# LED lighting for 55g



## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

What you'll need :
- A bunch of 1w led stars mounted on heatsinks easily found on ebay
- LED driver made for the number of leds you are using
- Electric wiring (around 20awg)
- An 8 foot long metal wall stud (width depending on the size of your project)
- Soldering iron and equipment (wet sponge and lead)
- Tweezers (long nose and wire stripping)

Last year, I did a DIY lighting for my 20g long tank with some 3W leds that I bought on ebay for just a few bucks. The LED driver used to power them cost a little more (around $20) and that lighting worked pretty good for a while. I tried growing plants and stuff in that tank and it worked out decently (very low tech), but I believe 8x 3w led's were too much for that size as I had serious algae problems that I couldn't resolve until it stopped working because of a failed connection.

I saw that some marineland led fixtures were using 1w leds, so I figured I would give a shot to 1W leds instead, so I ordered a batch of 50 white leds and 10 blue ones and built the same setup for the 20g long. So far so good, no algae issues after a couple months.

So I decided to use the old led driver to power up 32x 1w leds for my 55g. It's good for 7x to 12x 3w leds, so I figured it would be good for 32x 1w (final answer to that below).

Again, I used a metal wall stud as a fixture to mount the leds onto, but I got a wider one to make 2 rows of lights with the occasional blue one in the middle. I simply drilled 1/8" holes into it and used stove bolts and nuts with a nylon washer (for insulation) to secure them on it. Here's the result :

Front :









Back :









Then it was time to solder the connections... I used 18awg wire, but 20 or 22 is even better... They just didn't have anything smaller at home depot. I was told that even phone wiring would work, but have never tried it. Man, 8 leds was quick compared to this... but a little bit of patience and it can be done in a few hours.

First couple of connections :









Done!









The 2 wires you see coming out from under electric tape are the LED driver output wires. So I hook it up and cross my fingers...and nothing lights up. I make a few tests and realize every connections look good, but eventually do my homework and read about voltage and stuff... I then realize that no matter the wattage of the leds you use, they are all using the same voltage (depending on the color). White and blue leds are using 3.3V each, which means my driver was pushing nowhere near enough for them to light up. So I ordered a new led driver that supports up to 130V (18x to 36x 1w) and will have to wait for it to be delivered to try again.

I'm pretty confident it will work with the right driver, so I will be posting an update when that happens and finally, my fish will look the way they are supposed to!

Also, I'll post pictures of how I plan to make it fit on my current tank plastic cover, but the final plan will be to build a wooden canopy for it.


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## MbunaRayne (Feb 4, 2013)

Nice build. I'll definitely be watching for updates. I've been wanting to do leds on my 210. Good luck with the build!


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## oleskool (Jan 1, 2014)

Interesting. The use of the metal stud as a heatsink is a angle I never thought about. Very clever. I'm in the process of setting up a tank so I will watch this for progress, and results. I had thought about using 3 times as many 1w leds. I wonder if how the metal stud is going to work as a heatsink.


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## tranksBEAR (Jan 13, 2014)

Wow thats awesome I wish i was capable of doing that. I need to get handy like the tool man taylor!


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## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

Interesting idea. I've been thinking about trying it.

From the outside looking in, wouldn't it be better to mount the led's on the other side? So that the light can be blocked from the sides, and the led's don't rest on the tank glass? Perhaps with another beam covering all the wiring if need be.


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

Spotmonster, I thought about that too and debated doing it until the very end... I was mostly afraid the stud side walls would limit the led's range and I wouldn't get as much light in some areas which is currently the main problem with my tank's original hood. I guess you could cut them horizontally to make them lower, but you'd probably need a better tool than simple metals cisors or just pry them open. But then, you'd have all the screws and nuts to cover somehow...

In my case, I'll just use shims to raise the beam high enough so the led's don't touch the glass. I was trying to think of a way to hide/protect the wiring, but I haven't thought of anything that would look decent, be workable (to cut holes for the leds) and most of all... wouldn't short my circuit! Ideally, it would involve some kind of rubber rings to put around each led's on which I could sit another beam that would have holes cut in it to let the leds pop out...

Lots of options...will have to try them


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

Hrm... finally received the driver today...hooked it up, made a test and nothing lights up...grrr. Testing voltage out of the driver and it looks good...but it drops really fast when I test it after just a couple leds all the way to 0 after like 5 of them, not sure what that means. Will now have to troubleshoot!


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## MbunaRayne (Feb 4, 2013)

What are the specs on the driver? Dc output and mA?


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

Output : DC54-130V, 300mA +/- 5%
Says it is built for 18 to 36pcs 1W LED.

My LED's are supposed to be 1W each with forward current of about 3.3V and 350mA and I have 32 of them in series.

I made 2 tests with different groups of only 18 in series, but no luck... What i'm trying to find are all the different causes for them not lighting up at all so I can rule them out one by one. Can one defective led cause them all to not light up? I've had instances of one led not working while all the others were working, so I guess as long as my solders are good, some of them should light up.

Unless I fried them with my previous tries with another driver...


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## MoKoy (Sep 12, 2013)

If the LED's are wired in series then yes, one defective LED would cause it to not light up. M2C
Hopefully you find the problem!


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## becikeja (Oct 14, 2007)

Im not an expert in LED lighting, but don't you want to wire them in parallel?


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

LED's are almost always wired in series as far as I know...


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

I fixed it! I got myself a mini power supply that you can put 2 AA batteries on it. Soldered a pair of small tweezers and started testing them all 1 by 1. After 6-7 tests, about half of them were defective...almost all on the same side. Then I thought maybe it was important to put the red on the positive side (duh!) and suddenly, they were all lighting up 1 by 1. I finished testing them all 1 by 1, inverted the wires coming from the driver and VOILÀ!










I just put it on top of the tank and boy, it's a whole different tank now! I'll take pictures when it's dark outside to show the difference between before and after.


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## MbunaRayne (Feb 4, 2013)

Congrats joker man! Glad you figured it out. Now for the pics! opcorn:


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

Before : 2x Aquaglow T8 15W fluorescents










After : DIY 32x 1w LED










Water level is low, I'm was due for a WC today, but will do it tomorrow. Glass isn't at its cleanest...but that gives you an idea


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## deano85 (Dec 24, 2011)

How warm does the steel stud get? Too hot to touch?


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

No, it stays pretty cool actually. The driver gets hot, but you can still touch it without any problem.


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## deano85 (Dec 24, 2011)

What about if you touch between the bolts? Never thought of using steel studs, a lot cheaper than any aluminum.


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

These are 1w LEDs using only 350mA. They don't produce as much heat as 3w LEDs running at 700mA. I ran 3w LEDs on a smaller steel stud before and it would get pretty warm, but not too hot.


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