DIY LED Light Questions

[Beanz]

Hi all, so i want to build a LED light fixture for my new 45 gallon tank. I have now decided that i want to keep SPS corals in the tank. I don't really know all that much about the PAR, lumen, lux stuff that the SPS will require or how to achieve these amounts with LEDs. Anyways i will come back with more questions but if someone could please explain these things to me that would be very helpful.

Thanks, Ian

[Cal_stir]

check reef central, there are some good build threads there, lots of info, i built one for my 90

[hillbillyreefer]

Check out Ron99's build thread on here. Lots of good tips.

[Beanz]

Well i was thinking of buying a combination of CREE XR-E G5 Cool White and CREE XR-E Royal Blue how many would i need of each like what is a good amount of each to combine with each other and also what optics should i use? (would using optics enable me to use less LEDs?)
My tank is a 45 gallon tank that is 18" tall(but the water is only about 14 1/2" deep due to the sand depth and stuff), 12" wide and 48" long.

Thanks, Ian

[NanoHuman]

I custom built a CREE system like you are describing and although I ordered a whole variety of optics, none of them work on my tank. The water is 14" deep, and I believe you really have to get over 20" to have the 40 degrees as a requirement for deeper penetration.

Since your tank is quite long you may want to utilize some 80 or 60 degree optics for spreading the light out, or use a lot of LEDs.

I would recommend Nano-reef for learning how to build the system. Evil has many posts there and the documentation is excellent.

[Twinn]

Just another thought if you are going to order the LED lights. Both the Vertex LED fixture and the new Aqua Illuminations light are now using a combo of white, royal blue and blue LED's.