Chinese LED's

[tdannhauser30]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/165W-Dimmable-full-spectrum-led-aquarium-light-Marine-Reef-Coral-Fish-Tank-Lamp-/251495773757?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a8e50f63d

 

 

Anyone have any experience with these? Everything sounds rigt but they are dirt cheap. Are these something to be avoided? They seem like such a good deal. What do you think?

[Thomas898]

I use one above my 50 litre tank, it's good, currently used to grow Zoas, Xenia and Nems, although it's worked for SPS and LPS before too. Colour spectrum leaves a bit to be desired though, no matter how I adjust it I can't ever seem to see red fluorescence in corals, especially red hornet zoas (found this out after buying an expensive frag....), but when the lights only $90, not something to get too cut up about

[tdannhauser30]

I use one above my 50 litre tank, it's good, currently used to grow Zoas, Xenia and Nems, although it's worked for SPS and LPS before too. Colour spectrum leaves a bit to be desired though, no matter how I adjust it I can't ever seem to see red fluorescence in corals, especially red hornet zoas (found this out after buying an expensive frag....), but when the lights only $90, not something to get too cut up about

Thank you, I am thinking about getting something like this because my nanocubes LED's go out it seems like every month. A new strip of those ( five strips in the fixture) costs 70 bucks so this is almost the same price. How big is it? If you dont mine could you measure some dmensions of it for me? Im curios as to if this would work for my nanocube 28 gal. Also would it be easy to make some feet for it instead of hanging it do you think?

 

 

Anyone else have any cheap LED's theyre using that they especially like? Any other opinions??

[VW_TDI_02]

If you really think about it, these are pretty much the same as any other cheap panel. Some are more expensive like the reef breeders value and the one you linked happened to be one of the lowest priced ones. I've seen someone on here who has the larger 300 watt one and paired it with 4 T5HO for their tank and it looks fantastic.

[Thomas898]

Thank you, I am thinking about getting something like this because my nanocubes LED's go out it seems like every month. A new strip of those ( five strips in the fixture) costs 70 bucks so this is almost the same price. How big is it? If you dont mine could you measure some dmensions of it for me? Im curios as to if this would work for my nanocube 28 gal. Also would it be easy to make some feet for it instead of hanging it do you think?

 

 

Anyone else have any cheap LED's theyre using that they especially like? Any other opinions??

That's pricey if they're blowing every month! This one I've had is around 4-5 months old I think and I haven't had a single bulb go out in that time. Measured it in metric, dimensions are as follows; 6 cm x 21 cm x 41 cm.

I made feet for it by placing two thin strips of wood underneath on either side, cutting them so size so it rested flush on the top of the tank and I just lay the box on top with small pieces of Velcro because my cat likes to jump on it and I was worried it would fall in the tank. No issues yet! Sounds ugly as sin but you can't actually see the wood thank god lol. The supplier I got that light from did mention that there is a bracket that is available for it that can be purchased separately, but they were customer service geniuses and had no idea where I could get it from.

 

Hopefully someone knows!

[tdannhauser30]

If you really think about it, these are pretty much the same as any other cheap panel. Some are more expensive like the reef breeders value and the one you linked happened to be one of the lowest priced ones. I've seen someone on here who has the larger 300 watt one and paired it with 4 T5HO for their tank and it looks fantastic.

Yeah im no expert on lights but the way I see it LEDs are all the same right? Chinese and cheap or not they both light up the tank and grow coral lol.

 

 

 

That's pricey if they're blowing every month! This one I've had is around 4-5 months old I think and I haven't had a single bulb go out in that time. Measured it in metric, dimensions are as follows; 6 cm x 21 cm x 41 cm.

I made feet for it by placing two thin strips of wood underneath on either side, cutting them so size so it rested flush on the top of the tank and I just lay the box on top with small pieces of Velcro because my cat likes to jump on it and I was worried it would fall in the tank. No issues yet! Sounds ugly as sin but you can't actually see the wood thank god lol. The supplier I got that light from did mention that there is a bracket that is available for it that can be purchased separately, but they were customer service geniuses and had no idea where I could get it from.

 

Hopefully someone knows!

Very pricy! Well it hasnt been every month but it feels like it! 4 in the past 8 months probably. Replaced two and now have two out and cant justify spending that much to fix the Piece of junk. So with the light being that close to your tank your not worried about heat or water splashing or anything getting into the light? I wasnt sure how durable they would have made it seeing as they seem to want you to hang it lol.

 

 

Anyone know what size of these kinda lights I would get for a 28 gallon cube? I am utterly lost when it comes to lights.. How many watts should I be looking for?is 90 degree lense ok?

[Thomas898]

 

Very pricy! Well it hasnt been every month but it feels like it! 4 in the past 8 months probably. Replaced two and now have two out and cant justify spending that much to fix the Piece of junk. So with the light being that close to your tank your not worried about heat or water splashing or anything getting into the light? I wasnt sure how durable they would have made it seeing as they seem to want you to hang it lol.

