chinese led lights

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by nrosdal

These are a little more refined and more expensive but has anyone tried em out?

http://www.cadlights.com/index.php?m...roducts_id=220

After reading the description I see some things to think about.

"a spacious 30" x 30" light spread at a 24" height." How big of a tank are you ususing thes on? If the tank is more than 30" long you will need two.

"Single 14K 100W Multi-Chip LED center bulb" wish they would describe this better. Cree's most powerful white chips are 25 Watt and are a max of 5,000K. Crees most powerful blue chips are 5 Watt. For a 14,000K look you would need a ratio of at least 2 blue to 1 White, depending on which white chips they used.

"12 pcs 460NM 1W supplemental lights surrounding." 12 Watts of blue with 100Watts of white lighting would go unnoticed. But these blues vould mak nice moon lights.

Overall it could be a very nice fixture dependent on the useres colore taste and there application.

[oceanarium]

Originally Posted by radbluesfan

Like I said, the overwhelming majority of people that have posted on this thread have had no complaints and have tanks that are doing well. The pictures are nice too. I am no professional and I can hardly tell the difference between MH, T5, and LED. What I do see is LED's reduced power consumption, heat, and bulb replacement costs. The testimonials of the members here who actually have bought and are using these lights is worth a lot to me. I have seen the pictures of nice sps growing and I am going to see if I can get a fish to live before attempting anything more. I can get 3 of these lights for slightly more than one at the LFS. They are just lights after all---and no one is experiencing epic failures from them. Have you actually tried them--about 199 pages back I read that someone you know had some problems but there are many variables that can cause problems in a reef tank. I understand that you do not like them and you are entitled to not buy them and get whatever you want to spend your money on. We get it, you don't like these, no problem. Why every couple of pages you need to state it again and again I do not know---it is not really what the thread has turned into. Thanks for the warning but I want to hear from the actual consumers and get their first hand experience. Yes I am doing whatever I can NOT to spend $1500 in lighting. I am a newbie and just not THAT into at this point. These lights obviously are not for the diehard, no budget, reef connoisseur but for many here they are just fine.

I have been running cheap Chinese LED brands since they first hit the market. After some promising firsts test we bit the bullet deciding they fitted the bill for a (profitable) commercial coral farm we save thousands every month on power for cooling and lighting. I currently run around 7500 watts of LED's. They cost only around ten grand ..... Viable to set up and run a coral farm this would have been more like 100 grand for high end lights, that's a lot of frags.

I have to say after two years and many generations of coral clones of all types of descriptions LPS SPS Softs and morphs we are very happy All our corals and the mother colonies are laying down great growth and colours under cheap LED.

[Soju]

Hello,

I have Fluval Edge 12 gallon tank.
It is about 17" high.

Which one of these would you recommend?

E.Shine Aqua Master 120W
http://www.eshinesystems.com/aqua/aq...ium-light.html

E.Shine Cree Classic 60W
http://www.eshinesystems.com/aqua/60...ium-light.html

Or the 120W ones on Ebay


Two questions regarding setup.

1. As you may know, the water in the Fluval tank is designed to be filled up all the way to the top. *This led unit will be placed on top of the tank and the distance between the led and the water will be less than 1" with a glass top in between.
The actual distance between most corals and the led is going to be about 7"-10" * *Is that too close? *Is there going to be a heat related issue?

2. Because the tank has a small opening in the middle with a cover to hide stock lighting and filter, I can not put this led unit right in the middle. *It would have to be placed towards the front edge or put smaller sized unit on each side. *
Will I be able to get an even coverage throughout the tank with this set up?

Thank you.

[BigCountry74]

Originally Posted by oceanarium

I have been running cheap Chinese LED brands since they first hit the market. After some promising firsts test we bit the bullet deciding they fitted the bill for a (profitable) commercial coral farm we save thousands every month on power for cooling and lighting. I currently run around 7500 watts of LED's. They cost only around ten grand ..... Viable to set up and run a coral farm this would have been more like 100 grand for high end lights, that's a lot of frags.

