Aquastyle 24 dimmable LED kit

tturbolife1 · 10-19-2011, 08:23 PM

I did some research and bought the DIY 24 led dimmable kit from Aquarium 24 LEDs Dimmable DIY LED kit with optics
I love the kit it was fun to build and i retrofited it into my 12g nano. It came with alot of stuff. LEDs are super bright! double what my stock nanocube lighting was. I do suggest this kit to everyone looking for a cheap kit.I read the reviews but needed to know for myself.
The only thing i was unhappy about was,
I tried to wire them parallel because i do alot of custom led work on cars and i have always found that it works best. Well i guess for these ballasts or "led drivers" parallel didnt work. So i wired them in series, it worked out BUT i had to change the potentiometer variable resistor (dimmer) the middle tab where you are supposed to connect the wire from the driver was loose and would create a strobe light effect. i went to radioshack and bought two 25-ohm rheostat variable resistors. They not only fixed the problem but they are alot smoother then the ones that come in the kit. Has anyone else had a problem similar to this ?

pwreef · 10-20-2011, 07:54 AM

Wow 24 in a 12G must be bright. I have 54 in a 57G and I think its bright. Careful not to burn your corals! I did not order drivers from them, so I cannot comment on that, sorry. You are using 25-ohm pots to control the drivers or do you have them wired in series with the LEDs?

tturbolife1 · 10-20-2011, 02:44 PM

Yes 25 ohm variable resistors.The drivers had wires just for that purpose, even though i would have wired it in series. Heres a pic of it in my nanocube hood i used stock fans and get warm not HOT

norg. · 10-20-2011, 03:01 PM

Can you get a picture with the lights on over the tank? The price is very reasonable on these kits.

tturbolife1 · 10-20-2011, 04:39 PM

I will do before with stock lights and then after= leds

tturbolife1 · 10-20-2011, 04:57 PM

stock lighting = 12g nano cube stock lighting - YouTube

LED= 12g Nanocube w/ retrofitted LED kit - YouTube

tturbolife1 · 10-20-2011, 05:01 PM

notice the knobs on the top of my nano are the dimmers, one is blue and the other is white.
also the stock lighting what taken in the day time a few months back, LED video was taken at night 10 min ago lol If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask

norg. · 10-21-2011, 07:00 PM

Looking really good man. Ill have to look more into these kits. I was going to go with 3 watt crees but the difference in price is worthy of researching. Also, Im not a big fan of DSMs but your eclipse sounds pretty freakin nice.

tturbolife1 · 10-21-2011, 07:07 PM

haha thank you, that dsm has been my long time project car.

tturbolife1 · 10-21-2011, 07:28 PM

cree 3w LEDs vs Bridgelux 3w LEDs iv read so many posts on this topic. For the money personally i would go with bridgelux.(people may debate) I have worked with bridgelux before and i like the results they have given me(they do burn easily). Most LEDs are made in the same place.Iv found out first hand that the $2 SMD LED strips are brighter then some $20 LED strips. Iv installed MANY LEDs in cars and i know that if i took about four $2 SMD strips and installed them in my 12gNC it would be brighter then my stock NC lighting.BUT its not going to grow squat.

10-19-2011, 08:23 PM	#1
tturbolife1 Spanish Shawl Nudibranch Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ Age: 23 Posts: 84 Skin: Mint Karma: 2453	Aquastyle 24 dimmable LED kit I did some research and bought the DIY 24 led dimmable kit from Aquarium 24 LEDs Dimmable DIY LED kit with optics I love the kit it was fun to build and i retrofited it into my 12g nano. It came with alot of stuff. LEDs are super bright! double what my stock nanocube lighting was. I do suggest this kit to everyone looking for a cheap kit.I read the reviews but needed to know for myself. The only thing i was unhappy about was, I tried to wire them parallel because i do alot of custom led work on cars and i have always found that it works best. Well i guess for these ballasts or "led drivers" parallel didnt work. So i wired them in series, it worked out BUT i had to change the potentiometer variable resistor (dimmer) the middle tab where you are supposed to connect the wire from the driver was loose and would create a strobe light effect. i went to radioshack and bought two 25-ohm rheostat variable resistors. They not only fixed the problem but they are alot smoother then the ones that come in the kit. Has anyone else had a problem similar to this ?

10-20-2011, 02:44 PM	#3
tturbolife1 Spanish Shawl Nudibranch Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ Age: 23 Posts: 84 Skin: Mint Karma: 2453	Yes 25 ohm variable resistors.The drivers had wires just for that purpose, even though i would have wired it in series. Heres a pic of it in my nanocube hood i used stock fans and get warm not HOT Attached Thumbnails

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10-20-2011, 07:54 AM	#2
pwreef Plankton Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 24 Skin: Mint Karma: 1	Wow 24 in a 12G must be bright. I have 54 in a 57G and I think its bright. Careful not to burn your corals! I did not order drivers from them, so I cannot comment on that, sorry. You are using 25-ohm pots to control the drivers or do you have them wired in series with the LEDs?

10-20-2011, 03:01 PM	#4
norg. Vagabond Butterfly Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Muskego WI Age: 20 Posts: 1,694 Skin: Classic Karma: 18600288	Can you get a picture with the lights on over the tank? The price is very reasonable on these kits.

10-20-2011, 04:39 PM	#5
tturbolife1 Spanish Shawl Nudibranch Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ Age: 23 Posts: 84 Skin: Mint Karma: 2453	I will do before with stock lights and then after= leds

10-20-2011, 04:57 PM	#6
tturbolife1 Spanish Shawl Nudibranch Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ Age: 23 Posts: 84 Skin: Mint Karma: 2453	stock lighting = 12g nano cube stock lighting - YouTube LED= 12g Nanocube w/ retrofitted LED kit - YouTube

10-20-2011, 05:01 PM	#7
tturbolife1 Spanish Shawl Nudibranch Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ Age: 23 Posts: 84 Skin: Mint Karma: 2453	notice the knobs on the top of my nano are the dimmers, one is blue and the other is white. also the stock lighting what taken in the day time a few months back, LED video was taken at night 10 min ago lol If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask

10-21-2011, 07:00 PM	#8
norg. Vagabond Butterfly Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Muskego WI Age: 20 Posts: 1,694 Skin: Classic Karma: 18600288	Looking really good man. Ill have to look more into these kits. I was going to go with 3 watt crees but the difference in price is worthy of researching. Also, Im not a big fan of DSMs but your eclipse sounds pretty freakin nice.

10-21-2011, 07:07 PM	#9
tturbolife1 Spanish Shawl Nudibranch Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ Age: 23 Posts: 84 Skin: Mint Karma: 2453	haha thank you, that dsm has been my long time project car.

10-21-2011, 07:28 PM	#10
tturbolife1 Spanish Shawl Nudibranch Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: NJ Age: 23 Posts: 84 Skin: Mint Karma: 2453	cree 3w LEDs vs Bridgelux 3w LEDs iv read so many posts on this topic. For the money personally i would go with bridgelux.(people may debate) I have worked with bridgelux before and i like the results they have given me(they do burn easily). Most LEDs are made in the same place.Iv found out first hand that the $2 SMD LED strips are brighter then some $20 LED strips. Iv installed MANY LEDs in cars and i know that if i took about four $2 SMD strips and installed them in my 12gNC it would be brighter then my stock NC lighting.BUT its not going to grow squat.