led for 7 gal help

[Alf]

Ok I have done so much reading about led's it makes my head hurt. I would like a simple LED setup that will grow any coral I would want. If I go DIY kit I want dimmable control.
Tank Is like 15 7/8" x 9 3/4"
here are some options i have found Please add you thoughts or recommendations

18" 22" LED Aquarium Light Marine Saltwater Cichlid Nano 18x 1 Watt Lunar 45 cm | eBay

Beamswork 1300 LED light 17"-21"inch 45-55cm coral reef marine planted aquarium | eBay

LED Clip 1W Aquarium Light Nano Pico Marine Reef Cichlid 11" 9x 1 Watt Clamp On | eBay

SPS LED Retrofit Kit Package | 10"-24" tanks
Not sure I like the heat sink here as there is no hood for this tank to put them in. is this worth $150+ ?

12 Ultra Premium LED DIY Kit with Dimmable Drivers - Rapid LED
doesn't look complete what would I have to add? again is this worth $150+ ?

Aquarium 42 watts Dimmable DIY LED kit with optics

This will be for Cody's 7 gal tank Graduation gift He graduates May 27th.

 

[sasquatch]

don't think any of the 1 w leds are enough for reef lighting, most are 3w, for a 7 gallon what about a pendant spot? some are clamp on .
Beamswork is odyssea (nuf said)
Heat sink = 3w leds, a must have.
The 12 ultra premium would require a hood of some kind.
Last one looks.. maybyish? those dimmable pots are umm spotty?

 

[dmatt88]

I do believe this is another case of u get what u pay for buddy.

........wet floors add character.

 

[reefer gladness]

I'd go with a PAR38 bulb over a tank that size, something like this Ecoxotic PAR38 LED Aquarium Lamp. You can use an inexpensive lamp fixture but plan on being able to adjust the height in some way.

Someone else, one of our sponsors I believe has a nice looking PAR38 blend with 6 blue, 4 white and 2 UV too. I would also avoid the 1-watt setups.

The thing to keep in mind with the DIY setups like RapidLED is you'll need a controller as well. Also, in order to adjust color temp by controlling the white and blue LED's separately you need them on separate drivers. The drivers need a minimum number of LED's each so you basically need double the number the of LED's in the kit on 2 separate drivers in order to tune the color temp. This would be overkill for a 7 gallon tank so as much as I like RapidLED I wouldn't recommend a DIY kit for a tank that size. The other way way to adjust color temp is by adjusting the ratio of white/blue LED's so keep that in mind. You could order Rapid's 12 LED kit and make it 7 blue and 5 white for example. Their DDC-01 controller is limited in function but it does work, I've had one running for about 8 months now.