Are Chinese LED box lights any good?

[hipertec]

Whats the difference from the asian LED box lights that are selling from $100-$200 to the high end LED lights? I know timers and controlling the unit is more precise but if I just want it to power a 30 gallon softies and LPS, will these cheaper LEDs work for growth and color?

Was looking into something like this one with 165 Watt power and 2 channels (blue/white):

I wished they had side arms. Is there a better way to hang these guys without the wires from the ceiling or a post?

 

[Scottedontknow]

they are great if you're good at DIY stuff. i use the mars aqua 165w, to get a better color layout that worked for me i had to change out the LEDs to better ones. i needed more UVs and better blues and swapped out the crap reds with stronger ones, also added in 14k's and a few 20k's. i have read a lot and some people had had great success and growth with them totally stock i guess its up to you haha

 

[madweazl]

they are great if you're good at DIY stuff. i use the mars aqua 165w, to get a better color layout that worked for me i had to change out the LEDs to better ones. i needed more UVs and better blues and swapped out the crap reds with stronger ones, also added in 14k's and a few 20k's. i have read a lot and some people had had great success and growth with them totally stock i guess its up to you haha

There are some resellers that take care of installing the better spectrum LEDs for you for not much more than the standard layouts too.

 

[fishbox]

Sb reefs sells replacement boards that are supposed to be a better layout for better spectrum

Sent from my LG-H343 using Tapatalk

 

[blasterman789]

Define 'high end'. There aren't that many american units on the market using strictly Cree/Luxeon/US spec'd LEDs.

This is basically the same Mars Aqua 165watt unit we see all over the place. They grow coral great. The biggest thing I don't like about them is disco shimmer due to all the different colored LEDs and rather tight optics.

I honestly don't get the big deal with LEDs with a color temp higher than 5000k. They are basically all blue anyways above that with just a smidge of green and less of a smidge of orange. There's no unique spectrum with a 10k, 14k, or 20k LEDs you can't produce via combining regular cool whites and royals and a dimmer.

 

[farfromsea]

One of my issues with my chinese box is that the fan is insanely loud. I've seen some people mod the Mars Aqua models with a quieter fan (not my model).

 

[LED Jack]

People need to realize that I do not think there is aquarium LED fixture that is made in the USA. Now there might be some companies that assemble their products in the USA but call them made in the USA but those are 2 totally different things.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that be wary when spending the extra money for a light that a company says is made in the USA.

I am a LED manufacturer and all of my manufacturing is done overseas.

 

[ericarenee]

the ones you list in your photo are in my opinion the best of the so called Chinese boxes. the vaspar lights come with a 3 year warranty has a nice color spread . i have 3 of them over my 7 foot tank running blues at 50 and whites 25..

they are quiet and cool and are now 5 months old.. replaced MH LIGHTS with these my opinion they are better. rather they will last 30 years like mh ballast is yet to be known.

 

[rosterv]

Solid lights. Might have encouraged algae growth more than the metal halides and kessils I run now but I got comparible coral growth . And the price is right.

 

[Ron Reefman]

There just isn't that much difference in the 'light' from high end leds, inexpensive leds, t5 or MH. There is some, but it's pretty insignificant IMHO.

The difference in cost from low to high in led fixtures is the bells and whistles. Are manual dimmers enough? Yes, they can do the job just fine.

Do you need built-in timers and digital dimming, sunrise/sunset controllers, special effects like storms or 6 channel color control... no. Some of those features are useful... but not necessary.

If you budget allows for them and you desire the 'extras', that's fine. But the difference in the light they produce isn't significant to coral growth and health.

 

[ericarenee]

There just isn't that much difference in the 'light' from high end leds, inexpensive leds, t5 or MH. There is some, but it's pretty insignificant IMHO.

The difference in cost from low to high in led fixtures is the bells and whistles. Are manual dimmers enough? Yes, they can do the job just fine.

Do you need built-in timers and digital dimming, sunrise/sunset controllers, special effects like storms or 6 channel color control... no. Some of those features are useful... but not necessary.

If you budget allows for them and you desire the 'extras', that's fine. But the difference in the light they produce isn't significant to coral growth and health.

i only half agree with you on this. You are correct you do not need all the gadgets.. but the issue with the very cheap led lights are the electronics. some are super cheaply assembled with dangerous parts that over heat and cause fire hazards... so i say get top of the line off brand or low end brand name to save on money.. never buy the low in generic lights..

just my opinion from personal experience

 

[Ron Reefman]

i only half agree with you on this. You are correct you do not need all the gadgets.. but the issue with the very cheap led lights are the electronics. some are super cheaply assembled with dangerous parts that over heat and cause fire hazards... so i say get top of the line off brand or low end brand name to save on money.. never buy the low in generic lights..

just my opinion from personal experience

You are welcome to your opinion. I've been inside lots of led fixtures both cheap and expensive (I did repairs for friends) and I'd disagree. I didn't find any sloppy wiring, or dangerous parts and I don't know first hand of a single fire caused by an led fixture. Oh, and my $750 Radion ran hotter than any other brand I've owned. But you are welcome to spend your money however you want.

 

[dz6t]

I agree with Ron that all the (many) black box LED I bought, repaired and used, I did not find fire hazards and sloppy wiring.
But, these LED do use inferior diodes. For example, a 80w AI Sol blue puts out up to ~50% more PAR than a so-called 165w (but actually 120W) black box LED.
I found in general, name brand chips such as Cree, Philips, SemiLED etc are more efficient and last longer.
Optics matters too. AI Hydra 52/26/HD, Ecotech Radion with TIR lens do a much better job in coloring mixing. Put a piece of white paper right below the LED and you will see.
AI Hydra 52/26/HD produce a uniform white light, all the black box and alike give you colorful dots.

