# Mini-L and DIY LED light



## clone (18 Aug 2013)

Hi, guys It is been a while fighthing with the cyano so there u go RESKAPE. My plan is to keep the aquasoil untached and just replace the hardskape and plants. I will go for mostly grass and mosses skape will try to create a natural environment for the CBS I have got. Here is the old and the new skape. 



the old with nasty cyano all over 




Teaser shot  hopefully no cyano this time but mosses all over Java, Fissidens, Spiky some Crypts and hydro as well carpet of HG mini and normal.










Thanks for watching!


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## Ady34 (19 Aug 2013)

Looks very promising Nikolas.
You have a great skill of creating very natural looking aquascapes.
Hopefully the algae won't reappear 
Cheerio,
Ady


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## Martin in Holland (19 Aug 2013)

Looks really good already, everything seems to be growing well, can't wait to see how it will look with water


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## aliclarke86 (19 Aug 2013)

Awesome mate really nice wood work there!

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## Deano3 (19 Aug 2013)

great scape like ady says looks very natural and great woodwork
algae   hate it lol best of luck and keep updates coming
Dean


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## Tim Harrison (19 Aug 2013)

Liking it lots...


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## clone (19 Aug 2013)

Thanks a lot for the comments and compliments. The tank is still on DS kind of happy cause I saw green new leaves on fissidens it took almost a week since "planted". It is mostly aquatic moss I suggest ,so will boost when the tank is filled. I add some new crypts and grasses. End of this week will flood the tank, so fingers crossed........no nasty cyano again. I never tryed antibiotics but this is my final stand so the cyano`s. LOL Pics coming on the flood.


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## clone (20 Aug 2013)

hi here is a crappy phone pic of tank progress more to come later  I am kind of scared to flood it , algae it will ruin everything 




And the Fissidens growing slowly ..........emmersed


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## Tim Harrison (20 Aug 2013)

It'll be fine...


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## Andy Thurston (20 Aug 2013)

Give it as much co2 as you can when you flood it and itll be fine


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## flygja (21 Aug 2013)

I'd be tempted to throw a couple of frogs in there and say done!


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## aliclarke86 (22 Aug 2013)

That looks awesome man propper nice 

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## clone (22 Aug 2013)

Hi,
I flood the tank today and hopefully everything will be ok. I saw tiny cyano spot just before to fill the tank will treat with Easycarbo.




I use RO water straight from the unit. pH 6-6.4 and add RO water conditioner to bring the elictrolites back to balance.




Filled in and CO2 blasted at least for today. I mesured the Amonia and was 0  Probably because the old aquasoil and the already matured filter. Stocking tomorrow



 Crappy phone picture In Situ 

 Thanks for watching. I plan to do 20-30% WC for a week and than every other day. Will fertilise just with micros and esycarbo for the first week. And then PPS-Pro according this:


_Macro Solution_
_In 1 liter bottle:_
_59 grams K2SO4 (Potassium Sulfate)_
_65 grams KNO3 (Potassium Nitrate)_
_6 grams KH2PO4 (Mono Potassium Phosphate)_
_41 grams MgSO4 (Magnesium Sulfate)_
_Fill with distilled water and shake well. Let sit overnight._
_Micro Solution_
_In 1 liter bottle:_
_80 grams of CSM+B or equivalent trace element mix_
_Fill with distilled water and shake well. Let sit overnight._

_How do I dose PPS-Pro solutions?_
_Dose 1 ml of each solution per ten gallons of tank size. Dose prior to lights turning on._

