# DIY leds.



## oldbloke (27 Aug 2013)

I quite fancy a go at diy led lighting.
I came across this which is not so much diy but it may be ok?

 Saxby 13845 4 x 0.6Watt LED DIY Chop Strip Kitchen / Cabinet light Set White | eBay


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## oldbloke (27 Aug 2013)

A good youtube one here...


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## flygja (28 Aug 2013)

Hi,  the LEDs you're looking at only emit 2.5 lumens. That is very very low and I cannot recommend at all for a planted tank. For a fish-only tank it should be fine. As you can see from the youtube video you linked, each 5W LED he used produces 556-1952 lumens. He also mentiones that a 100W incandescent lightbulb produces 1160 lumens. You should be aiming for around 0.5W per litre for LEDs with dimmer control support.


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## oldbloke (28 Aug 2013)

flygja said:


> Hi, the LEDs you're looking at only emit 2.5 lumens. That is very very low and I cannot recommend at all for a planted tank. For a fish-only tank it should be fine. As you can see from the youtube video you linked, each 5W LED he used produces 556-1952 lumens. He also mentiones that a 100W incandescent lightbulb produces 1160 lumens. You should be aiming for around 0.5W per litre for LEDs with dimmer control support.


 
Great info, thanks for that.
Anything else much appreciated!


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## flygja (31 Aug 2013)

I'm glad to help. I run two tank with DIY LEDs right now so please feel free to ask away. Rule of thumb for LEDs, based on personal experience, is to ensure good coverage. Because LEDs produce collimated (highly directional) lighting, the beam is quite narrow. Think spotlight or flashlight vs fluorescent ceiling lighting. So when designing an LED fixture, more lower power LEDs are better than less higher power LEDs.

See here for my first foray into DIY LED lighting: My DIY LED retrofit | UK Aquatic Plant Society

This is the current iteration of unit on my 60cm 60L tank. 15x Cree XR-E 3W LEDs













And this is on my 120cm 300L tank. 10x Cree XM-L 10W LEDs. I'm planning to add another bar to this to increase coverage.


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## oldbloke (31 Aug 2013)

Great stuff......I'll try and get my head round it all!!!


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## Samjpikey (31 Aug 2013)

Decent Crees can be quite expensive , I use bridgelux and they seem fine . I know bridgelux run a fraction hotter but hey they are a fraction of the cost , also running at the same current there is not much different lumens per watt. 
Just something to think about  
Cheers


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## flygja (1 Sep 2013)

Samjpikey said:


> Decent Crees can be quite expensive , I use bridgelux and they seem fine . I know bridgelux run a fraction hotter but hey they are a fraction of the cost , also running at the same current there is not much different lumens per watt.
> Just something to think about
> Cheers


 

Thanks, I've had no experience with Bridgelux. Where I live, I have easier access to Cree and other china-made unbranded LEDs. I would like to try others one day.


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## Samjpikey (1 Sep 2013)

Cool , where I live I have no access to any LEDs  ...  .... 

I just got them from the net , 
Hope you enjoy the build 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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