SgtBhaji Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 I've been running a Chinese 120w LED array over my ADA 60f for about 18 months and I've mostly been happy with it. I've been considering upgrading to the same unit but with full spectrum rather than just the white/blues that I'm running right now, but while looking around I came across the Aquamana 165w COB. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00KMHPAGA?vs=1 I was wondering if anyone here had used this particular light as I'm tempted to give it a whirl. I'm reefing on a budget so the price point is very enticing. I have a few SPS but mostly LPS. Thanks in advance for any experiences you can share. Link to comment
tjwaggoner Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 I think it looks like a good light personally. I've read some reviews about it since I'm considering putting together a bigger (than my 29 biocube) tank sometime fairly soon. That said, the biggest issue I've read is that with the reflectors in place you get a ton of disco effect, removing the reflectors solves this according to what I've read. Link to comment
SgtBhaji Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 Yeah, I read the same about the 156w unit, but this one doesn't seem to have those reflectors and has the added moon lights which is a small bonus. Link to comment
Horerczy Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 This is basically the same light as the 156w unit. They'll work good enough. Just keep in mind that there are two par hot spots directly under the cobs. Link to comment
SgtBhaji Posted December 17, 2014 Author Share Posted December 17, 2014 Well apparently this light has been discontinued. I may have to go with the 156w unit and remove the reflectors. Kicking myself for not ordering it. Oh well. Thanks for the replies. Link to comment
farkwar Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 There are 5000 more crappy Chinese LED fixtures just like it, available. Just search AliBaba and eBay. Link to comment
SgtBhaji Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 I spent $100 on my current chinese fixture, and I've gotten way more than my money's worth out of it and it's still trucking. But you know... if I could afford a Mercedes, I'd probably have one over my Mazda, but I wouldn't belittle anyone driving anything less. Link to comment
farkwar Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 If I were trying to belittle you, you would know it. I don't really like Mercedes cars, in addition the cheap chinese LED fixtures. I would prefer a Mazda pickup over them. Link to comment
SgtBhaji Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 Maybe you could offer me some information on why it's crappy so that I can make an informed decision. That is why I asked here afterall. Link to comment
farkwar Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I did offer you information. I wrote that there are 5000+ fixtures just like the one you want on Ali Baba and eBay. If you're not already convinced to using name brand LEDs and fixtures with real quality control and safety certifications, I certainly cant convince you. Link to comment
SgtBhaji Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 Well I could buy a named brand bbq sauce, or I could make my own, or I could take a punt on the unknown which could either be fantastic or crappy I'm looking for an opinion with some kind of substance to it. If you can tell me why I might not want this particular brand/type of light, that would be extremely useful. Link to comment
Halo_003 Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Well I could buy a named brand bbq sauce, or I could make my own, or I could take a punt on the unknown which could either be fantastic or crappy I'm looking for an opinion with some kind of substance to it. If you can tell me why I might not want this particular brand/type of light, that would be extremely useful. Its a you get what you pay for thing. Sure these might work for a year, but when you pay $150 for a light versus laying out the big bucks for a good one, there are corners cut. Link to comment
farkwar Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 An analogy is a comparison between two or more things that are alike. Wolf is to dog As Tiger is to cat Hat is to head As Glove is to hand Analogies are successfully used during a verbal debate to throw ones opponent off, because most likely the comparison used sounds plausible. But when critically analyzed, more often than not, the comparison is specious and inaccurate. Later when that is realized the parties are in different rooms or cities. In written discussions where people have time to digest the comparisons, they are almost always obviously so. A quality named brand LED fixture is to Mercedes As Cheap Chinese, no quality control, dangerous power supplies, counterfeit LED fixture is to Mazda See, that doesn't work, does it. Mazda makes excellent vehicles. Kinda makes you want to take it back, huh? Here' s one a little more accurate. Vertex Illumina is to Mercedes As A quality named brand fixture is to Mazda Link to comment
farkwar Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I have no idea how bbq sauce is analogous to LED fixtures, I'm completely lost on that one. I have no idea either of why you would want one in the first place, puts me at extreme disadvantage to try and convince you why you wouldn't. Link to comment
Reefgeek Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 To post something actually constructive for the OP, I have the full spectrum Aquamana fixture (non COB) over my 56 corner tank and it has two major flaw I've found. If you look at the chip layout, they used more Blue LEDs than Royal Blue and the result is that the color output ends up looking a bit like windex. The second and in my opinion worse issue is that the white channel WAY overpowers the blue channel so in order to end up around a visual 15K spectrum, I run my blue channel at 100 and the whites at 25. What makes that worse is that the violet chips are on the white channel so you basically lose all the benefit of having them. Eventually I plan to replace the cool whites with royal blues and I think that should get me closer to where I'd like to be. If I had to do it over? I'd wait for a used CC fixture to show up in the classifieds and buy that one because they got the colors right and I wouldn't have to tinker with it. Link to comment
SgtBhaji Posted December 24, 2014 Author Share Posted December 24, 2014 Thanks very much for the info. Very much appreciated. Link to comment
Seth fhy Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 You should look at the led lights on http://www.oceanrevivellc.com I don't have one but I am going to order one soon. Link to comment
paulrw Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 well i have an aquamana 156w cob. i've had it for just a year now i guess. at first i liked it, good price, really bright, and came with a decent hanging kit. my first issue is that the blues, reds, and green leds are all on the same channel so right off the bat not blue enough and with the whites on even a little it tends to wash out the blue so much in fact it leads in to my next issue. sometime in the last month my color channel went out i had no idea it happened until 2 days ago i wanted to make the colors on my coral pop a little more so i turned down my whites all the way and noticed all the other colors were out. which leads into my next issue. i took the fixture apart to see if there were any loose connections i was quite surprised to see how clean and neat the wiring was but no loose connections so i put it back together and now the fans don't work. that's my 2 cents. good luck with whatever you end up doing but i'm saving my coin for a radion or a.i.. Link to comment
SgtBhaji Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 Thanks for the info! I decided to give the light a shot, but it's on it's way back. The color separation on it was terrible and I didn't want tear it apart to take out the reflectors. The lowest dim setting was like a search light, way too bright! And as you mentioned, having various colors on the same channel as the blues made it really hard to control how the tank looks. On the plus side, Everything in the tank looked sharp, it cast some great shadows in the tank which my current array doesn't, as well some lovely light shimmers. If I'd been able to get the version without the reflectors and the separate blue lights, I'd have likely been happy with it. Hopefully anybody else considering this unit will find the info useful. Link to comment
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