DIY LEDs

I'm looking at the DIY kits on aquastyleonline.com. I have a 20 tall. How many 3 watt LEDs would I need to cover my tank. It's 24" long and I think 16" deep.

 

Don't get those, they use cheap knockoff leds, look into Stevesleds and LEDgroupbuy.

 

Bridgelux are cheap knockoffs ?

 

They aren't Bridgeluz, TRUE bridgelux are awesome LEDs

 

Have you used this company ? Trying to figure out why the site would say 12 bridgelux LEDs on that particular kit if they are not bridgelux LEDs. Usually the sites that use knockoffs just say 3 watt LEDs and not have a name on them. Crap. Figured that price was to good to be true.

 

Yeah, I haven't used tehm, but people like them. Of course a Luxeon array from Steves would be way better

 

Aquastyle is crap. What he said, and I'll add RapidLed to that list of good suppliers...plus they are a sponsor here!

 

Guess I'm not understanding you guys. So bridgelux , Cree and epileds are crap from aquastyle but not from Steve's or rapid ? I'm confused.

 

The diodes you get from Aquastyle are similar to diodes that would not meet CREE or Bridgelux standards...so in essence they are blemishes. They do not give off the same light, and burn out quickly. They are not the top bin diodes you will get from RapidLED.

My personal experience with Aquastyle was poor, and I'm not the only one. The light was more dim at 100% than a Rapid DIY I had laying around at 50%. Customer service was terrible and never tried to make it right.

 

Ok. Thanks for the info. I ran across the site and liked the price and the fact they the kits are everything you need. Only thing I could find on Steve's was like 170 for 36 watts. I'll buy a reef breeder with 120 watts for the same money. But was looking for a cheap alternative to try LEDs.