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Spider72: That's very cool. The light looks fine to me. There's more definition with LEDs than with the original lamp. A word of advice. There is 240V going into that driver. It's just a few inches away from the water, and the luminaire is metal. You might want to fix the driver to the wall...

If you can afford it, I'd get one of these. It drives up to 9 x 1Watt LEDs, and you don't need to worry about the voltages or transformers or anything like that. It senses the number of LEDs you are driving. It might seem more expensive than those ebay drivers, but those also require a...

The hot-spots definitely look good. It's an effect only LEDs seem to be able to produce. I take it you are playing around with the lenses because you anticipate problems with the coverage? Nice tanks AC. I'm getting pretty close to settling on a PWM controller. Once I've got it working I'll...

It runs straight off the mains. It will be a shocking experience if it gets wet.

spider72: I bought some of those 1W Leds. Some of the lenses are scuffed (that's probably why they are so cheap). They don't seem to be damaged too much. They look like they've been lying around the floor or something. Just so you know, they aren't in perfect condition. For the heatsinks, you...

I managed to find somewhere that sells the 700mA version of the Recom RCD-24. It should be able to power about 6-7 x 3W LEDs from a 24V supply. At a push, it might power 9-10 x 3W LEDs. But that would require almost 36V, which is more than most affordable supplies can source, and is also...

Great work. You should go into manufacturing. I know what you mean about the lenses on the original tank. That's why I'm growing carpeting plants with my TMCs. I've got no other choice. 45° lenses might be better on a larger tank where the LEDs are spaced apart; or as you've done, just use...

I was thinking along similar lines. I was going to cut holes in plastic trunking, or something similar, and seal the lenses, so the lens holder becomes a column inside the trunking for the star to sit on. The trunking lid could then be closed on top, with cutouts made for the heatsinks. It'll...

Did you get them from Hong Kong? I've got some on the way, slightly held up by the Chinese New Year. I'm not keen on the optics I have at the moment. Too much light spills through the white plastic, and they don't stay in place all that well. I'm going to need an eye test soon, after staring...

That looks like Osram emitters. Without a spec sheet I can't say for sure. I'm a little confused about the voltage. 12V won't drive 15 x LEDs @ 750 mA in series, unless there is a boost converter or something built-in. If each group of three is wired in parallel, then 12 Volts would work, but...

Here's some photographs of the LEDs I've been playing with. These are two 1W Luxeons with Batwing lenses, using 25° optics. They are powered by a Recom RCD-24 (the black box on the right half of the breadboard). The datasheet for the RCD-24 shows similar ICs capable of driving 3W LEDs, but I...

That only works with Microsoft OSs. I'm using Linux. It has a different procedure for ➧ ➨ ➩ ➪ ➫ ➬ ➭ ➮ ➯ ° :)

The temperature of the heatsinks, and the ambient temperature inside the hood should give you a good indication whether they will last, or burn out. Are the heatsinks red-hot? You're looking for the actual LED junction to be around 60oC (too hot to touch for long, but not instant skin-graft...

SuperColey: What's was the total cost (excluding breakages etc.)? I've seen a lot more electronics coming out that is geared towards running these LEDs. Only a couple of months ago, when this thread started, I could only find a couple of things. Now Rapid have a whole lot of different...

The LEDs on the Easy Life Paradiso seem to be there for aesthetic purposes. If you look at the brochure, the LEDs produce some amazing, deep-water style effects. It looks impressive, but so is the cost. When you add the price of the controller and lamps, it comes in around £1000. As for...

I've grown similar plants under long photo-periods. Tomatoes are very similar to the plants mentioned earlier, and during the initial growth period, can be grown in a 24 hour photo-period. It's debatable whether they actually benefit from the additional hours of daylight, or whether it's just a...

I'm using Marine White. The others produce a striped appearance. If you use either 'natural daylight', or 'full spectrum', it might be an idea to alternate them, to produce a checkerboard appearance. Or just use Marine White. I meant to update this thread. I got another strip yesterday. While...

According to the manufacturers two units would give the same output as 2 x 24W T5s. The problem is the light distribution, especially at the water-surface. Close to the LEDs, the light-beams are narrow. If you want good coverage, from top to bottom, three units would probably do better. The...

It looks like you're connecting the negative supply rail to the control input. Wouldn't you be better off with something like this? It's more expensive than a separate driver and power supply for each bank of 4 x 3W. But it is combined, with less hassle, and designed to run either 9 x 1W LEDs...

White are probably easier to deploy, by the sound of things, more like traditional lights. I was just making the point that the spectrum matters more with narrow-band LEDs than with fluorescents. What components are you planning to drive your LEDs with? I was thinking about trying a L165 opamp...

Can you show me your references? Accessory pigment Xanthophyll 450-480nm (more or less blue). Beta-carotine around 200nm (basically ultraviolet). Chlorophyll a, peaks around 400 and 600 (blue and red). Chlorophyll b, peaks around 400 and 600 (blue and red). I think you're overstating the...

While that's true for fluorescents and other traditional lighting, LEDs are capable of producing light at very narrow frequency ranges. The difference between a normal fluorescent and a plant growth fluorescent is minimal, with certain bands emphasised. Look at the spectral characteristics for...

I'm using them to boost the weak performance of a 15W T8. The LED array is fitted to the flap of a Juwel Rekord 70. Close-up of optics and what looks like a current regulator, or something. Apart from a few resistors, there's little else in the way of components visible. Patchy light at...

It's still possible they are more efficient from a plant-growth perspective. You're talking about total light output vs current input. I'm talking about output at frequencies plants use most. The blue spike in the datasheet is pretty large for brilliant white, and comes at the expense of...

Ideally you want to efficiently use the power you're expending. A bulb with a preponderance of green, or other unusable parts of the spectrum, is wasting a lot of energy, from a plants' perspective. From what I gather, a preponderance of red with some blue is most efficient for plant growth...

You're right about the patchy surface light-spread with the TMCs. Although it looks really cool, it might play havoc with tall plants like Vallis nana.

I've got a TMC Aquaray, which has 5 x 3W (or thereabouts) high output leds. The LEDs dissipate 12 Watts. It's claimed the output is equivalent to a 24 Watt T5. It doesn't stop there, though. LEDs apparently have better depth penetration. TMC say at a depth of 50 cm their LEDs produce 33% more...

I didn't spot those before. That's cheating. There's nothing left to do. Although its closer to 3 Watts, in total, which is probably around 6 Watts equivalent, if they are driven properly. Those look promising from a power perspective. I suppose you could cut a hole in the tank hood, and have...

There are some interesting solid state light-strips here. A few are bordering upon the amount of light output that might be useful. This one even has a driver built-in. They aren't terrifically powerful, and I would like to see a datasheet for specs on thermal characteristics, typical dc...

It looks expensive. Ask maplin for a link to the datasheet for the strip, and post it here. If they don't provide a datasheet, look for an array that comes with one. Any electronics supplier worth their salt should provide one.

I would use blue LEDs, if I wanted a Moonlight effect. I played around with some a few months ago. It didn't take all that many LEDs to achieve a good effect. You can find a LED array calculator here. Alternatively, you can buy some already waterproofed, like this one. LEDs give a nice...