chinese led lights

[Finisher604]

I love my AI sol but I tell ya MH sure does produce some amazing color

[blasto_master]

Does anyone know if the leds in these chinese fixtures can be replaced?

[Travis1787]

I would think 2 would be good for the 55 one over each half its 48" long right? That's 24" for each like to cover which is pleanty its actually prob a little over kill gallon wise but due to the long length its kinda tough

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by blasto_master

Does anyone know if the leds in these chinese fixtures can be replaced?

In most cases the only LED's that can be replaced are from DIY units. ((% of DIY LED systems use Star mounted LED's and the builder knows exactly what LED's they are using.

With the Chineese Mylasian, and even some of the American made systems there are many questions on how they are mounted and how they are matched. Even when your using all Cree LED's if you do not know what series the LED's are from you cannot simply replace them with a Cree LED from another series. The voltages and Currents may not match.

From the different Chinese LED's out there even you have LED's that run at 12 volts and 0.2 MA, to those running at 2 Volts drawing 1.5ma. You have units that run on constant voltage usualy witerd in parrellel and this running on constant current usualy run in series. Then you have the priority mounting systems that some manufacturers use especialy those that are running many LED's in a very small area.

Some manufacturers may sell replacement LED's for there systems but most look at it as the LED';s should last a long period of time and usints are throw away units. Even if they do offer replacements the average person could not repplace some of the LED's on Priiority systems. They would basicly require soldering them in position under a microscope.

If you look at the LED's themselves CREE LED's are only 3.45 mm square. That means they are 0.135826 " across. It is only because second parties mount these on seperate Star mounts that they are so easy for the average person to use on DIY projects. Comercial manufacturers actualy seldiom mount LED's on these star mounts but ususaly on special mounts they develop for there specific applications.

[TropTrea]

I little note on RDHDDRAGON color comparison.

Judging color from photos is realy difficult as different colors react differently to the sensors in photographic equipment compared to the human eye.

Yes colors will appear to change with LED's or any other form of lighting when the light given to the corals is changed by its spectrum. LED's have a great advantage here as they are usualy have a more narrow band band width so you can easily apply more light in one part of the spectrum compared to another.

What we see in corals is a combination of florescent light and reflective light. With reflective light we need to produce the light we want to see and the corals will then refelect it back to us. For florescent light the corals absorb light at one wave lenght usualy a short wave lenght then that light stimulates the florescent chemicals to emit light again at a longer wave lenght. This is usualy where we stimulate the florescent chemicals with wave lenghts of light between 420 nm and 500 nm. In return the corals floresce back at anywhere from 430 nm to 700 nm. Each coral having different florescent chemicals resulting in them being stimulated by different wave lenghts and emitting different wave lenghts.

The difficult part is to balance between the reflective ful spectrum light and the florescent short wave lenght lighting to get a good balance for us. This ideal balance varies betenn the different corals we are keeping as well as the individuals personal taste. Remember you can say this is a balance bertween florescense and reflective. Some individuals like a 90% florescent look while other prefer only a 40% florescent look.

I have found that the selection of individual LED's in the system has a drastic effect in different ratios. My prefenece has gone to about a 3 Royal Blue 457 nm, to 4 Blue 475 nm, to 1 cyan 500 nm, to 2 Neutral White 4,200K ratio.

I have tried Cool White LED's and found that the ratio is much different as well as the total effect where a 2 Royal Blue to 1 Cyan to 2 Cool White LEDs seems the best but there still is not the reflective light from the reds in the corals that I like.

I have also experimented with near UV 415 nm Lights. While I will say that it did increase some of the florescense it also created loads of comments as to why my tank looked so pink. Running just 1 of LED's to 11 others to me was overkill. They did give the coral a period of glow after the other lights went out like was reported however it slowly died out through the darkness period. They also caused a shift in some of my greens from a lime green color to more of an aqua green color in the florescense, but also causes some of the reflective colors to take on a pink hue.

On my 120 gallon build with probably 60 3+ Watt LED's I am considering using 2 or 4 of the near UV LED's but have ruled them out for completly for smaller builds.

[submersible]

Originally Posted by blasto_master

Does anyone know if the leds in these chinese fixtures can be replaced?

The cree leds should be replacable, but it will be more difficult, as TropTrea stated, they are not easy to solder like star mounted leds.

I doubt the chinese, ebay fixtures' leds can be replaced, but the fixture would be perfect for a professional looking DIY setup if it ever dies. Has a glass splash guard, side vents, 3 fans, and enough room to conceal a heatsink inside. Hopefully by the time it dies, led prices will go down, more efficient leds will be produced, and the led color/spectrum ratio's will be a little more dialed in.

