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Broodstock LED lighting Build
Tuesday, December 31, 2013 7:09 PM
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I saw a thread on here asking about what lights people use on their Broodstock tanks. We built this Cree XM-L LED lighting system for our Broodstock rack last August, and had been meaning to share it. We had one of those 16' flexible waterproof LED strips light one of our racks on fire, so we decided to stop using them. They said they were waterproof, but the salt creep got in and shorted it out. So we designed and built these lights which should actually be waterproof, and save a lot of electricity. For the heat sink we purchased a bar of aluminum from the metal supermarket, and cut it into squares. We went with 6061 as it is supposed to be pretty corrosion resistant. We ground the edges down Then Milled a pocket for the LED to sit in, as well as channels for the wires, and zip-ties. Next we got all the supplies ready. We purchased most of it from RapidLED.com We soldered the wires onto the LED's, then stuck the LED star to the heatsink with thermal epoxy. Then Zip-tied it down for good measure: Then we filled in everything with clear GE1 silicone. We let them dry for a day or so, and then put them up. It's been 4 or 5 months, and we absolutely love these. Other than being safer, they use a lot less electricity than the lights I had on the broodstock rack before. I used to use those double bright 5050 strips on the rack, which use ~75 watts for 16' (we have 3 rows about 30' long, so it used close to 500watts). We checked the new XM-L lighting system with our kill-a-watt meter, and it uses a whopping 45 watts for all 90 feet. It's actually brighter than the 5050strips, and grows a little algae, but not enough to bother anything.
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Tuesday, December 31, 2013 7:27 PM
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Tuesday, December 31, 2013 8:39 PM
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Wait, the old strips SET YOUR RACK ON FIRE? OMG!!!! I'm going to have to rethink this... :-(
check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website: http://kathysclowns.com Captive bred clownfish and more (Wholesale to the trade.)
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Tuesday, January 7, 2014 7:45 AM
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Looks good! One above each 10 gallon tank?
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Wednesday, January 8, 2014 11:29 AM
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Thanks :-). Yes, we put one above each 10gallon tank. I thought we were going to have to run the LED's at 3watts ea to get brightness similar to what we had. I'm happy we got dimmable drivers as at 1watt each, they are brighter than the strip-LED's we had previously. I have to apologize for recommending the 16' flexible LED strips. They worked well for a while, but the salt ended up cording the power wires on the back. Once they get thin enough, it gets hot and either burns out, or burns something up. I thought because they were rated as being waterproof they wouldn't have the bare copper power wires exposed to the air...
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Wednesday, January 8, 2014 12:23 PM
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I haven't cared for the brightness of mine from the start, I don't get any creep on mine where I have them, and I have the sticky backing stuck to plastic tubes.
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Wednesday, January 8, 2014 12:25 PM
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What spectrum led did you go with?
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Wednesday, January 8, 2014 1:18 PM
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Wednesday, January 8, 2014 5:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Midnight Mariculture
How much for the holders? I'd need 10-20.
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Wednesday, January 8, 2014 6:09 PM
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count me in, 18 holders, please.
check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website: http://kathysclowns.com Captive bred clownfish and more (Wholesale to the trade.)
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Wednesday, January 8, 2014 8:19 PM
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tal- if your getting some shipped I would be interested as well!
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Thursday, January 9, 2014 2:30 PM
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Neat that other people want to try them :-). I think I can ship them for between $3 and $6 depending on how many one wants. It takes a bit of time to make them, so I was thinking $5/ea for the heatsinks. In case someone wanted to run the LED's at more than 1 watt, I tested my broodstock LED's at 1,2 & 3watts. They run: 1watt - 95F (what I use for a 10g) 2watts - 108F 3watts - 120F Those are all fine temperatures for a light. But if you wanted to use it at more than 3watts, I'd make the heatsink a little bigger.
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Thursday, January 9, 2014 4:52 PM
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Excellent! I'll be getting some when I get back from my trip.
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Thursday, January 9, 2014 9:11 PM
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I'd take 10 of them as soon as you can make them. Thanks Justin
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Friday, January 10, 2014 10:32 PM
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I've sent reply PM's to everyone who posted.
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Tuesday, February 25, 2014 3:19 AM
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are you still shipping these out if so i would to get some as well i would like 8 thanks
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Tuesday, February 25, 2014 4:54 PM
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Hey this looks great! Now you're scaring the crap out of me because I have several of those 14,000K LED strips and mine are mounted on WOOD! Eek! I quite like them though. I'm hoping you may still be offering the heat sinks towards summer as I will be revamping my lighting at that time. Great idea!
Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Thursday, April 24, 2014 9:47 PM
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Got my holders today so I can start working on them next week.
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Re:Broodstock LED lighting Build
Thursday, May 8, 2014 12:17 AM
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OK, I have everything I need to put mine together. I won't bother posting pics in your thread since I'm doing pretty much the same thing. I will post pics and details on my own site though. Thanks for the help!
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