_PPS-Pro system is very easy to use and is the least expensive system in comparison to any other fertilizer. It is designed especially for aquascapers who want a system that is performing well, doesn’t need testing and tweaking and also works with all lights and substrates, no water changes and large water changes. Entirely 100% planted aquariums with reasonable fish load._
_Chemicals: Can be ordered from any supplier of choice._
_Digital scale: Can be ordered from eBay, Office Depot, Staples, etc. very inexpensive, just a basic one in grams._
_Bottles: Find some used two same size bottles, plastic or glass. Soft drink, Coke, shampoo etc. _
_Formula: We use PPS-Pro Solutions Recipe Calculator to find chemicals going into each bottle. Download here._
_Example of 1 litre bottles._
_Pour into bottle #1, 59 grams of K2SO4, 65 grams of KNO3, 6 grams of KH2PO4 and 41 grams of MgSO4. _
_Pour into bottle #2, 80 grams of dry Trace Element mix. _
_Fill up both bottles with soft water to the 1 litre size and shake. Wait over night until dissolved._
_Testing: We do not test for water parameters on settled aquariums. There is no need when levels become consistent. _
_Dosing: The proper dosing quantity is 1 ml of each solution per 10 gallon or 40 litre of aquarium size. Dose prior to lights turning on._
_Examples:_
_ 5 gallon or 20 litre dose 10 drops_
_ 10 gallon or 40 litre dose 1 ml_
_ 50 gallon or 200 litre dose 5 ml_
_100 gallon or 400 litre dose 10 ml_


Anyone else using this recipy for PPS comment please!!! I experienced cyano before with this mixture* I did not put MgSO4 in the mix* what was wrong is it cause the sulphate? Low NO3 ? Test kits can not mesure NO3 cause the other ions in the watercolum so are not accurate. I was dosing 1ml daily Micro and Macro and weekly WC. Plants was growing well....so the CYANO.  Thanks.


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## Andy Thurston (22 Aug 2013)

MgSO4 is for a magnesium source and raises hardness. It is probably included in your ro water conditioner


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## clone (22 Aug 2013)

Hi i think I am getting paranoid but spotted some cyano already hopefully will not kill the moss. The cyano is in there all the time I know but how to stop it to spread?


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## tim (22 Aug 2013)

I have read dosing dry nitrate onto cyano can kill it off, i have it quite badly along the front of a few of my setups every summer, try the nitrate make sure co2 is optimum, maybe hold off adding livestock until you get rid of the cyano.


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## clone (23 Aug 2013)

Hi , that is the tank mafter 1 day flooded. Looks a bit pale... I am dosing just micros and RO conditioner after WC 20%....any suggestions? I think BGA will come back


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## clone (5 Nov 2013)

Hi, it is been a while since I update last, but meanwhile was atime of frustration and learning at the same time. The tank was badly infected with Cyano which did not want to go no matter of waterchanges and fert dosing, I even bought a new pack of filters for my RO unit thinking that cyano might live in the RO canisters, and yes I found some slimy stuff in the sediment filter which looks like some bacteria colony. Instead of reskaping the tank I decide to experiment. I took all fauna out, in other tank including the filter, and nuke the infected tank with some antibiotic, peroxide and blackout at the same time, for 3 days. The results after everyday waterchanges .....no cyano and other algae at all. Clear plants without BGA coating pearling like crazy I lost some plant leaves and moss Like fissidens, which turn transperent an has been sucked out during the WC. The tank is still clearing some plant leaves dying but I can see new ones coming out. Can amyone explain the reason of cyano and why is so tough even if the conditions are good? I think I beat the algae but will see within weeks. All fishes seem happy .....I lost all of my CBS ........but yes it was a WAR with the nasty Cyano. Here are some pics the tank is still clearing from dying stuf so.....












 Decide to go for simplistic look of the manzi wood and move tha tank to a darker location in the house thinking that daylight can promote algae.Sorry for the phone pics


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## clone (5 Nov 2013)

Some of my powersand come out which is very frustrating any nideas what to do???? Cover with some new AS? Thanks!


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## clone (11 Nov 2013)

Things are going really well lately. Some small spots of algae are still visible but I treat them with easycarbo and in one day it turn transperent Any suggestions why the red plants are not red no matter I blast the light and up the phosphates as well. Here are couple of shots with the new google Nexus 5


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## clone (14 Nov 2013)

Hi, here is a small vid which I made for my 3 and half months since set up tank. probably not the best video.....


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## darren636 (14 Nov 2013)

this scape is very easy on the eye, well done sir!


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## Otto72 (15 Nov 2013)

Looking really nice now


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## Deano3 (15 Nov 2013)

looking good nikolas lovely colours and like others have said easy on the eyes and love the mixture of reds and greens   well done

Dean


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## clone (15 Nov 2013)

Thanks for the comments. The plants are growing so fast so I think I have to break down the skape in couple of months. Now I found out, that fast growing plants can resolve ferts and algae problems. Also the reason for the Cyano is still mistery for me. I dose higher P now for the red plants, and no cyano for now In the forums people saying that cyano appears from high Phosphates or disbalance N/P. I know one thing that antibiotics are a bit extreme, but works against Cyano. I still dont know if they accumulate in the substrate, but my fishes looks ok.