I have to say after two years and many generations of coral clones of all types of descriptions LPS SPS Softs and morphs we are very happy All our corals and the mother colonies are laying down great growth and colours under cheap LED.

How high are your light boxes sitting off that pic?

[Phishguy]

Originally Posted by oceanarium

I have been running cheap Chinese LED brands since they first hit the market. After some promising firsts test we bit the bullet deciding they fitted the bill for a (profitable) commercial coral farm we save thousands every month on power for cooling and lighting. I currently run around 7500 watts of LED's. They cost only around ten grand ..... Viable to set up and run a coral farm this would have been more like 100 grand for high end lights, that's a lot of frags.

I have to say after two years and many generations of coral clones of all types of descriptions LPS SPS Softs and morphs we are very happy All our corals and the mother colonies are laying down great growth and colours under cheap LED.

I'm very interested in more details about this system. Unless you work for the eBay company, this would probably be the best testimonial out there. Tell us more please

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by Soju

Hello,

I have Fluval Edge 12 gallon tank.
It is about 17" high.

Which one of these would you recommend?

E.Shine Aqua Master 120W
http://www.eshinesystems.com/aqua/aq...ium-light.html

E.Shine Cree Classic 60W
http://www.eshinesystems.com/aqua/60...ium-light.html

Or the 120W ones on Ebay


Two questions regarding setup.

1. As you may know, the water in the Fluval tank is designed to be filled up all the way to the top. *This led unit will be placed on top of the tank and the distance between the led and the water will be less than 1" with a glass top in between.
The actual distance between most corals and the led is going to be about 7"-10" * *Is that too close? *Is there going to be a heat related issue?

2. Because the tank has a small opening in the middle with a cover to hide stock lighting and filter, I can not put this led unit right in the middle. *It would have to be placed towards the front edge or put smaller sized unit on each side. *
Will I be able to get an even coverage throughout the tank with this set up?

Thank you.

For a 12 gallon tank even the 60 watt LED's would probably be over kill. For a 40 Breeder tank with the lights 8" above the water line I'm using 24-3 Watt LED's at 2.5 Watts each for a total of 58 Watts. In reality you should be able to get good lighting with 1/2 that wattage for for a 12 gallon tank. With the lights being only 1" above the warter line means you need even less watage.

I would look for something in the range of 12, 3 Watt LED's. or 36 1 Watt LED's. with the 12 3 Watt set up for a DIY your talking roughly $75.00. You in a position where the cheapest Fixture may be your better deal sionce you do not need that much total light cmpared to many of us running biger tanks.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by oceanarium

I have been running cheap Chinese LED brands since they first hit the market. After some promising firsts test we bit the bullet deciding they fitted the bill for a (profitable) commercial coral farm we save thousands every month on power for cooling and lighting. I currently run around 7500 watts of LED's. They cost only around ten grand ..... Viable to set up and run a coral farm this would have been more like 100 grand for high end lights, that's a lot of frags.

I have to say after two years and many generations of coral clones of all types of descriptions LPS SPS Softs and morphs we are very happy All our corals and the mother colonies are laying down great growth and colours under cheap LED.

$10,000 for 7,500 Watts of LED's is roughly $1.33 per Watt. This is slighly less than any DIY lighting project. But now the question is how many Gallons of corals tanks are you lighting up. My thoughts would be your someplace around 5,000 gallons, if they are truly that effecient?

[jrp1588]

Got my replacement black box for free after only 3 business days. I now have a spare sitting around that I can pull parts from. Say what you want about them, but these people have some awesome customer support. Sending out a whole replacement unit free of charge no questions asked, and no requirement for shipping back the defective unit.

[Vince]

jrp1588,
Would you mind naming the ebay seller you bought your lights from? I have decided to acquire some. That kind of customer service is hard to beat.

