I just purchased my 72 LED's for my DIY build. I know there are many build threads out there but there are not that many where people have used Birdgelux LED's and I know I have talked to quite a few people here in St. Louis that want to follow along. Since they too are interested in doing an LED build.
First off, the reason I went with Bridgelux LED's.
Now I know there will be a few people that will say that I should have bought Cree's. Here is why I did not buy Cree's. As a background I have a 75 gallon tank that is mostly LPS with the desire to do SPS in the future. If I were to get Cree's I would need at least 48 Crees and they would cost me 365 dollars. But I was able to buy 72 bridgelux LED's for HALF that price. Now yes I understand it is possible to drive the Crees up to 1500 mA but no one runs them anywhere near that and the bridglux will top out at 700 mA. But with 72 on a 75 gallon tank that is nearly 3 watts/gallon of LED power, which is crazy!
Second, ordering through aquastyle I was able to get a free hanging kit and mix and match my LED's for NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE! So bang for the buck there is no way I could justify spending more than double the cost to get less LED's and less free stuff.
As for my order I went with:
42 Royal Blue
24 10k white
6 Ultra Violet's
I ordered the LED's on Sunday night and they shipped Monday morning so I will track how long it takes for them to make the trek to the US from China.
This week I will begin building the fixture itself where I will be using 4 48in long U Channel pieces. As I get to building that later this week I will begin to post pictures.
First off, the reason I went with Bridgelux LED's.
Now I know there will be a few people that will say that I should have bought Cree's. Here is why I did not buy Cree's. As a background I have a 75 gallon tank that is mostly LPS with the desire to do SPS in the future. If I were to get Cree's I would need at least 48 Crees and they would cost me 365 dollars. But I was able to buy 72 bridgelux LED's for HALF that price. Now yes I understand it is possible to drive the Crees up to 1500 mA but no one runs them anywhere near that and the bridglux will top out at 700 mA. But with 72 on a 75 gallon tank that is nearly 3 watts/gallon of LED power, which is crazy!
Second, ordering through aquastyle I was able to get a free hanging kit and mix and match my LED's for NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE! So bang for the buck there is no way I could justify spending more than double the cost to get less LED's and less free stuff.
As for my order I went with:
42 Royal Blue
24 10k white
6 Ultra Violet's
I ordered the LED's on Sunday night and they shipped Monday morning so I will track how long it takes for them to make the trek to the US from China.
This week I will begin building the fixture itself where I will be using 4 48in long U Channel pieces. As I get to building that later this week I will begin to post pictures.