That is incredible work....Bravo!...(standing ovation)...Bravo!
ALL bleeding stops...eventually.
Hahaha, you are too kind. Thank you. The stand you made for your tank is awesome, and those frags are looking great too.
Tank Update:
I finished the DIY 3x3W LED addition to the hood of my tank over the weekend. It actually turned out to be a pretty clean install, and the results are pretty good. Will update pictures later this week.
Had the LEDs running for the past several days and they seem to be working fine. i have them set to come on an hour before the tanks main lights come on and stay on for about the same amount of time after the lights go out. I dont have a PAR meter or anyway to tell if the addition has any benefit other than aesthetics but all the coral open when just the LEDs are on. The main goal for the addition was to get some of the corals to glow and add some shimmer to the water, I can say that the addition absolutely accomplished a visual difference for a minimal cost. Here's the parts and price breakdown:
LED driver $8
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT
5 royal blue LEDs $7.50
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT
Double Sided thermal tape $1
3 Heat sinks $7
Wire, screws etc... $2
Total cost = $25.50
I wasn't sure how this project would turn out so I didn't want to drop a lot of money on CREE LEDs so I went with the cheap ebay royal blues. They visually look nice, Im sure they are not as powerful or long lasting as the CREEs would but they work wonderful for this application.
Now what everyone is interested in PICS
Here's the stock JBJ 12 DX hood. plan is to mount 3 3W LEDs on the metal portion directly above the fans.
The aluminum heatsinks, I ordered 3, 1 for each LED. they are approximately 60mm*30mm*6mm. I had to use something small to fit in the available place, they seem to be able to dissipate the heat fairly well for their size.
Here are the cheap ebay LEDs I picked up, got 5 for $7.50. They are visually bright and all are the same color blue. They were also very easy to solder.
To mount the heatsinks, I simply grabbed a drill, marked the holes and drilled. The thin aluminum was easy to drill with just a standard drill bit.
I used some aluminum screws and nuts I had laying around to attach the heatsinks to the hood. Then used the double sided thermal tape to attach the LEDs to the heatsink. Sorry I didnt take any pics of these steps. The wire was picked up at Home Depot, it is solid core. If I were to do it again I think stranded would be easier to work with. Connected +,-,+,-,+,- real simple.
Ran the core do the outlet out of the pre-existing JBJ hole, had to notch out a little area for the wires to rest in. I salvaged a cord from a broken lamp to use.
Here is a view with the PC bulbs back in place. You can see the LED driver. (white cords and box under the reflector on the right side.) The driver is secured in the hood using a screw and an extra mounting tab that was in the hood already.
Plastic splash guard back in place. The nice thing about this is everything is hidden in the hood and protected from moisture. The stock fans run air into the hood to cool everything down.
Everything on and working. LEDs look a lot brighter than the picture shows.
Overall it was a super simple install and looks nice on the tank. Only time will tell how long the LEDs will last but for now they are doing fine and looking great. the only concern I have is with how the heat of being enclosed in the hood will effect the LEDs.
I don't have any pics of the LEDs running on the tank at the moment but will take some and post them up when i have a bit more time.
I tried to explain and document the steps but I know i missed a few, if you have any questions about the build don't hesitate to ask
Good job, you could put 6 to 9 more in their and get rid of the PC's.
Sweet idea!!!!
Thanks, I thought about going all LED but had just bought 2 new sets of PC bulbs. Once I go through the new PC bulbs I will most likely go all LED. By then the price for LED will probably be a bit cheaper too.
That's a good idea, I'll see if I can get a few more pics for the DIY contest.
Thanks! I really like the shimmer added from the LEDs, with just the PC's going it looked a bit dull.