2 x $17 dollar custom ebay LED panels (1:1:1 5300k white, 450nm royal blue, 420nm violet) 2 x ~ $9 drivers Old computer heatsinks and fans I had laying around Few hours of assembly Misc stuff I had (left over plexi, silicone, wire, etc.) Total out of pocket cost was ~$52. These panels were originally meant to be lights for 2 3 gallon pico tanks, because I thought they were 5 watts each. Turns out I cant read and they are 5 watts per channel, with 4 channels per panel, or 20 watts each. So now I am going to sell them to a friend to use on his 3' 65 gallon reef tank. This is the result sitting on top of a 6' 125 gallon tank. They need to be lifted up at least 12" or so, the light is WAY to intense directly under them. Still, they look pretty workable, especially for the price.
This was the original LED panel on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epileds-4-C...-/191451051238?ssPageName=ADME:X:eRTM:US:1123 This was how I had them made: Channel 1: 420 NM, 5000-5300K white, 450 NM Channel 2: 450 NM, 5000-5300K white, 420 NM Channel 3: 420 NM, 5000-5300K white, 450 NM Channel 4: 450 NM, 5000-5300K white, 420 NM Please confirm that is ok for you? If you would like to get 2pcs of this, the total price is 34usd with a tracking code. I got 2 20 watt versions of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/281071053543?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&var=580182294311&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT So all together it was $34 + $15.76, so not quite $50. It would be more if wanted dimable drivers or you had to buy the heatsinks and cords etc. But I work on computers so I had them around.
Their final home, this was taken with a different camera. I think it was auto dimmed, they are replacing a 39 watt x 4 T5HO setup:
So far so good, I let my friend borrow them for a couple weeks to see how they did and he loves them, apparently his corals seem to like them and he is already getting different coraline colors appearing. So I made a couple bucks and he got LED display lights for $80. Not a bad deal both ways.