[jrp1588]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epistar-New-...item256ca62201

There you go, looks like they bumped up the price by $10 since I bought mine though.

[oceanarium]

Originally Posted by BigCountry74

How high are your light boxes sitting off that pic?

That tank is 6 x 2 footprint and uses 4 x 120 LED water is 20" deep lights are about 6" above the water.

I'm very interested in more details about this system. Unless you work for the eBay company, this would probably be the best testimonial out there. Tell us more please

No I don't sell lights just corals, that system is made up of 12 tanks 20-250g growing all coral types under LED. All corals are produced from frags originally added and grown out to produce more without the need for new WC corals.

$10,000 for 7,500 Watts of LED's is roughly $1.33 per Watt. This is slighly less than any DIY lighting project. But now the question is how many Gallons of corals tanks are you lighting up. My thoughts would be your someplace around 5,000 gallons, if they are truly that effecient?

About 3000g... 7500w per 5000g would be the equivalent of one 400w MH per 250g I think that's a little ambitious to maintain corals in a strong state of growth.

[BigCountry74]

Originally Posted by oceanarium

That tank is 6 x 2 footprint and uses 4 x 120 LED water is 20" deep lights are about 6" above the water

perfect. thats my tank dimensions also and mine sit about 7-8" above the water. I just wanted to make sure.

i am only running 3 boxes. i bet thats a tight fit with 4?

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by oceanarium

About 3000g... 7500w per 5000g would be the equivalent of one 400w MH per 250g I think that's a little ambitious to maintain corals in a strong state of growth.

That would depend upon the effeciency of the LED's. Your then running about 2.5 Watts per gallon. So for every 250 gallons your using 625 watts of power. With the normal conversion of Cree XPE 3 watt LED's that is the equivelent of running 900 Watts of MH's. Basicly 3 25 Watt MH's plus 3 T-5's.

However all LED's are not equal in effecency which is what I keep bring up. I ran 3 simular LED's rated at the same color spectrum and wattage from different sources. Each varied considerably not only by the intensity of the light but also the colour tint.

[oceanarium]

Originally Posted by BigCountry74

perfect. thats my tank dimensions also and mine sit about 7-8" above the water. I just wanted to make sure.

i am only running 3 boxes. i bet thats a tight fit with 4?

Nahh plenty of room for more

One thing I will say is I don't like to 50w 50b mix most importers select, I like much less blue. as you can see I am testing some quite warm lights on the left and right side at the moment.

That would depend upon the effeciency of the LED's. Your then running about 2.5 Watts per gallon. So for every 250 gallons your using 625 watts of power. With the normal conversion of Cree XPE 3 watt LED's that is the equivelent of running 900 Watts of MH's. Basicly 3 25 Watt MH's plus 3 T-5's.

However all LED's are not equal in effecency which is what I keep bring up. I ran 3 simular LED's rated at the same color spectrum and wattage from different sources. Each varied considerably not only by the intensity of the light but also the colour tint.

The Chinese manufacturers are more than happy to use any brand you specify in their lights, I use epistar and bridglux emitters but they will happily use cree if you ask.

Love to see a link to a DIY 20" deep sps reef using less watts with good growth and colours.

[Mussin]

So what would be ideal for a 75G (4ft) How many fixtures?


Jeremy

[ganjero]

Originally Posted by oceanarium

I have been running cheap Chinese LED brands since they first hit the market. After some promising firsts test we bit the bullet deciding they fitted the bill for a (profitable) commercial coral farm we save thousands every month on power for cooling and lighting. I currently run around 7500 watts of LED's. They cost only around ten grand ..... Viable to set up and run a coral farm this would have been more like 100 grand for high end lights, that's a lot of frags.

I have to say after two years and many generations of coral clones of all types of descriptions LPS SPS Softs and morphs we are very happy All our corals and the mother colonies are laying down great growth and colours under cheap LED.

