shipped the item yesterday via priority. I am just concerned about the sketchy Eugene transients that pass through my neighborhood. For example, yesterday I had some guy knock on my door to get some Tylenol for his toothache. (nono) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 haha ya that would be bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Well, still nothing in the mail. Maybe tomorrow I will get the package. (fingers) In the meantime, I started sketching out what kind of layout I was planning for the LEDs. I got 24 with this first order (1:1 blue to white). I am planning on leaving the middle row of the heatsink empty but was not sure whether or I would increase the blue to something closer to 20K or whether I would put in 4 moonlights and 8 UVs (which is the way I have it laid out in the image below. Anyone have any input on the UV LEDs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 It's here! Here is what the kit looks like out of the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Whoever I generally am attracted to Tue idea of UV leds, I'd be nervous to put that many on...assuming 3watts, thats24 Watts of UV...if they're not dimmed that seems like way too much uv...maybe 4 blue, 4 UV, 4 moonlight? Just my $0.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 A word of caution!! Having strong UV LEDs in your tank may be ok (although, I still think they are not required, there was a big debate over it else where ), however, when you are working on your tank, I'd suggest to turn those off!!! Or you may end up getting melanoma (skin cancer) as UV rays at that strength "MAY" be harmful to you, if not corals!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 A word of caution!! Having strong UV LEDs in your tank may be ok (although, I still think they are not required, there was a big debate over it else where ), however, when you are working on your tank, I'd suggest to turn those off!!! Or you may end up getting melanoma (skin cancer) as UV rays at that strength "MAY" be harmful to you, if not corals!!! I'm going to voice strong disagreement here (hope I'm not out of line). Even 20 or 30 Watts is not that bad. Now I wouldn't recommended stating at the diodes, but a tanning bed will have many times as much UV output (at very close range) and it's not an instant-cancer situation. Besides, you spend a few minutes a day reaching in, maybe an hour a week? It would take more to give you a mild tan. Point being: if you're getting enough UV to I.crease yourrisk for melanoma, you will realize that your arms have weird tans...we live in the rwiny pnw, if your arms I. February look like a Pacific islander instead of a Pacific northwesterner, then start paying attention. But increasing cancer risk is a chronic exposure issue and a few minutes a day probably wont cut it. That said, 24 Watts of UV is a lot, 12 would still doors job (if anything, I've never seen a side-by-side). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugenereef Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I'm going to voice strong disagreement here (hope I'm not out of line). Even 20 or 30 Watts is not that bad. Now I wouldn't recommended stating at the diodes, but a tanning bed will have many times as much UV output (at very close range) and it's not an instant-cancer situation. Besides, you spend a few minutes a day reaching in, maybe an hour a week? It would take more to give you a mild tan. Point being: if you're getting enough UV to I.crease yourrisk for melanoma, you will realize that your arms have weird tans...we live in the rwiny pnw, if your arms I. February look like a Pacific islander instead of a Pacific northwesterner, then start paying attention. But increasing cancer risk is a chronic exposure issue and a few minutes a day probably wont cut it. That said, 24 Watts of UV is a lot, 12 would still doors job (if anything, I've never seen a side-by-side). No worries on strong disagreement! We all have our opinions and facts to make suggestions/recommendations. Also, we all have options to agree/follow with recommendation as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 This is an interesting discussion. I appreciate the feedback. Right now, I think I would be more concerned about my eyes getting damaged. I feel like I need to wear sunglasses when I open the hood with just the blue and white LEDs alone. It is still something to think about and I plan on moving a bit slowly on this one until I get more information on the supposed/potential benefits of UV lighting. On another note. I have 80 degree lenses that came with my kit and I am on the fence as to putting them on. The pros being they focus the light into the tank more making them easier to look at when working with the tank. The cons being that they focus the light into the tank more and that might be too much light for a tank at an 16 inch depth. It also seems that attaching the lenses might be a pain, and they don't really seem all that necessary with the amount of output I am already getting. Any tips? Pics to come. I am still doing some tweaks to manage cables and I am planning on putting on a splash screen as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Here are some pictures of my DIY LED build. I would have liked to get another shot of the soldering of wires, but that will have to wait until part two when I add the next line of LEDs. I ended up going one row of all blues and one row of all whites (center). I am leaning more towards adding another row of all blues to get to a 2 (Blue) : (1 White) ratio. I am waiting until tomorrow to add the splash shield because that is when the plastics store will be open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Here is the start of the splash shield I am making for the LEDs. I will be routing away the edge off of the plastic once the the adhesive has cured overnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 This is actually my second time working with acrylic. I don't think I would take on the making of an aquarium just yet, but projects like this one are good practice if I ever decide to try it someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 The routing on the splash shield/eye shield went smoothly. And I slipped it into the canopy. It was a near perfect fit and took a little nudging to get the canopy to cooperate because it bows a bit towards the top. (Whew!) I tested it out and... no more eyes burning when I have the canopy open! I would like to add a small strip of white on the inside to route cables through but that is pretty low priority for now. I may wait until I add the next line of LEDs. The fixture is doing well. It gets warm to the touch, but compared to the ecoxotic panorama pros that I had, it is relatively cool. In the end, I would probably add a fan if I had 36 LEDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewey McLovit Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 That looks great! How about you show us a shot of your tank too, it's killing me! (drooler) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramy Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Nice work on the lights and the hood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 as far as the lenses go i wouldnt bother as you said you will likely get plenty of penetration and no optics allows the light to "pre-mix" provides a good mix of the blue and white while the lenses may focus the light enough to give you spots whereyou only have blue or white Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Dustin - Most of the corals like the light as is. The digis are making little bald growth areas. But, it looks like I may need to move the green birdsnest lower. I am thinking optics are definitely not needed for a canopy setup, but that they are needed for pendant setups that are farther from the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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