Anyone seen these for sale before?: http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c16/n0otro/fishtank/IMG_8074.jpg Picked up a couple of packs of aquatic plant bulbs from Exotic Aquatics yesterday, i've never seen bulbs of aquatic plants for sale before. Has anyone else ever grown aquatic plants from dried out ...

Sorry for the lack of updates, this project hasn't been scrapped, but real life has gotten in the way. Between working 80 hours a week and dealing w/ other home BS, this has just been pretty low on my radar. What's happened in the past month: I cut, stained and sealed the hood that will fit around t...

let there be light :) http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c16/n0otro/IMG_7002.jpg Got the new LEDs in the mail today, was extra careful putting everything together, and was happy to be completely blinded with how bright it is. Problems I ran in to and lessons learned: 1. I was so anxious to give the u...

I haven't tried the Pro regime, but the classic works great. I think the Pro regime is supposed to be easier to dose, but I don't like that they combine all of the macro nutrients into a single mixture. The classic formulation has three macro mixtures, all with slightly different combinations of the...

I've been pretty busy lately and just so you guys don't think i've given up, here is a quick update: Bad News: Soldered everything together and fried several LED's. Good News: I learned many lessons about grounding, short circuits, measuring current, continuity, proper soldering technique etc. I wil...

Metal halides are great for plants, 175 watts over a 20" deep tank would be plenty and the spread from a pendant should be more than enough to cover the entire tank's area. A bulb with a color temperature of 6500K would be what's typically recommended for a freshwater planted tank, but you coul...

Finally got the heatsink drilled & tapped and the LEDs mounted with screws and Arctic silver 5: http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c16/n0otro/LEDs2.jpg I only sanded up to 1000 grit sandpaper. As per earlier advice I didn't think it was necessary to go any further than that, it's way smoother to ...

I recently read an article on dealing with LED heat... http://www.designnews.com/article/451284-Dealing_with_LED_Heat.php?nid=2321&rid=2716411 This might be a bit redundant and basic information at this point, but I thought I would share. Wow, thanks for the article link. A nice little distract...

If your going through all of the hassle of drilling and tapping the holes, skip the thermal epoxy and go with standard thermal paste (arctic silver 5) The epoxy is meant as a permanent mounting solution and thermal conductor in one, (no need to drill and tap holes) and transfers heat to the heat si...

The heatsink got here today. I ordered the 5.375" wide model 22" long from heatsinkusa.com it was $45 + $5 cut fee + $15 shipping, for a total of $60. So far i've spend $145 + $60 = $205 on this little project. I was hoping to keep the whole thing under $200, but it looks like with wires +...