Not sure if it's the picture settings or your water chemistry or if it has to do with your lights but IMO those corals don't look good, I've seen better looking corals under LEDs. Some corals look browned, some washed or pale....

[Soju]

oceanarium,
I am looking at this 24 x 3W led unit with dimmer for my 17" deep 12 gallon nano for $180 including shipping from China. It comes with bridgelux led. The same unit will come with CREE led for an extra $60. Base on your experience, is the extra $60 on CREE worth it?
Thanks.

[kbell2433]

Originally Posted by Ucyibd1

I will let you know about the ledbell dimmable lights, I have 2 of them on the way. They will be here Monday, I will post up pics when I get them up.

Did you get these yet? Are you gonna post some pix and an initial review?

[jeffesaurusrex]

Originally Posted by ganjero

Not sure if it's the picture settings or your water chemistry or if it has to do with your lights but IMO those corals don't look good, I've seen better looking corals under LEDs. Some corals look browned, some washed or pale....

He said above the ones on the right and left of the tank are under an "experimental" color temp, way warmer than the normal 50/50 mix. That's probably the difference you see.

[ganjero]

Originally Posted by jeffesaurusrex

He said above the ones on the right and left of the tank are under an "experimental" color temp, way warmer than the normal 50/50 mix. That's probably the difference you see.

I made my comment based on his posts right above the first picture

Originally Posted by oceanarium

I have to say after two years and many generations of coral clones of all types of descriptions LPS SPS Softs and morphs we are very happy All our corals and the mother colonies are laying down great growth and colours under cheap LED.

[BigCountry74]

Originally Posted by oceanarium

Nahh plenty of room for more

ahh you have yours sitting vertical. i mounted mine horizontally. you takes looks deeper than mine for sure. makes sense why 4 is not a problem for ya.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by ganjero

Not sure if it's the picture settings or your water chemistry or if it has to do with your lights but IMO those corals don't look good, I've seen better looking corals under LEDs. Some corals look browned, some washed or pale....

the picture looks to like it one of those where he is using the Warm White LED's on. The Warm whites will make the reds pop more however they do produce more light in the red end of the spectrum. Numerious stidues have confirmed that light in the 685 nm (red) part of the spectrum is needed for good coral growth but when delivered in excess will cause bleaching and browning is many specific corals.

Basicly there are three White LED's the so called Warm Whites, Neutral Whites, and Cool Whites. The warm whites are heavy in the blue end of the spectrum, the neutral whites should have a flat spectrum. and the cool whites are heavy on the Red end of the spectrum.

Peole concerned about coral growth more than color will often use the cool whites. This will give them max light in the Blue Green end of the spectrum. People looking to retail display where the corals are kept for a short period of time will usualy use a Warm white since it will show the best reflective colors of the corals. The average aquarists will use the neutral whites as it is a comprimise between other two extremes.

Now be warte when we say Warm White, Neutral White, or Cool White as there is no true standard that all manufactures use for these definitions. I will go back to my first experiment with 3 Watt LED's. I set up three LED's all claiming to be Cool White 3 watt LED's identicaly on a strip. Each were dialed in and calculated at exactly 3 watts. Comparing Colors to each other one looked Purple, one Looked Blue, and one looked Yellow as they sat next to each other. But there was also a big difference in the brighness between the three LED's as well. The no brand name Chineese LED was the Yellowish colored one and I would extimate it would take three of them to match the brightness of the Cree XP-. I would also say the brightness was probably 100% proportionat to the price I paiud for these LED's.

Now on the color do not get me wrong there was not a big difference between these LED's If I would have had Neutral Whites to compare them to they all probably would have looked more blue that the neutral whites.

[Ucyibd1]

Originally Posted by kbell2433

Did you get these yet? Are you gonna post some pix and an initial review?

Yeah, I got them on Monday. I will post some pictures and my thoughts when I get home tonight.

[Rakkah]

If I wanted to measure the output of my Chinese LED lights, how / what would i use to do so?

[Vince]

You will need a par meter to do so.