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## clone (5 Dec 2013)

Hi here some progress on my tank. After masive trimm on the stems and new light.










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## clone (21 Jan 2014)

Hi ,the things has chaneged as the tank matures. I also get a better camera for X-Mas  so hopefully better photos from now on. I currently upgraded my DIY light to a colour led light. I added 4x Royal blue and 4x Red  Osram oslons. And I can say it is an obvious difference in to CRI in general. I decide to run them on lower voltage so no heat biuld up. The light bars are absolutely cold even afetr hours work. I saw somewhere in the network new TMC light bars using the same fixtures as mine.....LOL



FTS with my new cube ADA 30-C






Black Otto very hardworking fish







 I am still not very good with the cam.....  Thanks for watching.


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## Deano3 (21 Jan 2014)

Great pics mate don't put ur self down lol better than I could do 


Thanks Dean


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## clone (21 Jan 2014)

Thanks mate. Hows your tank going? Are you buying bigger than the 60-F? The bigger tank will be easier to be stable, but also more spend on it.


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## Deano3 (21 Jan 2014)

clone said:


> Thanks mate. Hows your tank going? Are you buying bigger than the 60-F? The bigger tank will be easier to be stable, but also more spend on it.



Well lol I am going for a 60 p as I already have all equipment etc want a 90cm eventually but that will be a massive layout of cash so getting a deeper 60 I think, how u supplying co2 to this tank mate ?


Thanks Dean


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## clone (21 Jan 2014)

Deano3 said:


> Well lol I am going for a 60 p as I already have all equipment etc want a 90cm eventually but that will be a massive layout of cash so getting a deeper 60 I think, how u supplying co2 to this tank mate ?
> 
> 
> Thanks Dean


 
Good choice on 60-P dude, the best tank/price from the Green Machine. 
Well at the very beggining I had UP CO2 atomiser which works really well, but it pain in the .....to clean it when stop to produce fine bubbles. That is why bought cheepish internal diffusers for both tanks they are esy to clean in bleach , or just rise it above the water on the waterchange and fill the cup of the diffuse with easycarbo or H2O2 leave for couple of minutes to work. always put the diffuser opposite of you lilly pipe (, if internal) the current of water will spraed the bubbles over the entire tank. If you have dead spot put second diffuser or stem plants.
Hope that will help!


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## Deano3 (21 Jan 2014)

clone said:


> Good choice on 60-P dude, the best tank/price from the Green Machine.
> Well at the very beggining I had UP CO2 atomiser which works really well, but it pain in the .....to clean it when stop to produce fine bubbles. That is why bought cheepish internal diffusers for both tanks they are esy to clean in bleach , or just rise it above the water on the waterchange and fill the cup of the diffuse with easycarbo or H2O2 leave for couple of minutes to work. always put the diffuser opposite of you lilly pipe (, if internal) the current of water will spraed the bubbles over the entire tank. If you have dead spot put second diffuser or stem plants.
> Hope that will help!



Cheers mate just the deeper tank gives so much more possibilitys and obviously more fishes or any fishes saying that lol, not sure weather to start with I tank diffuser or inline to be honest , how often you meant to clean the inline atomiser (external) out of curiosity ?

Also urs is a 60p isn't it without looking to beginning lol am what you think of the do!aqua same specs tank




Thanks Dean


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## clone (21 Jan 2014)

I remember you had problems with your CO2 supply? The fluctuations of CO2 can be result of lower buffer capacity...add some baking soda or RO conditioner. Also some of the rocks has ability to buffer your tank water and make it harder, Hi GH/KH. It may be a problem with the CO2 regulator....Some needle valves need gas pressure build-up to release the pressure........that is how I have killed my entire fauna in the tank once......when I adjust the bubble rate seemed to me fine...and in couple of hours later my wife call me at work that my fish/shrimp/snail are above the waterline....DIEing. When invest in CO2 dont save money.......or will end up like me


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## clone (21 Jan 2014)

Deano3 said:


> Cheers mate just the deeper tank gives so much more possibilitys and obviously more fishes or any fishes saying that lol, not sure weather to start with I tank diffuser or inline to be honest , how often you meant to clean the inline atomiser (external) out of curiosity ?
> 
> Also urs is a 60p isn't it without looking to beginning lol am what you think of the do!aqua same specs tank
> 
> ...


