Help with setup decisions

2145 Views 17 Replies 6 Participants Last post by joebob296, Oct 30, 2016

joebob296

Discussion Starter · Sep 30, 2016 (Edited)

Hello Plantedtank, A little background about my dilemma. About 2 years ago I was given a 55 gallon fresh water tank that was planted with medium to low light plants. It had the following light setup from Rapid LED.

8 CREE XP-G2 Neutral White LED
8 Cree XP-G2 R5 Cool White LED
8 CREE XP-G2 Warm White LED
8 Cree XT-E Royal Blue LED
80 Degree CREE XP-E/XP-G Lens/Optics

The tank is long gone but I kept the lights. Now, I had more algae in my tank then the whole pacific ocean, it got to be such a pain that I just gave everything away. I was working on it more then I was looking at it. This was the first time I used something other then a pet store light kit. So I was in uncharted territory. I have done a plethora of reading recently and I'm pretty positive that the lights were 100% overkill but I dont/didnt have a PAR meter to verify.
Recently, my daughter has taken a huge interest in fish and I would like to get another fish tank. I could always just go to a pet store and purchase one of their premade kits, but I would prefer not to. The advice I'm seeking is what would be the ideal tank size to match with the LED's I was given? I went onto Rapid LED's website and looked at their kits. The 125G kit has 36 leds, while I only have 32. Does it reason that 100 or 125 would be a good tank size? Thoughts? Advice?

1 - 18 of 18 Posts

joebob296

Discussion Starter · #2 · Sep 30, 2016

I just found the lighting forum, Mods please move if it would be better suited overthere.

joebob296

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 1, 2016

No one has any advice?

waterbearr

· #4 · Oct 1, 2016

Hey @joebob296. I'm not sure if it's an option for you but have you considered raising the lights up some? That would be a real easy/cheap workaround them being too powerful.

Then again, any excuse to get a 100 gallon tank is cool with me. Just make sure the wife is ok with it first! :hihi:

MtAnimals

· #5 · Oct 1, 2016

I think if you could turn off the blue Led's it'd help with the algae problem.From what I understand,the blue spectrum is what algae uses,and it's commonly used by reefers to encourage marine algae.The other suggestion would to put the light on a timer,like 4 on,4 off and 3 or 4 on.

hope these ideas help.

Hoppy

· #6 · Oct 1, 2016

Your light is probably 48 inches long, so you would want a tank at least that long. A 55 gallon tank is very hard to make look "right" because it is only 12 inches from front to back, so you would want a tank that is at least 18 inches front to back. With 80 degree optics the cone of light will cause you to have a lot of spillover light if you raise it too high above the top of the tank. If the tank is 18 inches front to back you could raise it about 10 inches above the top of the tank without spillover. That suggests that you could probably make the light work well with a tank 18 inches front to back. But, a 48 inch long tank would then have a lot of spillover at the ends of the tank unless it is about 64 inches long, which suggests that the tank could be a 6 foot long tank. That would be a 125 gallon tank. That tank is about 24 inches high, so the light could be as far as 32 inches from the substrate, which would probably be enough to reduce the intensity well below high light.

Another way to approach this is: get a tank that the cone of light would hit the front and back glass about halfway down in the tank. A 90 gallon tank is 48 inches long, but 18 inches front to back and 24 inches high. With that tank, with the light sitting on top of the tank, there would be no spillover light, and the light would be about 4 inches farther from the substrate than with the 55 gallon tank. That might be enough to reduce the intensity enough, and you could raise it another 4 inches or so, and only get some spillover at the ends of the tank, but none at the front and back. I think that is the one I would get.

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joebob296

Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 2, 2016

Hoppy said:
Your light is probably 48 inches long, so you would want a tank at least that long. A 55 gallon tank is very hard to make look "right" because it is only 12 inches from front to back, so you would want a tank that is at least 18 inches front to back. With 80 degree optics the cone of light will cause you to have a lot of spillover light if you raise it too high above the top of the tank. If the tank is 18 inches front to back you could raise it about 10 inches above the top of the tank without spillover. That suggests that you could probably make the light work well with a tank 18 inches front to back. But, a 48 inch long tank would then have a lot of spillover at the ends of the tank unless it is about 64 inches long, which suggests that the tank could be a 6 foot long tank. That would be a 125 gallon tank. That tank is about 24 inches high, so the light could be as far as 32 inches from the substrate, which would probably be enough to reduce the intensity well below high light.

Another way to approach this is: get a tank that the cone of light would hit the front and back glass about halfway down in the tank. A 90 gallon tank is 48 inches long, but 18 inches front to back and 24 inches high. With that tank, with the light sitting on top of the tank, there would be no spillover light, and the light would be about 4 inches farther from the substrate than with the 55 gallon tank. That might be enough to reduce the intensity enough, and you could raise it another 4 inches or so, and only get some spillover at the ends of the tank, but none at the front and back. I think that is the one I would get.