 

 

Anyone know what size of these kinda lights I would get for a 28 gallon cube? I am utterly lost when it comes to lights.. How many watts should I be looking for?is 90 degree lense ok?

I was worried about it, but there hasn't been any issue with water splashing and there has been nothing that has gotten into the fixture. The glass panel they put on them and the way it is sealed seems to be for all purposes completely water proof. LEDs produce very minimal heat anyway, my heater is set at 24 degrees and that is usually coming on several times a day when the lights are running so I'm assuming the temp never gets much above that. It's around 3" from the surface and I don't run it past 50% otherwise everything seems to have a fit. I think them not supplying the mounting bracket is more because they are stingy rather than the fixture being crap, I was very suspicious of the same thing but when I found out you could actually buy the bracket, they just choose to not stock it, I felt better lol.

[VW_TDI_02]

LEDs are not all the same!!! I was referring to those panels. Aquamana, OceanRevive, Galaxyhydro, ReefBreeders Value, Marsaqua, etc. There is a lot that goes into them. First you have the spectrum, then how much power is actually running through them (typically a 3 watt LED doesn't run at 3 watts in order to extend its life), optics, etc. There is a lot more that I frankly don't know enough to explain. But from what I've seen, those lights I just listed are all pretty much the same (55 3 watt leds running on two channels with individual power cables and dimmer switches). Reef breeders is nice simply because of their customer service and the fact that they aren't some cheap no name company.

[tdannhauser30]

I was worried about it, but there hasn't been any issue with water splashing and there has been nothing that has gotten into the fixture. The glass panel they put on them and the way it is sealed seems to be for all purposes completely water proof. LEDs produce very minimal heat anyway, my heater is set at 24 degrees and that is usually coming on several times a day when the lights are running so I'm assuming the temp never gets much above that. It's around 3" from the surface and I don't run it past 50% otherwise everything seems to have a fit. I think them not supplying the mounting bracket is more because they are stingy rather than the fixture being crap, I was very suspicious of the same thing but when I found out you could actually buy the bracket, they just choose to not stock it, I felt better lol.

Is this light over your 18 gallon tank? Also are you able to like program the light to dim on its own??

LEDs are not all the same!!! I was referring to those panels. Aquamana, OceanRevive, Galaxyhydro, ReefBreeders Value, Marsaqua, etc. There is a lot that goes into them. First you have the spectrum, then how much power is actually running through them (typically a 3 watt LED doesn't run at 3 watts in order to extend its life), optics, etc. There is a lot more that I frankly don't know enough to explain. But from what I've seen, those lights I just listed are all pretty much the same (55 3 watt leds running on two channels with individual power cables and dimmer switches). Reef breeders is nice simply because of their customer service and the fact that they aren't some cheap no name company.

Yeah reefbreeders would probably be the way I would go if i wasnt dirt poor in college lol. For now ill have to take my chances with the no name ones. However thanks to thomas I can rest easy lol

[Thomas898]

Is this light over your 18 gallon tank? Also are you able to like program the light to dim on its own??

Noo, my 18 gallon uses T5s, I have two supplemental 3W LED strips over as well, using a combination of the two I found provides a very nice spectrum. The light is completely non programmable unfortunately, you just set it at the one intensity and that's it unless you manually adjust. That being said nothing in the 18 gallon is programmable either so that's always the same amount of light all day, nothing seems to mind in there.

 

One thing you could do is get a timer to plug into your power board to turn one channel on in the morning, and then have the other come on later in the day, both channels run on a separate power supply, but that's about as fancy as the 'programming' gets with these fixtures. Personally I just spent the money I had on that idea on more coral though..

[aviator300]

First of all, i don't know anyone who could afford a good quality light, made by a reputable company and using the latest technology who would purchase one of the Chinese specials as their first choice...People who buy them are generally those who cannot afford a quality fixture. (I know this because i was one of them about a year ago).

 

They work, but using old technology, inferior diodes, and very heavy, large components, most folks use them for awhile and then sell them.

Let me say something one more time. They do work and they do grow coral just fine but in the long run, you get what you pay for.

 

I finally decided what i wanted (NanoBox Duo), practiced a little delayed gratification, and saved money for almost 8 months to order my NanoBox today. Now that the wait is almost over, i'm sure glad i did it this way.

[tdannhauser30]

First of all, i don't know anyone who could afford a good quality light, made by a reputable company and using the latest technology who would purchase one of the Chinese specials as their first choice...People who buy them are generally those who cannot afford a quality fixture. (I know this because i was one of them about a year ago).

 

They work, but using old technology, inferior diodes, and very heavy, large components, most folks use them for awhile and then sell them.

Let me say something one more time. They do work and they do grow coral just fine but in the long run, you get what you pay for.

 

I finally decided what i wanted (NanoBox Duo), practiced a little delayed gratification, and saved money for almost 8 months to order my NanoBox today. Now that the wait is almost over, i'm sure glad i did it this way.

haha you feel my pain. I think that technology would be superior to my old nanocube LED hood would you agree?? Those nanoboxes are awesome, just so damn expensive. But hey like you said you get what you pay for.