 
I have cleaned the Atomiser when cleaned the filter and the piping ...once a month....but I have pleached it once just to see if the plastic will resist the oxidation of the clore( bleech) I never put it back thinking that will blow up one day The atomiser reqire higher pressure than diffusers...once it blow you can loose the whole CO2 from the bottle...and make your house/flat wet.
Mine tank is Mini-L but 60-P has perfect dimentions very close to the golden ratio. I will get those when move to bigger house. Do aquas are lower class tanks made of float glass not optiwhite.....the same perfect silicone work though.


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## clone (26 Jan 2014)

Hi, i was practicing with the came and here some photos Not so good though.























































thanks for watching. hope you enjoyed it. Still need to learn about the camera and have no tripod yet and flashlights......


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## clone (13 Feb 2014)

Hi, the tank after 3 days blackout period. And some new gear...nano dropcheck Call Aqua


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## flygja (14 Feb 2014)

Hello clone, I'm loving the colours in your tank. It needs another massive trim though  Can you tell me what lights were you using previously and what you are using now? Looks like they are both LEDs. Thanks.


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## clone (14 Feb 2014)

Hi, Flygja
The light is the same but upgraded with deep red and royal blue led chips. Thats why the colours are more vivid and the red plants grow like crazy. The light is DIY led bars powered from Cree XB-D white X16 and Osram Oslon Red and Blue x4 each. My plan is to upgrade to true violet and green chips. That will cover the photosynthesis gap 400nm-450nm   Hope that helps. Btw the light runs on 50 % of its abilities and the bars are stone cold even after 8hours run.


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## Piotr Kaleta (14 Feb 2014)

Hi Clone Is there any chance for DIY guide with pictures to build your led light unit for 60-P. I'm fancy similar unit but I don't know where to start. Thanks


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## clone (14 Feb 2014)

Hi, Piotr I have never done a guide , but I can try to do that. I might even put it here as a part of my journal , insted to create a tread under DIY section.


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## clone (14 Feb 2014)

*DIY LED Light for Planted Tank*

1/ Planning yor project and doing research is essential and can make your life esier later on. Take all masurment necessary and think what will grow under those light, cost of the whole project and there is always a risk to spend some extra money on it without planning. The light what I have built cost around £100-£130 almost as TMC light bars, but it is what I have wanted and I am pretty happy with it. I  bought all my stuff from LED-Shop  by LED-TECH.de


2/ Planning and buying all matherials and equipment what you will need.
THE LIST for the light itself:
- Bars or heatsink for the leds to stick on. They come a 1metr long including the cover plastic. You have to cut them couse that company can not cut it for you. You need a clear precise cut, so go to people cutting with laser or windows and doubleglazing.......for me personally was a big trouble to cut the bar, finaly I foung a guy to cut it with his rusty vice and old school mechanical saw......, the cut was clean but he scratched my shiny silky anodized aluminium bar.......but I have got my light
*




*


 In the website is called aluminium profiles and make sure you buy clear plastic cover not opal white one.
CoverLine Aluminium LED Profile V2 by LED-TECH.de

- The LEDs are personal choice really. I bought Cree XB-D 6500K on mini star, but I was not very happy of the colour rendering and decide to go for extra colour LEDs, Osram Oslon deep red and royal blue leds. You can go just for Cree setup, or just Osram. If I did not bought Crees I will go for Osrams only. I will mix colour temperatures as follow: 8x Day light white, 8x warm white, 4x deep red, 4x royal blue and may be violet and green if you want to spend extra money. On my pictures the Cube tank has 8x Osram Oslon neutral white 4000K and look yellowish than the Crees. 
 Anyway on my ADA Mini-L setup are:
16x Cree XB-D on mini star
4x Osram Oslon Deep Red
4x Osram Oslon Royal Blue
Cree has bigger choice of colours but are more pricey than the osrams. Bare in mind that Crees has wider light spred angle120 degrees so can be mounted close to the water surface. Osrams has angle of 80 so can be mounted higher above the water. If you mount 120 higher above the water you will waste a lot of light on the walls around your fishtank...something TMC have to think about when design their lights.
CREE XB-D R4 Emitter on Mini-Star PCB by LED-TECH.de
OSRAM Oslon SSL 80 royal-blue on Star by LED-TECH.de
OSRAM Oslon SSL 80 red on Star by LED-TECH.de
 - Thermal conductor between the heatsink and the chip: I used hexagon silicone stickers which cut to size of the small star PCB. 




