chinese led lights

[Travis1787]

For me id rather have customer service only cause my 120 is gonna be more of a softy tank so lps maybe a few sps so I don't mind if the par is a little less if there customer service is better

[suoirotoN]

Hey guys, I'm starting up a 29 gallon reef and I'm looking to get some LED's that are mentioned in this thread( I have a low Budget.) I'm still kind of new to the hobby and I was wondering what fixture would be best for my tank and get maximum coverage. Thanks for the advice in advance.

[blasto_master]

Originally Posted by suoirotoN

Hey guys, I'm starting up a 29 gallon reef and I'm looking to get some LED's that are mentioned in this thread( I have a low Budget.) I'm still kind of new to the hobby and I was wondering what fixture would be best for my tank and get maximum coverage. Thanks for the advice in advance.

Probably only one of those 120 watt led fixtures.

[suoirotoN]

Originally Posted by blasto_master

Probably only one of those 120 watt led fixtures.

Yeah, that's what I was think as well. I just wanted a second opinion and to make sure. Anyone else care to comment?

[Ianwraab]

Your lucky that size tank you can get away with what ever you want with LEDs..get the $175 free shipping fixture off eBay .... If your new don't have to worry about the dimmer cuz u prob ain't sunburn in much coral...but dimmers are nice for moon light/night light...

[blasto_master]

Originally Posted by Ianwraab

Your lucky that size tank you can get away with what ever you want with LEDs..get the $175 free shipping fixture off eBay .... If your new don't have to worry about the dimmer cuz u prob ain't sunburn in much coral...but dimmers are nice for moon light/night light...

I second that. He can get a cheaper fixture on ebay if he shops around.

[Ianwraab]

That's what I'm sayin... Don't pay more than $175 total...
There is a sweet 120 w fixture with dimmer and 28blue/27white
It's runnin 3wleds at 2w....only like$166

[HBPat]

Originally Posted by Ianwraab

That's what I'm sayin... Don't pay more than $175 total...
There is a sweet 120 w fixture with dimmer and 28blue/27white
It's runnin 3wleds at 2w....only like$166

I can't find that one. Can you post a link. I would love to buy that for my 50 Cube.

[Ianwraab]

Originally Posted by HBPat

I can't find that one. Can you post a link. I would love to buy that for my 50 Cube.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Dimmable...#ht_2471wt_952

[HBPat]

Originally Posted by Ianwraab

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Dimmable...#ht_2471wt_952

Awesome. That was quick. Thank You!!!

[Travis1787]

Be careful of those seller with 0 feedback who knows if they will be around in a month to warranty that unit for "3 years" as it claims... Id email the seller see what he says let us know what he says and or what u do

[ianrusso]

Originally Posted by offshored

I bought one fixture from Ianrusso's link and have been letting it run for a few days like I would on the tank. Blues - Blues/Whites - Blues.

Haven't had an issue yet, unit is cool to the touch with a tiny bit of heat under the fixture with both white and blues maxed out.

I'll be ordering 3 more for my 240 in May. The fan noise isn't bad at all, 2 fans run when the whites are running and 1 runs for the blues. Then 3 when both are on naturally. I doubt you could hear it when covered with a canopy.

The fixture dims well, sorry the camera from my phone just couldn't take the light very well:

Only 4 days left for my 30day growth test, so far things are looking amazing!

[offshored]

Originally Posted by ianrusso

Only 4 days left for my 30day growth test, so far things are looking amazing!

That's what I want to hear

I just did a one week test with the one unit simulating on/off times to make sure it wasn't dud. Went well...

Any sneak peak growth pictures?

[HurricaneSystem]

I have had mine for about 30 days and wanted to give my feedback. Mine is not tunable and I run both the blue and white for 12 hours a day. One side of my tank has this light, the other side has a Kessil A150.

The Chinese light is doing great and coral growth is great as well. This fixture sets about 6 inches off the top of the water. I purchased a couple of Devil's Hand Leather corals. One is a purple with green tip. It went from about 3.5 inches when new, to about 6 inches now.