[Honks69]

I was wondering is there anyway to add optics to one of these black box units?

[BigCountry74]

X2 it would be very hard to replace or mod the black boxes. Heck that's the reason your ordering them so cheap in the first place so not sure why you would want to.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by Honks69

I was wondering is there anyway to add optics to one of these black box units?

Yes they can but you have to very careful. Even for CREE LED's different series of LED's use different optics. These are NOT interchangable with even the optics made for Bridgelux LED's, or Philips Rebel LED's. Now with Chineese LED's your taking a chance that optics are even available at all.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by BigCountry74

X2 it would be very hard to replace or mod the black boxes. Heck that's the reason your ordering them so cheap in the first place so not sure why you would want to.

There used to be an old saying that you get what you pay for. Aquarium lighting is definatly an area where this is very true. Please do not expect a $150 fixture to preform as well as a $300 fixture and last as long.

the expected life span on a $1,000 comercial fixture or most DIY fixtures using quality LED's is 50,000 hours of operation. That breaks down to almost 12 years of operation. Now when something goes on the DIY you can simply replace it . But for the Black Boxes you may try replacing something but chances are you will not find the right part and could further damage the system.

Will the black box Last 12 years? very doubtfully
Will the black box last 3 years? probably.
Will it last the lenght of its warrantee? almost definatly.

[kbell2433]

Originally Posted by TropTrea

There used to be an old saying that you get what you pay for. Aquarium lighting is definatly an area where this is very true. Please do not expect a $150 fixture to preform as well as a $300 fixture and last as long.

I do agree with this somewhat. The LFS in my neck of the woods sells lighting for way more than it is worth. Just because you pay more dosen't necessarily mean its better. Now im not saying these black boxes are top of the line. But you need to research. And if you are going to pay high dollar for lighting. You might not be getting what your paying for either.


But these Black boxes are just in my price range. And i was wondering are all these ebay ones the same or are some better than others? I am looking for one for my 29 gallon standard.

[Ianwraab]

You'll be fine with anything on a 29... http://www.gbgreensun.com/
Has some even a cheap dimmable

[submersible]

Originally Posted by kbell2433

I do agree with this somewhat. The LFS in my neck of the woods sells lighting for way more than it is worth. Just because you pay more dosen't necessarily mean its better. Now im not saying these black boxes are top of the line. But you need to research. And if you are going to pay high dollar for lighting. You might not be getting what your paying for either.


But these Black boxes are just in my price range. And i was wondering are all these ebay ones the same or are some better than others? I am looking for one for my 29 gallon standard.

There is a variety of these, taotronics style, black boxes. Some have 55 leds, some 40, some 120. Some 1 watt, 2 watt, and 3 watt. Some epistar, some bridgelux, some other leds. Some have dimmer knobs, but most don't. Some have 1 plug for blue and whites, others have independent plugs for blue and white. Some have separate switches for blue/white, some have no switches. I think most have a warranty, but some might not. With the variety of features, theres most likely many manufacturers. I'm sure theres a variety of quality, but with most not having a manufacturer label, it will be hard to track.

[aljan]

planning on buying these
listed as 48x 3w reef lighting led

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by aljan

planning on buying these
listed as 48x 3w reef lighting led

I have seen them. Someone had two of them over a custom frag sdisplay tank they used for frag swaps. It was a nice light for the purpose but I would not think they were practical for larger tanks as too many would be required.

These were on a tank 48" long 24" wide and 6" tall sitting about 18" over the tank.

[danmartis]

Originally Posted by Ianwraab

You'll be fine with anything on a 29... http://www.gbgreensun.com/
Has some even a cheap dimmable

http://www.gbgreensun.com/eshowshop.asp?/52.html
any reviews on this light ? i got a quote for 237$ shipped.
thank you.

[ghrorick]

I was kinda wondering about this company as well. I was thinking about getting 2 of the strip lights http://www.gbgreensun.com/eshowshop.asp?/57.html to supplement my t5s.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by danmartis

http://www.gbgreensun.com/eshowshop.asp?/52.html
any reviews on this light ? i got a quote for 237$ shipped.
thank you.

At that price for what they are claiming it does sound like a good deal.

My only gripe is I wish they were not using the R-5 whites as these are producing a lot of Blue light and minimal green and red light. The R-3's are the best in my eye.

