CREE LED 3' DIY setup

[prajjwal]

[Pintoo]

i m also interested

[apuda2010]

Sorry everyone. I just haven't had the time last 3 weeks to work on this. Will capture pics of the various parts of the project and post over the weekend.

Meanwhile , here is what I learnt while putting together the project......

1. My current lighting setup

I started about a couple of years back with 4 T8 tubes of 30 inches each at 6500k. This was an odd size and I got them from Big Fish at Gurgaon. Simultaneously , I also got a T5HO (HO is High Output) fixture of Hagen called the HagenGlo. This is a very compact fixture and takes 2 T5 tubes of 2 feet each. My next trip as to Bhagirath Place to get two tubes of 2 feet. This configuration consumes 148W of power. A typical 30 inch T8 drives 2000 lumens of light at 25 degrees C. A T5 on the other hand drives 2900 lumens at 35 degrees C. The T5 drives higher lumens per watt of electricity consumed , but also runs hotter. Therefore , it is reasonable to assume that my total configuration would have produced roughly around 14000 lumens at their peak respective temperatures. Thats a lot of light !!

2. What was all this light doing ?

This light had two properties from day one.

Property 1 - the spread of the light was poor. 4 inches to the right and 4 inches to the left of the tank were mostly low light. Not dark but low light. The result was that I never ever grew any plant successfully near the corners.

Property 2 - the light heated up the water. Yes , you may or may not believe this , but I noticed a rise in temperature by a degree over a 4 hour lighting period. Water is a very poor conductor of heat. For 6 lights to raise the temperature was something very unusual.

3. Plants and this combination of lights

Hirsuta benefited from the light greatly. Sword plants dont need so much of light. Staurogynes, Toninas and Pogostemons simply melted away. Damn !! I thougt 14000 lumens was high.

4. The fixture

This is important , do not ignore the construction of the fixture.

I got a wooden fixture made by the carpenter with holes for to 80mm fans. I then got tube clips (these are small clips to hold your tubes tightly) and 2 fan controllers to control the speed of the fan. The fixture as covered all 4 corners. And I noticed heat building up inside the fixture over 4-5 hours of continous lighting.

5. The drivers

The four T8s are driven by regular Philips 36W drivers. These are available in most electric stores. I recommend them. They run cool and do not appear cheap and flimsy unlike the Chinese counterparts.

6. Status of the lights now

2 years have gone by. The intensity of light has come down by atleast 30%. Now this one is hard to figure out , especially when you see a brightly lit tank every day and feel very happy about it. So what was the indication that the light was falling in intensity ?

Firstly , the Hirsuta started melting. Since it is a carpet plant ,one probable cause is that the intensity of light hitting the tank substrate has gone down substantially , ALL OTHER THINGS remaining equal.

Secondly , I started noticing every variety of algae possible. Why was the tank seeing algae if the CO2 was constant at 3bps , the soil was still fresh and had nutrients, Macros were automated using a peristaltic pump , micros were dosed on schedule and even iron was added externally ? The culprit had to be light. The plants could not utilise all the nutrients in the water since there wasn't enough light.

[apuda2010]

This then led me to take a decision...

Should I simply change the tubes in the fixtures with new ones ?

OR

Should I look for something more efficient compared to the flourescent tubes ?

[marsaiko]

Very interesting how you made the decision!

[vikram]

Awaiting pictures now ..
And from where you have procured the Leds

Heat only helps in winters .. in summer time you need cooler lights .

[SCORPIO]

From where have you got LEDs. I am looking for some blue 14000 K LEDs.

[nash81]

Rajiv,

What wattage are you looking for, can give you 3W Blue in Edison, cost is Rs 65/each. 1W Blue Edison is Rs 35/each both on pre soldered star pcb

Regards
Nirav.

[SCORPIO]

Rajiv,

What wattage are you looking for, can give you 3W Blue in Edison, cost is Rs 65/each. 1W Blue Edison is Rs 35/each both on pre soldered star pcb

Regards
Nirav.

I am looking for 3 watt LEDs.

[nash81]

Available, how much qty you need, if you need 12 or more nos price will be Rs 62/each. for 12 or less nos Rs 65/each.

Regards
Nirav.