Here are before and after pics. I had it on the sand bed and then moved it up about 3 inches onto a rock. Now you will notice in the pics, the zoas on the same rock as the leather. Well on the 2nd pic, you can't see the zoas hardly because it has grown so much! Look real close to the right hand side and you will see them.





I have a crocea clam that I added about 3 weeks ago as well. I started with it on a high rock about 3 inches from the top. It kept jumping off every time I would move it back into place. So I set it about 3 inches off the sand bed and it is happy and doing well.

I have an Ultra Bushy Acro that was pale when I received it. It is starting to regain its color, but it is still pale.

My "eye" PAR meter tells me that it puts out enough for most any coral. The other leathers, etc. that are on the sand bed are doing great as well. My purple devils hand started really expanding when I moved it up. So I suspect that PAR drops off substantially after 10 inches. I have a standard 55 gallon by the way.

I have a BTA and a Frogspawn on the Kessil A150 side that is doing fantastic as well. My BTA was severely bleached when I first bought it. Now it is doing much better (30 days as well). Here are before and after pics of the BTA under the Kessil.





Both the Chinese and the Kessil are fantastic lights. The Kessil has more sheer beauty and shimmer, more of a natural looking light. The Chinese fixture is super bright, like a T5. I don't think you could go wrong with these lights really.

[newtank]

I have had an Odyssea MH fixture, which at the time was about 1/3 the cost of the name brand.
Time to replace, seems that LEDS are affordable for me.
It seemed that the Aquarium LEDS were the best choice to experiment with.
Paul Canadian importer -not working with shadows in China.
Affordable- $159 FREE SHIPPING- this means I can experiment, buy a few at a time, spread out the investment into manageable sums.
120W 14K 3w Bridgelux LEDS. 1:1 ratio Blues to Whites. One box replaces one 250w MH.
Pretty good reviews in this thread.
So I ordered two
Positives.
Fast Delivery- two days post order
Well packaged, plugged in turned on, no issues
Convenient- No PIA DIY to screw up. I will pay a little more for convenience.
Cold- These generate like 0 heat. Just touched after running 7 hours and they are cold.
The Blue is pretty cool. Never had phosphorescence like this with other actinic.
Separate channels for blue and whites, can use timers to change routines.

Negatives
I know I ordered the 14k’s these are too blue, even more 20K looking than my 20K radion MH.
Too dim. Surprised how dim they are, even at 3 Watts and 1 inch off the water- too dim.
Did I mention too dim? Played around and it looks like I need 6 instead of three-if I run three with whites only and three with white and blue it is adequately bright, but still not what I expected. Note that my tank it 32” deep and 7 feet long. So maybe thinking I could get by with three was not realistic, but three MH @ 250 watts was way brighter. Only saving 30 watts now instead of 390.
Frenetic shimmer lines-which I kind of expected after looking at the Marine Land LEDS, these shimmer much the same. Just had to reduce the surface agitation, and running them about 1 inch off the water also meant reduction.
So until I work up the budget to get up to 6 of these the jury is still out. I will do it because the limited test I did on one end of the tank looks promising, and I like the flexibility I will have in using timers to create a changing, more natural light routine. Some will say go DIY for a tank as large as mine, maybe they are right. Just for me Its much easier to open the box hang it up and plug it in then research, research, trial and error, etc. Never had any interest in becoming an electrical engineer, just want to veg out on the couch and stare at my fish tank.

[Travis1787]

Ianrussp which ones did you go with?

[Travis1787]

You too hurricanesystem which ones did you get and how many on what size tank?

[offshored]

Originally Posted by Travis1787

Ianrussp which ones did you go with?

He has the dimmable 120 watt that is posted in my video

[Travis1787]

Can u post the link to that one offshored

[offshored]

Originally Posted by Travis1787

Can u post the link to that one offshored

Here you go:
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/9054...with-lens.html

Great dealing with them. Replied to every email, most in less than 30 minutes.

Had no problem picking which LEDs to use, how many white/blue, optics, etc...