 

[theatrus]

Are Chinese LED box lights any good?

You are welcome to your opinion. I've been inside lots of led fixtures both cheap and expensive (I did repairs for friends) and I'd disagree. I didn't find any sloppy wiring, or dangerous parts and I don't know first hand of a single fire caused by an led fixture. Oh, and my $750 Radion ran hotter than any other brand I've owned. But you are welcome to spend your money however you want.

I have yet to see a black box LED which had UL/TUV/CSA (I don't care which, CE doesn't count for anything) certified drivers. And since its AC to the box, the entire fixture would require the certification. That alone is a deal breaker.

Yes, it's expensive to get for an entire product, but you could at least use certified drivers that are available off the shelf.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I have yet to see a black box LED which had UL/TUV/CSA (I don't care which, CE doesn't count for anything) certified drivers. And since its AC to the box, the entire fixture would require the certification. That alone is a deal breaker.

That's the wonderful thing about America, it's your choice. You can consider it a deal breaker and I can buy inexpensive fixtures that work just as well as I want them to.:beer:

 

[Reef Frog]

I'd pay for a UL rating personally. Warranty & tech support are worthwhile to many.

Inferior low end of the bin LEDs. Questionable cooling on some models. Color mixing. All good points to consider. Much of this points to the possibility of a shorter functional life span too which should be cosndidered for the value calculation IMO.

But there is a huge range of quality in the "Chinese" (PRC) sector. Some are pretty decent and some are indeed true junk and a fire hazard. I've seen the latter with my own eyes. And some users don't want anything to do with repairing or upgrading a substandard fixture all to save a few bucks.

In general, I always seem to regret it when in the rare event I'm tempted into buying anything low end, I almost always regret it. But every once in a while once in a while I am pleasantly surprised however.

Chinese manufacturing quality can be quite good when commissioned and overseen by a reputable quality oriented brand. No problem there. But often the indigenous slop shop stuff is simply awful.

Lights are so important in this hobby and some have so much invested in corals that most compromises are unacceptable and any savings are false value. Just my views. Like Ron said we have a huge number of choices and we all have freedom of choice. The low end competition is good as it serves to make some mid & high price range competitors keep a lid on cost. Caveat emptor. Just don't burn the house down over a few bucks.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Reef Frog, I can agree with a lot that you said.

And there are some Chinese made fixtures that have US warranty facilities. And some high priced outfits that really don't give any better service than some of the inexpensive outfits.

And yes, there are some really low end Chinese manufactured fixtures that are junk. But then big companies like Marineland and Current sell led fixtures with 0.3 watt leds that only work well on shallow tanks, but they don't really explain that that's all the're good for. There is plenty of bad karma to go around.

The one item that I think is kind of useless is led binning. Nobody advertises how narrow or how wide their leds are binned. And does it really make any difference at all to your coral? Does your coral need 440nm exactly? Or is a narrow bin of 438nm to 442nm OK? Or is 435nm to 445nm OK? Do your corals really care? And maybe one coral likes 440nm light exactly but the next coral would rather have 445nm. And if I have 30 leds that are 440nm with a wide range, maybe getting a spread from 435nm to 445nm is a good thing rather than having them all at 440nm on the nose? I'm just asking?

 

[Reef Frog]

Ron:

Good points. I have no idea on the actual variance between high & low binning and what the real practical advantages are, if any. Or how any coral will react. Is there a 1%, 5% or 50% etc variance? In fact I really would be operating on blind faith that the quality manufacturers do what they say they're doing.

But I guess I'd rather have accuracy than pot luck. Willing to spend a little extra personally for accuracy & a higher quality level, just in case. But not an insane difference. Just my personal price/value logic.

 

[ericarenee]

You are welcome to your opinion. I've been inside lots of led fixtures both cheap and expensive (I did repairs for friends) and I'd disagree. I didn't find any sloppy wiring, or dangerous parts and I don't know first hand of a single fire caused by an led fixture. Oh, and my $750 Radion ran hotter than any other brand I've owned. But you are welcome to spend your money however you want.

i think you misunderstood what i was saying.. as said by others and yourself there are some Chinese lights that are worth buying the ones above actually have a brand name driver in them. a heat sink behind the leds not just a flat piece of metal and two nice ball bearing fans that are quiet..

i would say check reviews on the exact lite before buying. I have seen many people on you-tube and even on here a few times post about cheap led fixtures and other aquarium equipment short out and catch fire or put current in there tank and kill there fish..

i own the fixtures that are in the op post and they are super quiet and cool .. they also have a 3 year warranty (who knows if the company will still be around if needed)

 

[Ron Reefman]

Ron:

Good points. I have no idea on the actual variance between high & low binning and what the real practical advantages are, if any. Or how any coral will react. Is there a 1%, 5% or 50% etc variance? In fact I really would be operating on blind faith that the quality manufacturers do what they say they're doing.

Yeah, I've never understood the big concern over how well binned leds are and then we all want 'full spectrum'. If a fixture is really well binned and has 4 or 5 different colors in it, wouldn't it just be the 4 or 5 wavelengths? Do I want a fixture that is just 410nm, 440, 460, 540 or would an array of leds that are not binned well and maybe cover most of the spectrum between 400nm and 480nm be better?