Added color chips to my mm LEDs

[greenclaws]

Just thought I'd show everyone how this little experiment turned out. I added different colored chips to the existing white, blue, and UV chips in my dimmable mm LED to try and mimick the more full-spectrum look of a metal halide. My boyfriend did the soldering for me. (Barry_Keith on ARC) Here's a little sketch I made after I figured out what colors I wanted, how many chips, and where I wanted them on the fixture:

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To get to that point, I looked at the color composition and spectral graphs of several different LED fixtures like Radion, and their comparison to metal halides. This website helped immensely if anyone wants to see the graphs:http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/3/aafeature">http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2012/3/aafeature</a>

I tried to find the happy medium between the LED and MH graphs, while still capitalizing on the wavelengths that are important for photosynthesis. The bottom right graph in my drawing is a rough summary of what I have. The black line is emitted by white light, and the green is used in photosynthesis. The bars correspond to how many of each color chip I have. It's not exact since some of the chips are high watts than others.

The circles with x's in them show where the unit's white chips are. The colored circles around the chips depict what color they create when their light mixes with the colors around them. Light mixing is different than pigment mixing, so it takes some unlearning of common color theory.

Red + green light = yellow, so I kept the red and green chips away from each other

Green + blue = turquoise, which several forums mention brings out great colors in coral. It's also a nice variation from the deep blue of the stock chips, so I placed the greens where they'd be almost surrounded by blues.

Red + blue = magenta.

So here's a picture of my tank. Colors aren't exact but it's pretty close to the real thing, just darker than how it is in real life. The LEDs before made my tank a dark dark radioactive looking blue on my iPhone. I'm very happy with how it turned out and haven't had any abnormal algae growth from the new light spectrum.

[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/oh_viewfinder/8049162490/" title="image by ohviewfinder, on Flickr">[IMG]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8034/8049162490_0a26ea2671_b.jpg width="1024" height="768" alt="image"></a>

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[greenclaws]

Hope these pics work:http://www.flickr.com/photos/oh_viewfinder/8049139752/" alt="" />[IMG]http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/oh_viewfinder/8049139752/" alt="" />
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[heathlindner25]

Nice looking green slimmer, hope the LED's workout good for you. I noticed that Slimmer will brown under too intense a light.

 

[lagunareef]

Very nice job with the lights. Love the aquascaping work, :fish:

 

[greenclaws]

heathlindner25;802248 wrote: Nice looking green slimmer, hope the LED's workout good for you. I noticed that Slimmer will brown under too intense a light.

Thanks for the slimer and that's good to know. I'll keep an eye out on it and move it if it turns brown.

Edit:

lagunareef;802701 wrote: Very nice job with the lights. Love the aquascaping work, :fish:

Thanks! I love the "mountain range" look. I use it for all my aquascapes. Makes the leather-like corals look like trees

 

[chris s]

Tank looks great.

I have to ask. Am I the only one that sees bryopsis in the last pic?

 

[ripped tide]

It looks like feather caulerpa, bryopsis Usually has smaller feathers, and grows in more of a cluster... And everywhere

 

[chris s]

Ripped Tide;802842 wrote: It looks like feather caulerpa, bryopsis Usually has smaller feathers, and grows in more of a cluster... And everywhere

That makes me feel better. I battled bryopsis and won. Hate to see anyone else have to deal with it.

 

[ripped tide]

Chris S;802845 wrote: That makes me feel better. I battled bryopsis and won. Hate to see anyone else have to deal with it.

Same here! That stuff was soooo frustrating. 2 gallons of tech-m and two months later, I finally beat it.