Also, arrived at my door 7 days after ordering

[darimont]

Originally Posted by offshored

Here you go:
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/9054...with-lens.html

Great dealing with them. Replied to every email, most in less than 30 minutes.

Had no problem picking which LEDs to use, how many white/blue, optics, etc...

Also, arrived at my door 7 days after ordering

If ya don't mind me asking, what combo of leds did you go with.

[wildman926]

Originally Posted by newtank

I have had an Odyssea MH fixture, which at the time was about 1/3 the cost of the name brand.
Time to replace, seems that LEDS are affordable for me.
It seemed that the Aquarium LEDS were the best choice to experiment with.
Paul Canadian importer -not working with shadows in China.
Affordable- $159 FREE SHIPPING- this means I can experiment, buy a few at a time, spread out the investment into manageable sums.
120W 14K 3w Bridgelux LEDS. 1:1 ratio Blues to Whites. One box replaces one 250w MH.
Pretty good reviews in this thread.
So I ordered two
Positives.
Fast Delivery- two days post order
Well packaged, plugged in turned on, no issues
Convenient- No PIA DIY to screw up. I will pay a little more for convenience.
Cold- These generate like 0 heat. Just touched after running 7 hours and they are cold.
The Blue is pretty cool. Never had phosphorescence like this with other actinic.
Separate channels for blue and whites, can use timers to change routines.

Negatives
I know I ordered the 14k’s these are too blue, even more 20K looking than my 20K radion MH.
Too dim. Surprised how dim they are, even at 3 Watts and 1 inch off the water- too dim.
Did I mention too dim? Played around and it looks like I need 6 instead of three-if I run three with whites only and three with white and blue it is adequately bright, but still not what I expected. Note that my tank it 32” deep and 7 feet long. So maybe thinking I could get by with three was not realistic, but three MH @ 250 watts was way brighter. Only saving 30 watts now instead of 390.
Frenetic shimmer lines-which I kind of expected after looking at the Marine Land LEDS, these shimmer much the same. Just had to reduce the surface agitation, and running them about 1 inch off the water also meant reduction.
So until I work up the budget to get up to 6 of these the jury is still out. I will do it because the limited test I did on one end of the tank looks promising, and I like the flexibility I will have in using timers to create a changing, more natural light routine. Some will say go DIY for a tank as large as mine, maybe they are right. Just for me Its much easier to open the box hang it up and plug it in then research, research, trial and error, etc. Never had any interest in becoming an electrical engineer, just want to veg out on the couch and stare at my fish tank.

From your pics, you have them too close, so if you want more spread, they have to be further away from the tank.

Here is an excellent example of someone using these lights for 8 months. Notice they are only using 4 lights

Originally Posted by RDHDDRAGON

I wanted to show the difference in one of my tanks after about 8 months with LEDs.

Before Leds:



About 8 months after installing LEDs:



There was a little rearranging, but not much. Over all the colors are so different. In the bottom left of the bottom picture, see the neon green yuma rock? It is there in the top picture too, just not neon.

Two days ago i installed some UV-B Led strips to see how it would affect the reds. The only changes so far is the blues. Tips of acros and monti rims are turning to a bright glowing aqua blue. At night after my lights go out anything neon green ( hammers, kryptonite candy canes, etc...) keep glowing. Yes, glow in the dark. Not super bright, but you can still see them flouresence.

Here is what my monti looks like now after about 10 months:


I have no doubt LEDS can grow coral. And make them beautiful. As stated before all my softies that were red and changed to orange, are still orange. Hoping the UV will help, we will see. Hard corals that were red seem to have no change, they are still red.

[newtank]

From your pics, you have them too close, so if you want more spread, they have to be further away from the tank.


Your absolutely Correct, after raising them higher I have much more spread. Still the concern is the intensity, which is lacking. maybe its just in the eye of the beholder...

[Travis1787]

Any other updates for the aquarium led users? How are you liking them? How are they holding up? Any growth noticed yet? Any issues and if so did they own up to there warranty

[Travis1787]

Offshored how do you feel about the 2 yyear warranty they came with? Do you feel they will own up to it?