LED DIY Options

Check out Aquastyleonline.com, but makers led for heat sinks are best.
Kp
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I just built a full spectrum MakersLED 24" for my new breeder set up. All together I have over $500 in it, but you could get by for less and then have something upgradeable in the future. Here are the prices on a basic build you could use:

2 x 12" heatsinks - $50 ea ($100)
180w P/S - $32
1 x MakersDriver w/ 2 x 1000ma dimmable drivers - $62 (Will drive about 2 x 14 LEDs)
10 x Neutral White Cree Solderless LEDs - $4.50ea ($45)
18 x Royal Blue Cree Solderless LEDs - $3.50ea ($63)
Optics for LEDs ($1.30ea)

If you could swing it, I would get two MakersDrivers and that way you could one per heatsink and then you would have enough power for 56ish LEDs down the road. With solderless LEDs that would be a snap to add. I'm not really a solder pro, so I found these to REALLY be worth the cost. Then you could add the MakersController to the set up anytime down the road for sunrise/sunset, etc.

 

I'm sorry, I must have missed the part where you wrote SPS in your tank. Do you have those corals now or want to support them later? If you have them now you should probably have some more power. You could still get the 2nd driver and then add more LEDs that way.

 

Checkout stevesleds.com

 

I went Steve's LEDS and they have been great for me (one year going strong). Although I went with a heatsink from rapidLED as I am not wild about the cooling setup that Steve's reccomends.


On the other hand it might be tough to do a 120 gallon for 300 dollars. Especially if you want a "full spectrum" setup that has the intensity for SPS.

 

I have a Aquastyleonline DIY on my sons 28jbj and I am very much impressed. 14 whites and 14 royal blues.
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I have Aquastyle Online LEDs over my 120 and really like them. I am mainly fish only, so I didn't go with dimmable ones or anything. I am totally happy with it.


I bought 2 of their Aquarium 24 LED DIY kits for $178 total. Shipping is killer at $68 though. Total bill was $246.





I went with the better Meanwell LPC-35-700 drivers, and had the following color breakdowns:


For EACH kit:

12 Royal Blue (24 total)

1 Red (2 total)

1 Green (2 total)

2 Actinic Violet (4 total)

8 White (16 total)


Honestly, the actinic are a waste. They are completely lost in the blue spectrum. The red and green were experients and I removed them.


I used 60 degree optics, but should have done a mix of mainly 60 degree, but also some wider 80 degree to help spread light around a little more. Maybe a 3:1 ratio of 60 vs 80 degree. It isn't so bad though that I feel like I need to change them at all, just if I was doing it again. Either that, or maybe a little bit bigger heat sink so spread the LEDs themselves out more.


Just just add comments to the order and they take care of the rest and sent along a few extra LEDs as well.


Other products out there are great too, but this is the one I settled on for price/features that I wanted, so I am in no way saying that other products wouldn't work too and fit in your budget.