newbie to leds. just finished a light on a ten.

[ls1fst98]

I just got done building my DIY LED on a ten gallon all in one i built a year or so ago. have a few things to work out on it as it does not look good as far as fit and finish is concerned but it does the job very nicely. I used 18 3w LEDs with 9 cool white and 9 blues. 6 blues and 6 whites are on their own buckpuck with dimmer. the last 6 are together on a buckpuck with dimmer. I have noticed that the 12 leds lighting the tank appears to be plenty as far as coverage. i am not using any optics and the lights are about 3-5 inches off the surface and spaced about 2 inches at most apart. hope it looks good to you guys. like i said it is my first led setup.

(tank is dirty as it has been kind of neglected aside from wc and topoffs.)

this is all leds on at full power

this one is with the whites turned down a bit to give more blue.

all blues on.

and here is the array.

 

now my next question is i want ot light up a 40 breeder i have that is sps dominated with 2 clams. i currently have it lit with a 6 bulb 36" T5HO so similar output would be needed. any idea on roughly how many leds id need. without optics preferably.

[Zeadon]

looks good! can i ask are those warm white leds or cool white? and how does it look in person with those leds,

 

thanks

[ls1fst98]

in the pic they look yellow but i assure you in real life they are bright white. they are the cool white, around 6-7k, and in person they look amazing. i have every light you can think of on different tanks. t5, halide, pc, and nothing compares to these. the shimmer, the color you can get by turning a dial...its killer.

[doctaq]

i would go with at least 36 leds.

i let a freshwater 55 gal with 18 leds, double that for blues and that puts you at 36, back to front coverage will be harder for you since you have to blend and cover with less distance . might have to raise it up a bit