My LED build start

Ok, so I'm getting my plans together for an LED set over my aquarium. It's a 36g bowfront. I measured the dimensions and the best heatsink is going to be the 4.9"x23" from rapid LED.

So far I'm planning on getting:
660nm red led's : 6
Warm white led's: 7
Cool white led's : 7
Royal Blue led's : 12
Moonlight led's : 2
with 65* lens all around(except the moonlights and reds don't have secondary lenses yet?)

I'm going to be making it dimmable as well. With the blues on one module, the reds on one, and all the whites on one.

For this I plan on using RapidLED products as well:

DDC-01 PWM controller(with remote of course) : 1
Mean Well ELN-60-48P Dimmable Driver : 3 or 4 (depends on if I put cools and warms on seperate dimmers)

With wiring, thermal glue, and the accesories for fans, the total is from 430-470$ depending on if I get the 4th driver. I have 2 different lighting layouts attatched..They were quickly drawn up in paint so don't judge me lol.

Feel free to critique and compliment

 

Hmm, interesting. I've tried to find FTS shots of someone who has used reds in their build and I've never come across it yet. Although I've heard its hard to get them to mix well. Sounds like you've got a good plan though.

 

How deep is the tank?

60 degree lenses will give you a very spotlight effect. I only recommend them for tanks that are deep and need the extra penetration.

 

A 36 bowfront is 21 inches deep. I wouldnt go with anything more than a 60 degree optic. 80's just wouldnt give the penetration. I think his coverage will be just fine on that tank as long as he hangs it high enough.

 

From where I keep my water at, to the sand bed is about 17". I plan on hanging the lights about 4-5 Inches over the tank, not sure on that part yet. any input as to how high they should be?

Edit: And I'll be sure to take pictures of them all once I get them and get it tuned.

 

If you're set on using that heatsink, I would NOT use 60 deg optics. For a depth of 17", 80deg optics would suit you better. If you're wiling to order your heatsink elsewhere (read Extruded Aluminum Heatsinks from HeatSinkUSA), you could go with a 6x24 or even an 8x24 and perhaps be a bit more suited for 60deg optics, if those are what you really desire.

Also to keep in mind, the meanwells are best suited for 8-14 diodes each.

As stated, it's difficult to get the reds to blend well. It can be done, but you really don't want to use optics on them (which it seems you were not planning to, so that's in the right direction). However, two addtional downside with red: it is filtered out quickly in the water column (meaning as you do deeper there's quickly less of it) and it can/will grow algae quite well. If it were me, I'd skip them. Your planned mix of whites will give you a better spectrual peak in the red region, if that's all your after. I'd probably run one driver with 14 blues, and another one with 7 of each type of the whites. Optionally, you could run two drivers for the whites, each with 8 diodes.

 

I like your idea evolved, and I will definitely check into those heatsinks. I was looking for a wider one as 4.9" is maybe half my aquarium width, if that much. I believe its around 11" from the back to the start of the bow.

Also I think I will throw out the reds, I have enough algae problems, and I was kinda skeptic on them because of what I've heard and read about them not blending well. I'll probably simply sub in a couple more blues and one or two more of each white. I also like the idea of splitting the whites, and the blues on one driver. Where I'm at a loss so far is how I should tie in my two moonlights. :/

 

Ok, so i've finally got the money to start ordering, and here's the line up so far.

7 cool whites with 65* lens,
7 warm whites with 60* lens,
14 Royal blue with 55* lens,
2 meanwell 60-48D drivers
the diy 2 color dimming kit
wiring
2 120mm x 25mm fans with adjustable speeds an the hookups needed
and 4 royal blue moonlights.

Where I'm still not sure at is how high I'm going to need to hang my lights, and how I'm going to incorporate the moonlights to run on their own for a few hours after lights out.

Any ideas? I was thinkin of just doing a simple switching circuit using some household items, but I'm not sure about how I would go about voltage an current etc.