DIY LED help

[makana]

Thanks for all your help! I find the entire topic to be a little too much like trial and error and really lacking in available information.

What are your thoughts on the cool white vs neutral white. The neutral white looks to cover more spectrum so I was leaning towards that. But having never seen the two myself I don't know what they actually look like. I'm hoping to get close to full spectrum but don't want it to look bad.

How about optics? I have read that you don't need optics on a tank under 24" depth. I read a contradicting article that said you need optics to achieve the equivilent of 150w mh regardless of depth.