Need some serious help

I know, I know not another led thread!!!

Here's my deal.. My wife and I are purchasing everything needed for our 120 gallon 48x24x24 reef tank build. I've been researching for over a year in preparation of this, but have hit a road block... wait for it..... Yup, the led's. The more I research the more confused i get. The actual build/wiring/soldiering is no problem for me. I guess the easiest way to ask for help is list my questions.

1. How many led do i actually need? ive heard everything from 40 to 98
-What im wanting is enough to be more than adequate for sps and clams
-I defiantly want to have a wide spectrum ie. red, green, etc

2. Will an apex be my best bet for controlling each led color separate from each other? Is it capable to control for the 4 colors?
-wanting to go with full spectrum, being abill to dim each color
individually is very important to me for the eye appeal im looking for.


Thank You in advance for any help. I knew that when the questions were getting rough that the 3reef community was my best hope.

 

You can dim up to 4 different channels with the apex, so it is your best bet. I would reccomend 2 36 cree led fixtures, or 2 48 cree led fixtures. Uv Leds would be the best color to use for coral color/light spectrum, cree does not make those, so you would need a seperate driver anyways, if you were using the more powerful 5 watt crees

 

Anyone else with any input?

 

I would also suggest some optics if you are wanting to keep SPS/Clams, maybe not 60 degree but 90 would work best for you. There are many many great threads on here about DIY Led, do a search, I am sure you will find all you need to know.

 

Believe me I know, I have read them all lol. My main concern is since im doing a wide array of colors i dont want to short change myself on the required amount needed for the corals since the colors im adding are for pure eye appeal.
I hope im making since here. Basicly what is it that I most have for the corals.. Then ill add to that for diffrent spectrum & colors..

 

Honestly, I hate saying this, but whats your budget? That will help. Because if its whatever , I'd say get 2 radions and build 2 aquastyle.com color stunner strips(normally i recommend rapidled, but all there "colors" run at diff max voltages, whereas all of aqua styles run at the same, so it takes less drivers this way. You could add about 24 different colors on this and get an amazing led system. But you're also gonna have about $2g in this if not more.

If thats too much I'd do a combo of rapidled and aqua style and mount them on the new makers pro ???? heatsink that just came out. Not sure if thats the right, hope someone will chime in, they just went public, really cool heat sink. Sorry, just mad I forgot the name. Anywho, I'd get a 48 led system from rapid, 24 blue(18 rb, 6 blue) 24 white(18cw, 6 nw) and then I'd add a 24 system from aqua style, make sure you upgrade to the mean well drivers, so i'd do about 12(mix up uv and violets) 4 reds, 4 cyan, and 4 green. All that should be around $800-1000, guessing

If thats too much, I'd get 2 toatronics and then add 2 ecoxotic stunner strips as needed for color. Prob about $500-600. Since you're just setting up the system you won't have clams or sps for about 6 months if not longer, and you can save up and read more on what you like. Plus in 6 months, at the rate led's are going, I'm sure there will be a new awesome product out by then for ya.

You can also just do the rapid 24 for now, get a bigger heatsink, and add leds to it as $$$ allows, thats what i did.

 

http://www.3reef.com/forums/3reef-radar/makersled-trying-go-big-slick-led-kits-132399.html

these heatsinks are BA

 

cosmo has got your first question covered quite well.

As for the second question, an Apex makes sense if you want a full tank controller, yes. However, that's a big expense and a highly sophisticated piece of equipment that you might not really need at this time. If it's something you can afford, then you might as well go ahead, as you'll want one someday. However, if you're just looking to dim your drivers on a program, consider the Boost LED Typhoon. This is a nifty little tool that will control your drivers however you choose. (Typhon LED Controller Kit by BoostLED)

The only downside here: The typhoon requires PWM signal drivers (Meanwell ELN-60-48P), whereas the Apex uses a direct signal drivers (Meanwell ELN-60-48D). Meaning if you go with the Typhoon now and upgrade to an Apex later, you'll need different drivers.

 

Thanks evolved, forgot about the second part and don't know enough about the Apex system either to have answered, as I have no experience with the Apex other than in my dreams, but I do have the typhoon controller and love it, very easy to use and only $50

 

Reefbreeder is a Taotronic style company that just became 3 reef sponsors.he's got group buy stuff going on right now,10% off. Ranging from $180 for a 55 led bridglux setup to 280 for a40 led cree build. Probably about the most affordable you'll find but as mentioned, all depends on your budget.