DIY led for 220g little help want to order tonight

I have been thinking about this for weeks and are finally going to order the DIY less. I was going to buy ai's but I want to have some satisfaction that I built it myself. Its a 220g tank 72/24/30 specs. I want to go full spectrum as much as I can. I want the more blue look and a very nice shimmer. I want the lastest cree light that is available also. I have come up with this so far....

18-xte royal blue
12 xpg cool white 5w
The rest violet, red, orange,blue are all up in the air?

I need to figure for 96 bulbs total. This is just for 48. I have been talking with rapid and they suggest 3 heat sinks with 96 leds spreaded out.

Questions are....

What are the lights that I should dim?
How many drivers am I going to need?
I would love to do sunrise and sunset. I know apex or something like it, but what LEDs do I need for that?

Sorry of this is confusing ,but Im tired of trying to figure this out ans just want to get it done already.

thanks

 

This thread is screaming Chris's name. He goes by Biocube on here. Here is his build thread.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/biocubes-build-thread-top-down-fun-133894.html

If for some reason he doesnt chime in PMing him always works.

 

+1 read that thread and mimic it times 3!

You'll want all lights and drivers dimmable! Get the apex like he stated! I'd also vary the blues and whites!
Also I'd do 8 XML whites on one driver( get the P drivers if you eat the apex) 6 cool whites and 2 neutral whites. 1 driver with 8 royal blues and 4 blue! And then I'd order bridgelux LEDs for your colors! They all run at the same max current so you can put different colors on the same string whereas with Crees and others from rapid they run at different currents! I'd do 6 violets 2 uv 2 red 2 cyan

Also I'd do 60 degree optics on the whites and blues and no optics on the colors!

 

On a tank of that depth I would run 60 degree optics. The number of drivers you will need depends on amount of voltage the drivers will push.

Be careful I just smoked 12Leds and 2 channels of my controller last night, While setting voltage output I placed the tester in the wrong spot and ZAP !

 

Thanks guys... Sounds like a great idea! Who's driver should I use with the color LEDs from bridgelux? I agree on the optics also. Where do I buy the bridgelux LEDs?

Do I need all the dimming accessories from rapid to control them?


Thanks

 

Still use the mean well drivers IMO and control them with the apex! Bridgelux can be bought a few places like aqua style.com reefbreeders.com and a few other places!

 

What dimming accessories do ou mean?

 

I was talking about the manuel ones, but if I'm running the apex I don't need them. I really wanted all Cree LEDs , but that would intale one more driver per light from what I understand. The diff might not be noticable.

8-XML cool white
2-XML warm white
10-xte royal blue
2 xte blue
4 violet
2 red
2 cyan
2 uv

I'm thinking this times 3 for each light. Would I need 3 drivers per light or 4?

 

answered part in red above, but yes. 3 drivers, 1 for white if you drop to 8, 1 for the blues , and 1 for the coloreds

If you have space for 4 drivers X 3 the do 12 whites, 6 on each.

 

ohh, and BTW, DO NOT RUSH this decision! You will hate yourself for that. It seems confusing at first, but the more you read, the easier it becomes. Basically my suggestion would be if you want to do DIY do mostly rapids solderless plug and play system, that way its super easy to swap stuff out