Led ideas

I was thinking of going led in the future but want to know more about and see about how much it cost. My tank is a 55 gallons with softies for now but would like to star growing Lps as well. Also want to keep a rbta alive.
I wanted to do it as low as possible 150 or less.

Was thinking in two 6x10 heatsink (one for each side)
With about 18 LEDs per sink (creed)
About 12 white (mix) and 2 uv and 16 blue (mix)
Was thinking in going with solder less LEDs

Will 2 drivers be enough for all this LEDs 1 for white and 1 for blues/uv
Not sure on which one but here are my two options

http://shop.stevesleds.com/product.sc?productId=88&categoryId=35

http://www.rapidled.com/0-10v-dimmable-nano-driver-with-potentiometer/

Also I have four t5ho 48in in my tank right now if I were to do this will be better than what I already have or will it make it worse?

Edited by Dan9554880 - January 30 2013 at 7:13am

I just ordered a 36 LED set from Aquastyle and they should be here early next week. 12 neutral white and 24 royal blue. Two Meanwell dimmable drivers and I got a 20 inch heat sink from RapidLED that's already drilled and tapped.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Fat

LEDs grow almost every coral amazingly well.

My LED system is way too strong for Acans though, even in the shade they do miserably.

Something to keep in mind.

I love my LED's, all my corals including acan's are doing really well, your welcome to come by and see them if your ever down in my area, I have a pretty good spread of colors and can show you how different settings will look, Ex. blues with just NW or blues with just cool white, or the white you can create with blue, red and green.  Never got to look at a tank with mine's variety before my build would have helped a lot but can't say that I am disappointed.  I would have done a little more CW then NW but they are on different drivers so I have them adjusted to my liking.  I went with rapid and have no complaints, I still send them questions on other builds I have done and they always get back to me by the next day..  

If I were to use Cree LEDs how many do I need to be enough to grow corals?

48x12x21

I'm trying to do it as cheap as possible but still grown corals

reefkeeper's estimate is good. Although running fewer means you run them at fuller capacity so their life is decreased. Good thing you can always add more when you get more money! Keep that in mind....

a splash protector would be a good addition. You dont want water frying your leds.

And I've compared datasheets, the Philips Luxeon ES are very comparable to Cree's.  They both have very similar lumen (or is that lumens?  I don't know the correct term there haha) output in the 750-1000mA rating.  I personally think Cree's running at more than 1A are overkill unless you have a very deep tank, but that's just me.

I am running my LEDs at about 800 mA.  I'm not using a PWM controller or fancy driver.  I just rigged up a voltage regulator in constant current mode and it does the job well enough.  It's not dimmable, though, very rudimentary.

chris.rogers... would you be willing to post your voltage regulator design for others to use?