DIY LED Question

So for my future 70g I've decided I'm not going to pay 800 for a lighting system so I'm going DIY. I've been looking at LED's online and I just need to get some questions answered; I'm going to go 5 watts per gallon, I will be mostly keeping LPS' and Zoas but might add some SPS' later on, this is still not decided. The first question is, is 5 watts per gallon enough?

The second question is that I've been looking for multi colored LED's and found a good priced one. This is it http://www.miniinthebox.com/e27-10w-800-900lm-rgb-light-led-ball-bulb-85-265v_p409015.htm . Would this be a good choice?

And lastly what kind of equipment such as circuit boards would I Need?

Thanks

 

when talking about leds watts per gallon means nothing.
some people have some weird formulas for calculating how their fixture needs to look. if you ask me you should not go with diy..i did it many times and it takes a lot of time. you have to research so much about electronics..optics..hear so many opinions that it just doesn't worth it. i recommand that you have a look at one of my personal favorites: Onyx by Rapid LED - Rapid LED
this one is made by rapid led. it is cheap, has a fuller spectrum than most other fixtures, has the just right par, has some quality leds and comes with everything you need.
you can also buy the diy kits from them which are great and the only thing you need to do is to build the fixture like a puzzle.
buildmyled.com is one of my favorites. you can select what's the spectrum you want and the price is good.
making a proper diy product may cost more than any of those.
if you really want to go for diy my only suggestion is to do a lot of research and try to replicate as much as you can the fixtures that are avilable on the market today.

 

Thanks, I was JUST looking at rapidleds.com and saw this:

Standard 75g Tank Dimmable Kit - Rapid LED

Seems a reasonable price for a 70g lighting system

 

Diy that costs more than a reef Breeders light would and still doesn't have a controller?? No thanks!

 

I absolutly HATE the reef breeders one. first of all they look like a bomb shelter. I hated the times when we needed to use huge fixtures with HOV or MH.
second,all of the leds are equiped with the same focused lenses so the light coming out of them looks overs small tanks like strips of different colors hitting the water. I personally don't like having a controller with the leds unless it is a very advanced one, because when I am trying to replicate nature I am doing some heavy programing that you just can't do with the dusk dawn controller. I am using my Apex to program my leds on the small tank and a reef angel controller on the plasma light with the big tank.

 

I like DIY led builds, u decided what color, power ,and optic to use and it never ends! Agree for beginner use a rapidled module seem to have most spectrum on it.

 

I only have 2 watts per gallon of LED on my tank and it's lighting it just fine.

 

Neat that you say that because I'll bet you have external drivers for your LED's stuck in a stand or something like that. More cords and wires to have to look at and route. I do have the IT2080 (reefbreeders fixture) and I really think it looks good plus the heatsink nice and big. Plenty of fans for cooling and the drivers are in the fixture.

 

Yeah, the watts per gallon is an outdated measurement of lighting, Daniel has 2 watts per gallon of led, and when i first started my reef in 2009 the recommendation was like 4-5 watts per gallon for sps. This was when most people were running T-5 or MH.

Anyways I would always go with more leds rather than too few. If your going to run them off the apex then you can just dim them down to your needs.

 

yeah, metal halide kinda threw this rule out the door, especially with the introduction of quality reflectors like the lumenmax's and the lumenbrights.