My other thought is I do not like all Goyal Blues but prefer a blue/ royal blue mix to expand the blue spectrum. To me all royal blues look too purple however this is personal preference again.

I could not build a system like this with the remote control dimming for this price. It should work nice on a 36" tank and if you have a 49" tank I wopuld recommend two of them.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by ghrorick

I was kinda wondering about this company as well. I was thinking about getting 2 of the strip lights http://www.gbgreensun.com/eshowshop.asp?/57.html to supplement my t5s.

A lot less info on ther page for this light.

It looka to me like they have a 36" strip of 1 X 1 Channelong where they are mounting the LED's roughly every 3". That means 24 LED's total probably. But my concern is cooling with 16" of surfacve are for each LED they are right at about the limit of the LED and could result in a short LED life span from over heating.

I would value this fixture around $160.00 but have the same added thoughts that I would prefer R-3 Whites and some Blues in the mix again. Unfortunatly quth comercial set ups they canno0t meet everyones personal taste.

Also keep in mind these are strips so you would need at least two of them to cover an entire tank evenly. 150 watts from two strips on a 36" tank is a lot of LED light.

[blasto_master]

Originally Posted by ghrorick

I was kinda wondering about this company as well. I was thinking about getting 2 of the strip lights http://www.gbgreensun.com/eshowshop.asp?/57.html to supplement my t5s.

Sounds good maybe I could two four foot ones for my 75 gallon.

[ianrusso]

This is in reply to post #910:

I paid $178 for an LED fixture. Here are just a few par readings. This was with only one fixture 14" above the water surface when tested, i'm sure the par values are higher with multiple lught fixtures.
1" below - 640+
3" below - 420+
12" below - 280+

All my corals are growing and thriving well(only been 2 weeks), everything from softies, to monti's and even my red planet and other acros. The Ecotech Radion which costs around $400 per unit barely produces 200 Par at a few inches below the surface. This right here shows that a $150 light will be better than a $400 light.

It is not always you get what you pay for. Just because "Wong" (not to be racist) is willing to work for $2/hr in China and "Billy" here in the US needs $25/hr does not mean the product is any different if made with the exact same materials. An Epistar LED is an Epistar LED, and it will produce the same power if hooked up to a meanwell power supply. In China they might be able to get away with a cost of living of $500 a month, in the US that would never happen. Could this possibly be the reason they are so cheap. Maybe it is, I took the leap and I am extremely pleased.

I had the same misconceptions about these "chinese LED fixtures" as everyone else. I did my research and found a company in China and I ordered my lights from them directly. Mine came with Lenses and they were fully dimmable. If par values are not enough proof I do not know what is. I have only have these lights on the tank for 2 weeks and already notice growth. I will post pics with 30 days growth in a few weeks.

[kbell2433]

Originally Posted by ianrusso

I had the same misconceptions about these "chinese LED fixtures" as everyone else. I did my research and found a company in China and I ordered my lights from them directly. Mine came with Lenses and they were fully dimmable. If par values are not enough proof I do not know what is. I have only have these lights on the tank for 2 weeks and already notice growth. I will post pics with 30 days growth in a few weeks.

Do you have a link for the light you orderd?

[ianrusso]

Originally Posted by kbell2433

Do you have a link for the light you orderd?

Here is the link for the lights I purchased. Please let them know I sent you thier way.

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs...olesalers.html

[salsipuedes]

Originally Posted by ianrusso

Here is the link for the lights I purchased. Please let them know I sent you thier way.

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs...olesalers.html

you dear sir are a life saver. While I agree that normally quality products cost a bit extra, the better choice is to spend your $$$ wisely and research before you buy. I am definitely going to be getting these units sometime in the near future. Finally a fixture with what i need, nothing I don't need. I put my lights on a timer - dont need a controller, i don't want them to bleach corals (dimming), and I want to save $$$ not buying bulbs and the extra electricity.

These fit the bill better then anything else I've seen so far. Thanks for the link!!!

[radbluesfan]

Originally Posted by ianrusso

Here is the link for the lights I purchased. Please let them know I sent you thier way.

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs...olesalers.html

While looking at these I saw that the description states that the body is made of iron---does that mean the case and if so do you think that rust will be a problem in the future. Also it says the brand of LEDs used is Epistar, Bridgelux, and Cree. Do you know which they used on yours? Also, do they dim all the way to zero light? Sorry for all the questions and thanks for your time. It seems like I am changing my mind every day. Gonna start cycling my tank this week so I need to get the lighting figured out in the next few weeks.