Newest and Greatest LED Lighting System

Over the last twelve years I have had 5 completely different lighting systems, and I am happy to report that this latest achievement (number 5) provides the most beautiful result to date. In fact, the result is absolutely stunning, breathtaking and mesmerizing. Let me warn you that it is not cheap and it is not easy to build this system (and to my knowledge it is not available on the market). My goal today is to provide enough information so that perhaps someone here at SD who desires, and is willing to accept a challenge, will duplicate my results by purchasing the components and assembling the system for their own use. For this purpose I am willing to offer technical assistance and answer any questions that they may have regarding the design and implementation. Send a private message to "afriend".

First, here are some pictures showing what is achievable using the proper components. As will be demonstrated later in this post, the lighting system presented herein is programmable and has a multitude of adjustments that can be varied, resulting in color between normal and wild depending on user programmable settings (as illustrated in the following pictures). The programmable settings can be accomplished while setting in an easy chair and operating a hand held remote. When you are tired of how the aquarium looks, just reprogram it and enjoy a new setup. This lighting system is all about color and that is what Discus are all about. It does not color the fish, rather it emphasizes the natural colors existing in the fish. When the gain is turned up, the fish seem to glow as if they had internal batteries.

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Picture 1 Moonstone

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Picture 2 Indiana Tiger

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Picture 3 Penang Eruption

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Picture 4 Altrum Carnation

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Picture 5 Pigeon Checkerboard

The light is produced by a number of LED strips that are placed on the top, sides and ends of the aquarium. These strips, as shown in Picture 6, are intended for placement outside of the aquarium by pressing them against the glass. They are attached with sticky tape on the back side of the strip.

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Picture 6 LED Lightstrip

The following link contains specifications and pricing information for the LED strips.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/led-...a12a-15j5m-24v

My specific application, for a 100 gallon aquarium, required 3 spools (16 feet each), mounted on the top, upper and lower sides both horizontal and vertical. The strips are easily cut with scissors and can be rejoined by soldering them back together. There are lots of other LED strips that are available on the market, most of them less expensive. However, the one shown above is the only one I know of that will produce the desired results to the extent that has been achieved in my application.
The assembly showing the top lighting fixture is shown in Picture 7.

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Picture 7 Top Lighting Fixture Assembly

Control and programming of the lighting system is accomplished with the use of a remote controller transmitter (my application requires 2 of these) and a number of receivers (my application requires 14 of these). The following link contains pricing and specifications for the transmitter and receivers.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...llers/fut039-r

Picture 8 shows the assembly of the remotes and power supply for my application containing 14 receivers and a 24 VDC power module mounted on a 1/16 sheet of aluminum. Wiring is simple and straight forward. The input to each receiver module is provided with 24 VDC controlled by a switch and the output of each receiver is wired to a single string of LEDs cut to the appropriate lenghth. The power module is capable of supplying up to 1000 watts corresponding to a maximum of 140 feet of LED string.

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Picture 8 Receiver and Power Module Assembly

Paul thats one indepth posting on your diy LED. Thanks for sharing. I played round abit a few years ago with inexpensive rigid LED strips that I bought from ebay(china imports) They had your basic cool white.. warm white and a few that leaned towards other spectrums like blue. They were simple light strips that ran off 1 to 2 amp dc power supplies. I used them to convert old fluorescent aquarium hoods. They worked well initially but unfortunately you get what you pay for sometimes... and now a few years latter most have burned out. I liked the concept though.

How long has your current build been running?

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The power module is capable of supplying up to 1000 watts corresponding to a maximum of 140 feet of LED string.

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that is alot of watts .. nice that its a 24vdc .. that would be perfect for adaptation to a solar panel array(an interest of mine)

Al

Al, I built this about a year ago. The 1000 watts refers to the maximum power supply capability. I would estimate that my application requires about 100 watts peak. The system typically runs on about 50 watts. I'm amazed that one can purchase a power supply of this capability for only $25. It's a switching supply with voltage regulation and current limit.

What's amazing is the capability of the LED strip and the receiver/remote capability. As far as I can determine, there are no other LED/controllers on the market that provides all of the features like the one used here. And they are all necessary to obtain the desired results. As you can probably guess, I think this is the way of the future for lighting of discus aquariums.

Paul