You got the advantages pretty much right on.
I'd aim for 36 - 48 LEDs in that setup, depending on corals, drive current, optics, etc.
Can you give us some more specifics on what you want? Intensity, controllability, color, etc. If you were to do MH again, what would you put over the tank (knowing that, we can suggest a "comparable" LED rig).
Actually, I haven't worked out all the details beyond size and configuration, this thing started as a nano, and has grown from there
last time (it's been 10 yrs so some of the details are gone) I had 2 150'ish watts MH over a 55G. I believe they we're 15k bulbs, very nice and blue.
It looked great, my implementation was a bit ghetto, but the tank was awesome and it thrived. When the lights came on it sounded like a MD-80 firing up, and probably cost as much.
For this tank my location is fixed, this will go into a permanent book case area in the family room and will have a very nice built in look with minimal effort. My design goals require; no noise, minimal effort to maintainable and low operating cost. Heat, noise and high operating cost are something I'll pay to avoid which solidifies my belief that LED is the way to go.
What I have learned as a successful amateur reef keeper over the years is that lighting system is core. On more then one tank I've ended up upgrading the lighting... never have time to do it right, always have time to do it again!
This time around I will not be limited by light. This tank will be a mostly coral, a mixture of soft and SPS with some fish, definitely a low bio load. Deep sand bed, I like Beananimals overflow setup.
With all this said, I think I'll just begin with the lights, once those are up and running the rest is simple enough.
Onward ... I'll get a build thread going soon enough, still need to read a bit more...
Thanks for the prompt reply, it's good to be back!
Dan in Dallas...
