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[Neongenesis]

Hi all,

Been thinking more and more about switching to LED lighting for my aquariums, however not having anything more than a very basic knowledge of wiring I wouldn't have a clue how to work out what I need. I can work out what ratio of whites, blues and reds, and can get info on outputs etc from the net, it's how it all gets wired together that will confuse me.

Also, not sure if anyone's researched this, or got any ideas on how to do it, I would also like to be able to control the lighting via a built in timer. For example, I would like some blue lights on overnight, then at a set time in the morning, reds start getting brighter (over a period of about half an hour), then the whites until full red/white/blue combination is running, which will run for several hours, then the whites dim out followed by the reds, leaving only some blues. Does this make sense? Has anyone here attempted this?

Any and all info is greatly appreciated.

[Carl]

Neongenesis,
  It sounds like an interesting project which will give your aquarium a great look. If you want colours slowley comming on, it will require dimming the LEDs, and to get the control that you want (one colour comming on at a particular time etc) it requires a controller with those features. You could develop the project yourself, but it would require a microprocessor and 3 PWM outputs for the 3 colours.

  However, the good news is that we are developing a new product which is a 5-channel PWM controller with an LCD interface. If it does not have the exact features you require, I could do a modification for you, which shouldnt be to hard. It will have the ability to turn a channel on/off at a particular time, and we are adding a transition feature so you can have it turn each channel on/off over a set period (say 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes etc). It will even have a light sensor so it can turn a channel on/off at night/day.
  Anyway, you could use this product with one channel driving each colour, and setup each channel how you want. We are in the process of getting graphic overlays and PCBs manufacturerd, and then it will be in testing, so I would say in 3-5 weeks time we could have something you could use (depending on how smoothly it goes). Let me know if you are interested.

[Neongenesis]

Hi Carl,

Thanks for the reply. I would definitely be interested in at least taking a look at your controller, and more than happy to give you any information that may help you develop it for this sort of use, it sounds like a pretty straight-forward solution to what I want to do.

Unfortunately for my project I do have a few design limitations, all based upon when I go forward with it, as it's all going to hinge on the final design of my new tank. However, if this was something "modular" where sections can be added and/or removed easily (as the new tank is going to be about 75% longer and wider than my current tank) I can't see why I can't start trialling the build.

If there's any specific questions you've got or info I can give you to help your development, let me know. Otherwise I can't wait to see the controller when it's done.

Thanks again.