LED advice

[jbeckett25]

Ok, I'm sure there has been a million post about this but I have read and read tread after thread... So I am going to be setting up a 180 mixed reef SPS dominated tank. I would like to go to LED's sick of the bulb replacement... I like the functions of the Vega and the spectrum of the Hydra AI says I would need 4 Hydra's... or 3 of the new 52's (which are not even out yet! not till Dec.) I can't afford the radions so what are your suggestions folks? trying to not go over 1500.00 ? so to recap enough light to grow SPS and tunability for 1500.00 or less? :fun5:

 

[Fitz19d]

Reefbreeders Photon series. Or I forget the size, but you might get away with 2 of the upcoming supernova's which are supposed to be super duper uber.

Other Chinese competitors out there like evergrow/oceanrevive which also sell built in controllable fixtures. Whatever you do make sure you are getting a good full spectrum.

There is also DIY which will still be pricey, but you can make look decent and have a built in controller off ledgroupbuy. (Makers heatsinks with their controller/all in one drivers with solderless leds wouldn't be cheap but you could be pretty custom on overall spectrum as well as throwing in exact colors you want.)

 

[Chipie]

You can do some led fixtures yourself. It's actually quite easy. Or get some reefbreeder's leds.

 

[asid61]

Reef Breeders is good, but not as efficient as some other brands. Photons are controllable. Aim for a total of about 350w or more, so about 110-120 leds.
Maxspect Razors would be a good choice for the Cree leds. 2 or 3 of the 160w versions would work fine for your application.
Buildmyled.com strips are another option, but you would need 3 of the 72" strips.

DIY is cheaper than any of the above, except for maybe Reef Breeders. If you go that route, you will around need 110 leds in a ration of 4:2:2:1(RB:NW:HV:B), a driver, and a heatsink. Led Group Buy has good heatsinks, leds, and drivers. The Meanwell LDD drivers are good.