how to choose a light?

[Friendly]

16 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Coral compulsion is the company that offer dimmable par38. They have a lot of options available

thank you, thank you, thank you! :)

[Clown79]

3 minutes ago, Friendly said:

thank you, thank you, thank you! 🙂

😁 you're welcome!

 

They are a bit higher in price but come with 3 yr warranty and higher end par38.

[Friendly]

and have no Par38 dimmable in stock.  

 

just emailed asking if they have an ETA for new stock.

 

[blasterman]

Friend of mine has a 400gal peninsular with table acropora 2feet in diameter and clams 14" across and growing. It's a scary example of a captive reef.

 

He uses nothing but generic Chinese black boxes on the tank and has about as much invested in lighting as a single Radion. None of his lights have smartphone controllers. He's too busy growing SPS the size of small children to screw around with that junk. 

 

Reef lights are economical, but you guys want features that rival a PS4 and have nothing to do with growing coral, and that's what you are paying for. 

 

And for the record 3 Cree XPG3s that cost $4.00 each bolted to a spare heatsink and driven with a 2amp driver costs a fraction of the PAR equivelant Kessil and looks better. I also dont have to open ports on my router so I can tweak color from work.

 

/rant

[JBM]

^^this^^

 

Less is more often enough.

[Yaman]

47 minutes ago, blasterman said:

Friend of mine has a 400gal peninsular with table acropora 2feet in diameter and clams 14" across and growing. It's a scary example of a captive reef.

 

He uses nothing but generic Chinese black boxes on the tank and has about as much invested in lighting as a single Radion. None of his lights have smartphone controllers. He's too busy growing SPS the size of small children to screw around with that junk. 

 

Reef lights are economical, but you guys want features that rival a PS4 and have nothing to do with growing coral, and that's what you are paying for. 

 

And for the record 3 Cree XPG3s that cost $4.00 each bolted to a spare heatsink and driven with a 2amp driver costs a fraction of the PAR equivelant Kessil and looks better. I also dont have to open ports on my router so I can tweak color from work.

 

/rant

Hm...time to check xpg3s 😀

[Friendly]

I'm not a DIY sorta guy...  😛 

[DaveFason]

12 minutes ago, Friendly said:

I'm not a DIY sorta guy...  😛 

From your original post nail the tank down first, then lights. With the size differences you mentioned you will need multiple or larger lights if you go bigger. 

 

Any  that the crowd has said will work great. Of course I'd love you to choose NBR but being in CA makes it difficult. Tarrifs, duties, shipping, etc. While what the others said about the black boxes work, just remember they are extremely ugly. If you are more into looks then the AI, Kessil or NBR would be more in your alley. I've personally never been a big fan of PAR bulbs, but that is me. 

 

There are tons of great options now so you can't go wrong. Find what YOU like and nail that tank down. 

[Friendly]

is there anyone else that sells dimmable Par38 bulbs like Coral Compulsion? or perhaps knows if you can get no-name-generic options out of China? I tried searching on Aliexpress with no luck.  😞