LEDs for 20gallon long

b3h0ldrc · Feb 5, 2013

I am going to be upgrading the lighting to my 20 gallon long mixed nano reef tank. Im currently running an LED panel rated at 35w 50/50 and it seems to be fine sitting directly above the tank. I've looked into lights such as this, reefbreeders, as well as the more expensive but programmable, reefbreeders.. 120w is somewhat overkill for a shallow 20Long I know, but my original plan was a very lengthy acclimation time and dimmed as much as possible. I like the idea of having a full spectrum fixture, as from what I read it helps with the visual appearance of the corals and fish. there is also aquastyleonline.com where I can purchase a dimmable kit with everything I need shipped to my door for around 160. The only catch with the cheaper price is that I will only have a maximum of 24 3w LEDS, running even around 2.5w's each leaves me with an avg of 60 running watts. The great thing about this is, with some cheap digital timers from amazon (20 bucks or so) I can program it in a way to simulate the sunrise,sunset and moonlight while still being able to maintain full spectrum by adding bulbs as well as customizing the optics in order to acheive a spread that i would like .. any input, opinions and advice would be much appreciated. btw im running a 20 long with  sump/fuge setup approx 15 gallons. mixed reef with some sps, lps and majority softies. <br><br>RC totally a noob to reefs and SW but a quick learner so throw me whatever you can (btw im a contractor by trade, so electrical, plumbing and what not im very comfortable with so im open to any options..) thanks again

RC,

RavePartyReef · Feb 5, 2013

Would be interested to hear your feedback and what fixture you got....good luck

b3h0ldrc · Feb 7, 2013

bump, anyone one there? Ive been going over conflicting articles about specific wavelengths to have for optimum coral grow. I just want a DIY project that I can achieve the best possible outcome that is as balanced as possible. I like the full spectrum idea to try and mimic the sun as closely as possible as opposed to blue:whites. so I have my colors chossen to be predominantly RB, warm whites, with Violet, Red, Green, Cyan, UV, as additions. I will be going with a DIY kit build from aquastyleonle.com for now as my first project. plan to use more higher end materials later on down the road once i've mastered everything. I will be adding an arduino board controller set up in the future to help control the lights giving the sunrise,sunset and moonlight option. my only question is, to prevent having to buy different drivers in the future. would the Maxwellen LED D-Driver 12-20x3w be compatible with an arduino set up or no? from some of the articles ive breifly skimmed through they only talk about meanwell drivers. any input on this at least would help a great bunch. Im really trying to put an order in tomorrow so as I can hopefully get the lights by next week. thanks for your time and help.