Thinking of Doing the DIY LEDs

I am thinking of jumping on the DIY LED train. I got myself a little learned on electrical stuff and how to wire things together. My main concern now, is the number of LEDs to use and whether to go with optics or not. I plan on doing this all on a 29 biocube and modifying the stock hood (basically gutting it and replacing it with LEDs, I have seen some clean installs that people are very happy with.
My main question is the number of bulbs. I am reading of people using 30 bulbs, but having to crank them down to %30-40. Is there much of a benefit to going this route, rather than maybe 24 (or slightly fewer) bulbs at a higher output? Also, nobody seems to be using optics because these tanks are more shallow. When asked on why they used 30, they basically all say "because everyone else did too".
Should I go with less than 30 bulbs (why or why not) and should I use optics (why or why not). I plan on tapping holes into the heatsink and mounting them that way so they are easily removable and changable if need be. I am sure some of the reasoning behind running more bulbs at a lower power will save on bulb life. I am wondering about efficiency too, though. I should be able to fairly easily swap out individual bulbs this way, so I am mostly looking at power/heat savings here.
I know a few people have gone the DIY route and some people have sets from their manufacturers. Input is certainly welcome from either side /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wink.gif
I guess I should say that I would like to keep a small clam and various sps. I am reading of people having great success with a 30 bulb at 30-40% without optics. These are all Cree white and blue mixtures (usually 50/50, some go a little more blue). I am also interested in what colors the green and red LEDs make pop and whether or not any of those are worth considering (again I see people playing with reds and greens on larger builds, but onot too much in the nano department).

 

Thanks for the link. From a quick scan (I am at work), it looks like he went with 24, which is closer to what I had in mind. Hopefully there is explaination as to why this decision was made. Unfortunately it looks like he opted out of the greens/reds. Maybe there will be some info. in the thread about that.

 

Well, didn't take as long to read as I thought it would. Unfortunately it still leaves some questions unanswered. I am not sure how it was decided that 24 bulbs were sufficient, nor how the spacing was decided. I guess the greater concern, for me, is how much light I will actually need, not so much the methods for putting it together. This build also looked like the lights were more spread out than what I had seen in other builds (where those other builds had more light). Interesting as well, although, again, I am not sure what the method to the madness is! /DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default//emoticons/smile.gif

 

Rapidled was the place I was looking at. Have heard good things and their prices look good. Maybe the reason people aren't using reds and such is because they look bad, huh? LOL. Guess I will stick to the blue and white tride and true combo. At the moment, I actually don't have any corals in the tank so I will have time to adjust things as needed without worry of burning anything. I thought I would be out of corals while but I still have the itch!