Thank you for all the input. I have 2 heatsinks that are 20 inches long each with 16 leds per heatsink. Last night I found a used tank craigslist and the dimensions that were posted were 58x 27.5x27.5 which puts it at 190 gallons(I don't know how accurate they measured). I haven't seen a tank of those dimensions and the side to front is curved which leads me to believe that its acrylic. However, the price for tank and stand are only $225. I'm going to try to look at that soon. That is MUCH larger then what I was looking at, Go big or go home right. My lights also have dimmers so instead of raising the lights I could just dim them to an appropriate level. Although, at 27" inches deep I might need to get different optics and a few more leds, which wouldn't be a problem. I could just add them to my existing lights. Either way I will update soon.

Bump:

MtAnimals said:
I think if you could turn off the blue Led's it'd help with the algae problem.From what I understand,the blue spectrum is what algae uses,and it's commonly used by reefers to encourage marine algae.The other suggestion would to put the light on a timer,like 4 on,4 off and 3 or 4 on.

hope these ideas help.

I will keep that in mind, I can turn off the individual colors. I want to avoid the algae plague at all costs.

Bump:

waterbearr said:
Hey @joebob296. I'm not sure if it's an option for you but have you considered raising the lights up some? That would be a real easy/cheap workaround them being too powerful.

Then again, any excuse to get a 100 gallon tank is cool with me. Just make sure the wife is ok with it first! :hihi:

Better to ask for forgiveness then permission...lol

Save

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jeffkrol

· #8 · Oct 2, 2016

I don't see any mention of any kind of dimmer. Your LED's are fine for a lot of different tanks if controllable..

joebob296

Discussion Starter · #9 · Oct 2, 2016

jeffkrol said:
I don't see any mention of any kind of dimmer. Your LED's are fine for a lot of different tanks if controllable..

Yes, they are all dimmable. I think my main problem last time was that I had way to much power. This is the exact kit i was given execpt 8 more leds were added.

Freshwater 90g Tank Dimmable Kit - Rapid LED

Followed by this controller

Coralux Storm X LED Controller - Rapid LED

jeffkrol

· #10 · Oct 2, 2016

So you have the one w/ the LDD drivers. And you can run at least as low as 10% on max output.. so you can go from very low light to full..
Diode efficiency is roughly and on average 130L/W
At 1000mA the diodes are 3w..
96W total output at 130L/W
12,480 lumens..
So roughly you can run from 1248 to 12480 lumens..

Unless the tank is over 24" deep the optics are a bit unnecessary..
Cree "native" is about 120 degrees (slightly less really)

for med light on the 55 running max output at say 50% would have been recommended ....
Of course that has a lot of "dependencies.. i.e ferts, CO2, plants ect.

you will have less problems w/ those larger tanks.. @190gal. you may have some issues of depth or spread f/b..

Point is, and in general, you can run the array to match a tank easier than worrying about matching the tank to the lights..

A single strip of those diodes @80 degrees spreads 10 inches at 6" off the water line..Lenses removed it is 21" at 6" off the water line..
The lenses will match the spread of the non-optic diodes at 12" off the water line btw..
These heights are good for 18" wide tanks (plus or minus an inch or so)..

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joebob296

Discussion Starter · #11 · Oct 2, 2016

Well, I was searching craigslist this morning and found this 100 gallon tank, stand, cascade 1500, lights, 2 bubblers with air stones, and a heater all for $50. The best part is everything works. The stand needs a little TLC and the tank needs to be cleaned, but what a steal!

@jeffkrol Thank you for the numbers on the lights. It make much more sense to run the lights to the tank not the tank to the lights. The dimensions of the tank I just picked up are 60Lx21Hx18D. This time I'm not in a rush to throw everything together so I'll do a mock setup in my garage to determine the optimum light distance while accounting for overspill. Ideally I want this to be a low tech planted tank. Start out with the easiest to grow and move on from there. Ill be browsing the light section and trying to find some concrete numbers for the plants and size of my tank. I'm not sure if I want to hang the lights or build a canopy on top. Either way, a new project has begun.

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jeffkrol

· #12 · Oct 2, 2016

joebob296 said:
Well, I was searching craigslist this morning and found this 100 gallon tank, stand, cascade 1500, lights, 2 bubblers with air stones, and a heater all for $50. The best part is everything works. The stand needs a little TLC and the tank needs to be cleaned, but what a steal!

@jeffkrol Thank you for the numbers on the lights. It make much more sense to run the lights to the tank not the tank to the lights. The dimensions of the tank I just picked up are 60Lx21Hx18D. This time I'm not in a rush to throw everything together so I'll do a mock setup in my garage to determine the optimum light distance while accounting for overspill. Ideally I want this to be a low tech planted tank. Start out with the easiest to grow and move on from there. Ill be browsing the light section and trying to find some concrete numbers for the plants and size of my tank. I'm not sure if I want to hang the lights or build a canopy on top. Either way, a new project has begun.