 Take the sticker off the holding sheet of paper, stick the star to it, cut the excess of sticker around the edges of the star, then take the cover of the other side of the sticker and stick the star on the heatsink( aluminium bar) Some common sence always helps you will find out what will work for you. This is a precise job so take your time and be patient. Yor hands has to be clean and the stars has to be clean so the aluminium light bar. I used heatsink special cleaner wich I assume consists alcohol. Use clear spirit or Vodka instead...just joke
I wear also latex gloves just to make sure ther will no grease on the contact surfaces. Any greace can make the LED overheat and fail. The same methodology as when you change the thermal paste on your Processor or GPU The idea of heatconductive pads is that they are perfectly flat and han hold big pressure both push and pull, no drilling and gluing no mess. Once you stick your star to the heatsink pres it firmly and hold up for 30-60 seconds. Avoid touching the led chip and the lens they are very fragile and cannot hold the pressure of your fingers!!!! On that aluminium bar is a center line so aligning your stars will be easier. Depending of how many stars( Leds will use) calculate the distances between your leds and mark with permanent marker or pencil using a plastic ruler....like our Grandpas did.  

To come up next Wireing and test, Attaching to the actual Planted Tank which was built for........Start doing you homework and decide of what you exactly want......in therms of how much can spend for the light, what will grow, what colours will need LEDs and how many once you got that will decide what power supply and how to wire the LEDs.....and if to control them as different channels or as a whole light...dimmers and controllers....etc.


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## Piotr Kaleta (14 Feb 2014)

That will be great Clone. Looking forward to see it and start my own project


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## NexusIcon (14 Feb 2014)

Stunning tanks! And great guide as well look forward to the rest


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## flygja (14 Feb 2014)

That's a superb writeup! I've actually switched back to PLL and T5 tubes because my red plants just don't grow red. I've been reading a lot about warm whites and reds with royal blue balancing them out. So I'm gonna try it when I order more LEDs!


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## clone (14 Feb 2014)

Piotr Kaleta said:


> That will be great Clone. Looking forward to see it and start my own project


Me too man I will be happy to help someone build similar light wich even might be better than my build



NexusIcon said:


> Stunning tanks! And great guide as well look forward to the rest


Thanks mate....will come the rest no worries



flygja said:


> That's a superb writeup! I've actually switched back to PLL and T5 tubes because my red plants just don't grow red. I've been reading a lot about warm whites and reds with royal blue balancing them out. So I'm gonna try it when I order more LEDs!


I had T5 in the past their problem is lifespan and lightspread you need a good reflectors to cover the light loss of the tube. The new silicone carbide technology leds has lifespan ar 50000h to unlimited lifespan if they are cooled correctly. Minimal colour temperature changes with the V/Amp changes and also run cooler than anything else The price is the only thing ....but investing in light that grow almost anything in your fishtank for unlimited lifespan ...hey that worth the spend on it. The only problem is that the whole LED technology is in massive evolution at the moment and in many cases overpriced by the companies producer and developers. So gething the rigt light for me means to build it myself at the moment. I have seen TMC and Gieseman performance and wasn impressed...I even dont want to talk about the prices of that lights!!!!!


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## Goldigger (21 Nov 2015)

Nice DIY led lights.
I came across your thread after googling the led profiles you used.
I make my own LED bike lights using mainly cree LEDs and small drivers with a host of features, different power levels, thermal cutoff etc.

Did you seal the units to keep out any water? Which driver/power supply did you use?

Which colour LED's do we need to use to aid in plant growth?

Id like to be able to have normal day light then be able to switch to just blues for the evening when lights normally switch off.


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