Bridgelux or Cree?

[sphelps]

Well if was me and I was going DIY (which I probably would never bother with again) I'd go with the LEDgroupbuy heat sink
http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/makersled...ssional-grade/
Maybe I'm missing something but the aquastyle heat sinks are pretty standard, nothing sleek about them really. By the time you strap on a fan and splash shield it'll look pretty ghetto.

For LEDs I'd probably attempt the 3-ups, ideally ones with 1 RB, 1B & 1NW, all Cree's or Luxeon's (around the same price). For a 20 gallon I'd just wire all them together and do a simple on-off with a single ballast, keep it simple. I wouldn't bother with any other colors except maybe violets. On a small tank it's pretty hard to get good color blending, especially with DIY, don't think it would be worth while.

[msjboy]

As a foot note, I think some brands are actually cheaper than your DIY builds:

see clearance underway at http://www.eshinesystems.com/purchase.html older models...
bridgelux, though...

and taotronics ones ( can get from ebay, newegg.com). If you add all the parts from a DIY kit, and theseseem cheaper than what you can build it for. I think LED lights will progressively get better and cheaper so question is, are you getting into the game with a cheap build whether it be DIY or elcheapo, and sit on the side lines until a decent company brings one out with all the features ( auto dimming, full spectrum , looks nice ) you can actually afford and enjoy for a decade. I think those who spent $4000 on a Vertex LED probably would want a full spectrum now and probably want all those special dimming features.

With all the holiday promo's going on, I think now is the opportune time to jump on the LED bandwagon whether it be DIY or a not too expensive model like Ecoxotic panaroma pro's, taotronics, etc.

msjboy

[mrhasan]

Spot on! That's my sole intention. I want a DIY led till I graduate and can afford a "real" led fixture.

I am really inexperienced in this and have not heard of most of the brands you have talked about (other than taotronics). So would really appreciate it if you can post the names of these sort of lights

The shipping is a killer I found a 24 emitter cree fixture (with everything like sunrise sunset lunar cycle, even remote) for $220 BUT the shipping is another $50 so gets me over my budget. I really liked that fixture.

Originally Posted by msjboy

As a foot note, I think some brands are actually cheaper than your DIY builds:

see clearance underway at http://www.eshinesystems.com/purchase.html older models...
bridgelux, though...

and taotronics ones ( can get from ebay, newegg.com). If you add all the parts from a DIY kit, and theseseem cheaper than what you can build it for. I think LED lights will progressively get better and cheaper so question is, are you getting into the game with a cheap build whether it be DIY or elcheapo, and sit on the side lines until a decent company brings one out with all the features ( auto dimming, full spectrum , looks nice ) you can actually afford and enjoy for a decade. I think those who spent $4000 on a Vertex LED probably would want a full spectrum now and probably want all those special dimming features.

With all the holiday promo's going on, I think now is the opportune time to jump on the LED bandwagon whether it be DIY or a not too expensive model like Ecoxotic panaroma pro's, taotronics, etc.

msjboy

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by sphelps

Well if was me and I was going DIY (which I probably would never bother with again) I'd go with the LEDgroupbuy heat sink
http://www.ledgroupbuy.com/makersled...ssional-grade/
Maybe I'm missing something but the aquastyle heat sinks are pretty standard, nothing sleek about them really. By the time you strap on a fan and splash shield it'll look pretty ghetto.

For LEDs I'd probably attempt the 3-ups, ideally ones with 1 RB, 1B & 1NW, all Cree's or Luxeon's (around the same price). For a 20 gallon I'd just wire all them together and do a simple on-off with a single ballast, keep it simple. I wouldn't bother with any other colors except maybe violets. On a small tank it's pretty hard to get good color blending, especially with DIY, don't think it would be worth while.

Yah LGB's heatsinks are awesome.

If I do go Cree, I will get 3-ups since they are somewhat cheaper than getting three separate crees. The soldering is a challenge though.