Just make single rows w/ 2 sets. Using the optic of course..
10" off the water line add the 2 bars about 3" apart on center..A start..
Mix really isn't critical but grouping warm/neutral and cool/blue together alt. seems just err 'correct'..

8 CREE XP-G2 Warm White LED
8 CREE XP-G2 Neutral White LED

8 Cree XP-G2 R5 Cool White LED
8 Cree XT-E Royal Blue LED

nice find btw..

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Olskule

· #13 · Oct 3, 2016

joebob296 said:
Well, I was searching craigslist this morning and found this 100 gallon tank, stand, cascade 1500, lights, 2 bubblers with air stones, and a heater all for $50. The best part is everything works. The stand needs a little TLC and the tank needs to be cleaned, but what a steal!

That is a steal! You'd better jump on it, and quick, before someone else does! Wish I could find deals like that around here, but large aquariums are not that common locally, and Craig's list isn't that popular here, so there's not a whole lot on it. Every now and then there will be something good, but not often it seems (unless you're looking to "hook up" with strangers for a one night stand--which I'm not).

Olskule

joebob296

Discussion Starter · #14 · Oct 3, 2016

Olskule said:
That is a steal! You'd better jump on it, and quick, before someone else does! Wish I could find deals like that around here, but large aquariums are not that common locally, and Craig's list isn't that popular here, so there's not a whole lot on it. Every now and then there will be something good, but not often it seems (unless you're looking to "hook up" with strangers for a one night stand--which I'm not).

Olskule

The planets aligned or some cosmic event favored me. It was literally first post I saw and within 4 hours of it being posted it was mine. Honestly, this was the first time I ever bought anything on Craigslist. I almost didn't get it because I wasn't able to fill it with water. But for $50 I figured why not.

joebob296

Discussion Starter · #15 · Oct 3, 2016

jeffkrol said:
Just make single rows w/ 2 sets. Using the optic of course..
10" off the water line add the 2 bars about 3" apart on center..A start..

Any ideas on where to get heat sinks at? I was thinking 1/4" think aluminum bar 5' long. Although, from heatsinkusa a 2" wide 50" long heat sink is only $16. And the 1" 50" long is only $8. I need to figure out how much heat aluminum can dissipate. Ironically, the 1.8" is more expensive so that is out of the question.

Save

jeffkrol

· #16 · Oct 3, 2016

joebob296 said:
The planets aligned or some cosmic event favored me. It was literally first post I saw and within 4 hours of it being posted it was mine. Honestly, this was the first time I ever bought anything on Craigslist. I almost didn't get it because I wasn't able to fill it with water. But for $50 I figured why not.

That's kind of funny.. Last Craigslist purchase I made I had to drain the tank, bag fish.. disassemble a stand ect. ect..
Boxes of parts, Marineland canister filter , hood, dosers, feeders, decor, tubing spare parts, ug filter.. ect.. Only a 55 but was cheap..
When I called, and considering the price thought for sure it would be .. GONE.. They only had one more inquiry and the guy was trying to squeeze it dry.. "at that price I'd have to.. ect".
bought it for full price ($50.. ).
BEST part is there were 2 heaters that were on a recall list.. Sent them to the manuf (their dime) for a cash refund.. Paid for over 1/2 the tank..

joebob296 said:
Any ideas on where to get heat sinks at? I was thinking 1/4" think aluminum bar 5' long. Although, from heatsinkusa a 2" wide 50" long heat sink is only $16. And the 1" 50" long is only $8. I need to figure out how much heat aluminum can dissipate. Ironically, the 1.8" is more expensive so that is out of the question.

Save

you'll drive yourself crazy trying to calc. the heatsink..
money is no object.. Makers heatsinks..
Mills: All-too-familiar scene at debate

There is a Chinese knockoff but only slightly cheaper..
After you price those the 1.8" is downright a steal..

HSUSA is good enough..

going outside the box.. :
$33/ 50ft..
Boltless Framing System - Aluminum Tubing, Extruded, Painted, Square
$30 8ft black anodized (best for passive cooling)
Problem is most is priced more by weight (so more "mass" more cost, but also more heat removal)

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joebob296

Discussion Starter · #17 · Oct 3, 2016

Thanks for the links. If I need to I will go get different heatsinks. But before I do, I would like to try to use what I already have. Which is 2 heatsinks 6 inches wide, 20 inches long. The tank is 60 inches long, so that leaves me with 20 inches of tank length with no lights directly above. However, if I evenly space them apart that only leaves 6.6 inches per gap between lights. If my lights are 10" above the water and the light spread is 10" then that should be enough to cover the 6.5" gaps on each sides and middle. Thoughts? I would rather do I right the first time.

joebob296

Discussion Starter · #18 · Oct 30, 2016

Small update. I'm waiting on my heatsink to come in from HeatSinkUSA, should be here this week. Got the tank cleaned and painted the back of it black. I'm researching on what filter I should get, leaning towards the Eheim classic series. Picked up MGOPM and black diamond for the substrate.

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