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My DIY LED Build (1 Viewer)

what did you order and were there any price adjustments? like refund of shipping etc... if so there is a bug in their system and the order will fall off their to do list... in my case they refunded the shipping and the order status changed to shipped... two weeks later there was nothing..

I would email them, they're pretty good about responding.
 
Got all my leds on Friday. I only had enough time this weekend to cut the aluminum channel. I havent screwed them into place because I am not sure how far apart to space the LEDs.

What is recommended spacing? They will be about 11-12" above the water.
 
Pics of Aluminum framing/channel
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I got the blue/purple line all installed on the fixture. I tested the continuity between all the solder joints. Fixed the bad ones and also checked to make sure that none of the leds were grounded to the fixture.

I attached a 9V battery to the dimmer wires on the driver and wired everything else. I did not check the amperage output on the driver but I figure that with two lines and a max output of 1300mA I should be fine.

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Not sure how to take a pic on the phone that will turn out good but you get the idea.

I had time to check the current on each string.

String A: 601mA
String B: 628mA

I've read that anything within 50mA is ok as far a balancing the strings. I will probalby leave the light on to warm up and check it again.

Now, seeing as how I'm using a 9V battery for testing and going to use a RKL ALC on the tank (10V), I'm not sure what I should adjust the driver current to right now. If it even matters but I have heard of the ELN-60-48D going up to 1400mA. As long as the string doesn't go over 700mA (max for TV LEDs) I should be fine.

Let me know what you think so far.
 
I got the white strings wired up and checked for bad connections and made sure there weren't any grounded to the alum. channel. All are good now.

Didn't have time to test but plan on doing that tonight. Just got to finish my canopy (hopefully this weekend) and I will be able to see this thing on the tank.

I'm also wiring a manual override switch on the unit so that I can control it independently from the Reefkeeper. Just have to figure out how I want to mount the pots.
 
I got both the whites and blues hooked up and had time to adjust one of the meanwell drivers. I adjusted the white driver so that one string was 693mA and the other string is 672mA. I did not have time to adjust the blues.

I think when everything is all adjusted I will set the RKL-ALC to run the strings at 30% max. The ramping time will probably be 30-60 mins. Blues will come on first then whites.

Will take pictures when I have time.
 
Still haven't gotten pictures but so far I like the new lights. I will try to get some pics and maybe video of the lights in action. Right now, both are set to 30%.

How long should I wait before turning them up? I was thinking like 5% a week or two
 
I'd wait several weeks before starting to ramp up unless you start to see some obvious signs of being too low. Sometimes it takes a little bit until you start to see the negative effects of any massive change in spectrum. Things to look out for are getting pastel both acros and LPS and can take up to 6 months.

Since LEDs are way different than others you can't be too cautious.
 
Just to give you an idea of what LEDs can do - my tank is 24" tall, LEDs are about 8-9" above that. Two chalices on the sand bed are bleached with the LEDs running at 35-40% of peak configured power (most strings are at 700ma)

Ora chips acro which used to thrive under T5's in the top 14" of the tank does the same thing on the sand bed.

Summary - dont rush into increasing the intensity too soon. If you have to and its possible use the "cloud" mode so the intesity is not constant
 
I have the strings configured to max of 700mA even though the blues and whites can go higher the violet leds have a max of 700mA. It is set to 30% with 1hr ramp times starting at 2 pm and ending at 10 pm.

The leds are about 12" above the tank. In the tank, I have a zoa frag, a orange monti, frogspawn frag, a gsp frag and a pulsing xenia colony. Should I move what I can to the bottom of the tank?

Using the cloud mode is a good idea too.
 
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