# XP-E LED Grow Light for an Aquaponics System



## nein166 (Feb 22, 2010)

With the new XP-E Color L.E.D.s being offered I decided to help a friend out with an aquaponics system.
The system uses a fish tanks waste to feed the plants above in a grow box. 
A pump in the bottom of the tank draws water from the under gravel filter.
The water flows over the roots of the plants where they can draw in the nutrients.
Then flows down an overflow tube in the bottom of the grow box and back into the fish tank.
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In the picture is our mock-up with wires everywhere and a 3 L.E.D. light, and no fish.

To build the L.E.D. Grow Light I salvaged a beefy heatsink from a D*LL I found in the trash at work, a power supply from a monitor, a case fan, and some other parts.
I wanted to build it to dissipate about 25w not including the power supply. With it running for a few hours with the fan the hottest reading with a IR Thermometer is 108°F on the CC5W(1A) Driver. The L.E.D.s read 93°F from the front and the heatsink was at 77°F, and the fan is very quiet running at 12v off the Constant Voltage driver.
The fan could be turned down some and be a bit quieter but I will leave that up to my friend to decide when he gets it.
The L.E.D. Grow Light is running 6 Red XP-E at 700ma using a TaskLED CC5W (700), they are in series.
A second series of 1 Blue XP-E, 1 XR-E Q5, and 1 Royal Blue XP-E is running off a CC5W at 1A.
I built a 317 Driver for the heatsink fan, and all the drivers are powered by a 19v A/C adapter from a LCD monitor.
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A reflector from a fluorescent fixture was added to direct the sidespill down and out of anyone’s vision.
This resulted in a spray of colors. But the light is too intense to let loose.
I believe a black out box around the plants will be needed to keep the fish tank below from getting too much algae.

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Without Reflector




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Works well for now in the kitchen




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The kitchen is pink anyway.





The purpose of this project is to grow an indoor winter herb garden in the most complicated way possible.
Well that’s what the ladies seem to think.


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## kaichu dento (Feb 22, 2010)

Nice project! I'm going to keep my eyes on your thread here so keep us updated!


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## ^^Nova^^ (Mar 15, 2010)

AP rocks!! Good luck with it. :rock:

Cheers,
Nova


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