165 watt full spectrum LED / anybody seen one?

[blasterman]

Friend of mine was asking about the 165watt LED lights that are all over FleaBay and the usual discount sources. These are the ones that have a couple greens and reds in the mix, and I assume it's the same two channel light.

 

They're cheap, often selling less than S85, and he was asking me about them. I haven't seen one in the flesh and reviews I've seen are tough to judge color. Most look too purple to me, but might just be their adjustment. Anybody seen one over an actual tank and can comment?

[Horerczy]

I did a write up about them that's somewhere on this forum. They're interesting lights. Have one over my 10 gallon mantis tank. It works OK.

[VW_TDI_02]

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/351977-a-closer-look-at-chinese-ebay-fixtures/#entry4845834

[blasterman]

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/351977-a-closer-look-at-chinese-ebay-fixtures/#entry4845834

 

That's not the light, and thread you linked really doesn't discuss color, but thanks for trying

 

Amazon has them. I'll just tell him to buy one, and if it sucks he's got the return option.

[VW_TDI_02]

 

That's not the light, and thread you linked really doesn't discuss color, but thanks for trying

 

Amazon has them. I'll just tell him to buy one, and if it sucks he's got the return option.

There's a diagram of the colors in there and you never told us which light it actually was. The one in the review that I linked is just like the ones you find on Ebay. It might be a slightly different model with different knobs but typically they are almost exactly the same with a few exceptions. In regards to color, I think that is something that is very difficult and subjective when looking at pictures online. There are just so many variables that can change how the tank looks between real life and what you see. The monitor you have, the settings that it is running on, the personal preferences of the original poster, the camera, etc. all play a huge role in what it ends up looking like to you.

[Markburns43]

Nothing can be truer than seeing it in person with ones own eye.

[Benny314]

I've got a reefer friend running 2 of these discount units he got the other year. I'm in the UK and he paid £90 a unit, they're now down to about £65 depending where your looking and if you don't mind waiting for them to come from china.

I think his tank looks very pink/purple. But that's my opinion and I have never had the chance to fiddle with the knobs and see what happens as you adjust things.

He does however get amazing growth under them and all his corals seem happy and healthy.

 

I think it's going to be a subjective thing, yes you get what you pay for in terms of colour control, but they do seem very reliable and do the job well for the price. Having the ability to no fuss return them is going to be the best bet as you don't loose out if you/your friend hates the colour. But I think over all the results for the price will justify the possible compromise on colour/colour control.

[blasterman]

There's a diagram of the colors in there and you never told us which light it actually was.

 

The D120 may be similiar, but I asked for experience with the 165 watt versions which have a different layout.

 

1-6-5 watt.....not 1-2-0 watt. I don't like linking because some forums will ban you for it, and my life isn't long enough to to figure out the rules in all of them.

 

Thanks Benny 314...gets my closer.

[Horerczy]

I found the 165 watt units aren't running 165 watts.

 

Heck the d120 in the link is only using 100 watts out the plug.

[VW_TDI_02]

 

The D120 may be similiar, but I asked for experience with the 165 watt versions which have a different layout.

 

1-6-5 watt.....not 1-2-0 watt. I don't like linking because some forums will ban you for it, and my life isn't long enough to to figure out the rules in all of them.

 

Thanks Benny 314...gets my closer.

Let me explain something to you but I'm going to try to do it in a way where I don't come off as a complete dickhead. If you compare the ones labeled as "165 watt" and the ones labeled as "120 watt" you will see that pretty much all of them come with fifty five 3 watt LEDs. If we do a little math then we will see that 55 multiplied by three is equal to 165. Obviously, they don't run each LED at the full 3 watts in order to increase longevity and they typically have a maximum actual power consumption of 120 watt. Depending on where you look, they will either label them as 120 watt or 165 watt but in the end they are still using the fifty five 3 watt LEDs. This is a simple marketing tool used to make one look more powerful than the other when they are actually just about the same.

 

In regards to the color it again depends on where you get them from as some do have different spectrums but like I said earlier, you still have not given us an actual link or even the name of the fixture you are looking at. You say that the ones labeled as 165 watt have a different spectrum but whether they label them as 120 watt or 165 watt has no impact on the spectrum. The next two links are both labeled as "165 watt full spectrum" but guess what, they have different LED layouts.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/165W-Full-Spectrum-Dimmable-LED-Aquarium-Light-for-Coral-Reef-Fish-Marine-Tank/281636429133?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D30543%26meid%3D97be7dd03b9d4d949cc87451ac32a88c%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D7%26rkt%3D10%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D380771821215

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181627113534

 

If you look at some of the ones labeled as 120 watt, you will see that they may have a different LED layout as well but again, that has nothing to do with whether it is labeled as 120 watt or 165 watt. In the end, they're all a bunch of cheap chinese panels with some differences in LED layout but 99% of them are running fifty five 3 watt LEDs.

[DaveFason]

Friend of mine was asking about the 165watt LED lights that are all over FleaBay and the usual discount sources. These are the ones that have a couple greens and reds in the mix, and I assume it's the same two channel light.

 

They're cheap, often selling less than S85, and he was asking me about them. I haven't seen one in the flesh and reviews I've seen are tough to judge color. Most look too purple to me, but might just be their adjustment. Anybody seen one over an actual tank and can comment?

My buddy has one. It is a purple look but not as bad as first gen. Still has a fake look to the light.

 

-D

[nidding]

I have one of those from marsaqua.

Pulled off the optics and replaced the noisy fans, other than that I'm very happy with it.

Sure you could probably get a better light, but considering the price, you wont get a better bang for the buck. And really the light is not bad at all. As late as yesterday a guy whom I was swapping some frags with commented on the nice light over my tank.

[Halo_003]

A lot of the reefers here use them with great success. I had the 300W version for a period but sold it to run my T5 instead. They have okay color at best. I wasn't really able to go the color I wanted with the 300W though. Not sure how to describe it but to me they have a very washed out color. My T5 has a Coral+ and a Blue+, (only run 2 bulbs right now), and when some of the locals have been over to see it and buy corals they were stunned at the light and color differences.