Evergrow d120 over 40b

[stupidgoodness]

Hey guys. Currently I have a 4 bulb t5 fish need it fixture with 3 tai blue plus and 1 coral plus before that. I had a smaller tank with a Chinese led from Amazon that was just blue and white. I am considering going back to led and thinking about getting the d120 would this be enough for my tank? Currently I have all lps.

Thanks

J

 

[CrazyEyes]

Will be plenty of light.

 

[stupidgoodness]

Are the units the same as the ones listed all over eBay

 

[stupidgoodness]

Anybody know?

 

[ganjero]

Are the units the same as the ones listed all over eBay

Which units? D120 and all fixtures on ebay? They are not all the same, the ones sold by reefbreeders as value fixture seem superior, they have an actual heatsink not just a plate where the leds are mounted.

I dont think one is enough to cover a 36" tank unless miunted really high which will reduce your PAR a lot.

 

[stupidgoodness]

The evergrow 120watt. Full spectrum many units listed for 82 to 91 dollars

 

[ganjero]

The evergrow 120watt. Full spectrum many units listed for 82 to 91 dollars

They should be similar but if is not listed as a d120 it is not the same.

 

[stupidgoodness]

That's my worry is that it won't cover it. The colors with my t5s don't pop enough to be honest but I only have 3 blue plus and a coral plus. I had a purple plus but the corals In the sand were Not looking as good I think the par of the fish need it fixture is not that great.

 

[sirrealism]

Believe me They are plenty strong par to cover it. I ran one for a couple years over a 40 and could not run the whites over about 45% or i was burning corals and I keep all my SPS frags in this tank. Plenty of par. I had mine about 18" above the water and had great coverage. Kind of wish I never changed it

 

[Amethyst]

They should be similar but if is not listed as a d120 it is not the same.

The photos of the evergrow 120 on e-bay and the evergrow d120 on other sites are exactly the same photos. Are you sure they aren't the same lights, or just saying they might not be? Maybe the D just stands for dimmable? Actually there is one e-bay listing that lists them as D120, for 84 bucks.

 

[stupidgoodness]

I saw this, but actually ended up going with the ocean revive arctic t247 and spending more money

 

[CuzzA]

There is one manufacturer, Evergrow in China, producing both the D and IT series and the Reef Breeders Value and Photon series respectively. But Reef Breeders has an exclusive deal with Evergrow that they build their lights to different specs. Also Evergrow will not sell you a Photon 48", you can only get this unit from Reef Breeders.

Ultimately, the biggest benefit from buying from Reef Breeders is the 2 year US warranty. Which in my opinion is an absolute must. 4 months into my Photon 48 the controller started going nuts and switching to random intensities, fortunately I caught it with only minor damage. But it was refreshing to find that a simple e-mail and 3 days shipping, I had a new controller and didn't have to come out of pocket. Had this been purchased on eBay or directly from Evergrow I would have had to wait a month to get it fixed and they probably would of demanded the return of the faulty controller at my expense.

Also, because these lights are put together in simplicity you can fix anything on them yourself. Another great feature.

On the Reef Breeders website they recommend a Photon 24 or 32 or 2 value fixture over a 40 breeder. I guess it depends if you plan to keep anything that requires good light on the ends of the tank. If you go with a unit smaller than your tank, perhaps you could put 120 degree optics over the LEDs on the ends of the fixture.

But personally I wouldn't put a 16" fixture over a 36" tank.

 

[ganjero]

There is one manufacturer, Evergrow in China, producing both the D and IT series and the Reef Breeders Value and Photon series respectively. But Reef Breeders has an exclusive deal with Evergrow that they build their lights to different specs. Also Evergrow will not sell you a Photon 48", you can only get this unit from Reef Breeders.

Ultimately, the biggest benefit from buying from Reef Breeders is the 2 year US warranty. Which in my opinion is an absolute must. 4 months into my Photon 48 the controller started going nuts and switching to random intensities, fortunately I caught it with only minor damage. But it was refreshing to find that a simple e-mail and 3 days shipping, I had a new controller and didn't have to come out of pocket. Had this been purchased on eBay or directly from Evergrow I would have had to wait a month to get it fixed and they probably would of demanded the return of the faulty controller at my expense.

Also, because these lights are put together in simplicity you can fix anything on them yourself. Another great feature.

On the Reef Breeders website they recommend a Photon 24 or 32 or 2 value fixture over a 40 breeder. I guess it depends if you plan to keep anything that requires good light on the ends of the tank. If you go with a unit smaller than your tank, perhaps you could put 120 degree optics over the LEDs on the ends of the fixture.

But personally I wouldn't put a 16" fixture over a 36" tank.

To add to this and bring up my previous post, the reefbreeders value fixture comes with a heatsink. I have seen D120 from members in my previous club in PA that had only the sheet holding the LEDs together; also seen in several group buys directly from Evergrow that you have to request a heatsink and add extra $, it is no much more but that means not all of them have it unless it was requested. I would make sure it has a heatsink if buying somewhere else.

 

[stupidgoodness]

I realize that they are all manufactured by evergrow, however the unit I ended up going with the oceanrevive arctic t247 is a little different. The lights are spread out more and claims to cover 36" at 12" above the water. It also has built in timers for both channels and a heatsink as well and comes with a 1 year us warranty

 

[CuzzA]

I realize that they are all manufactured by evergrow, however the unit I ended up going with the oceanrevive arctic t247 is a little different. The lights are spread out more and claims to cover 36" at 12" above the water. It also has built in timers for both channels and a heatsink as well and comes with a 1 year us warranty

Ocean Revive T247 is the same as the Reef Breeders Superlux. I would be hesitant to believe that 36" coverage at 12" high is adequate without seeing any PAR readings (Depending on what you want to grow). LEDs by nature of their design are spot lights. So the more spread out the worse the PAR rating overall. I assume this claim is just salesmanship. Just because it can cast light without shadows on the ends does not mean it's providing adequate light for growing.

Furthermore, given that these are essentially the same unit at the same price it would make sense to buy it from Reef Breeders and receive a 2 year warranty rather than 1.

 

[sirrealism]

Cuzza Is 300 par at the bottom right and left sides enough for you? Because thats what I had when I turned my d120 up to 100% on a 40b with the light 16" above the tank. Like I said I could not run mine at over 45% with out cooking everything. Yes they are spotlights and thats why you lift them so high off of the tank. The spread was not an issue at all. I personally think that the "recommended" amount of units on a 36" tank is more of what you say "salesmanship" To sell more units. By the way my 40b is over loaded with SPS. Not enough light is not the issue. To much light will be. The 40b is a very shallow tank. Sure I guess you can put 2 over it and run them at 20% but why. I also got rid of my D120 to put one of these oceanrevive arctic t247. And its a nice light but to be honest I would rather have my old D120 back. I cant get this one dialed in.

 

[ganjero]

Cuzza Is 300 par at the bottom right and left sides enough for you? Because thats what I had when I turned my d120 up to 100% on a 40b with the light 16" above the tank. Like I said I could not run mine at over 45% with out cooking everything. Yes they are spotlights and thats why you lift them so high off of the tank. The spread was not an issue at all. I personally think that the "recommended" amount of units on a 36" tank is more of what you say "salesmanship" To sell more units. By the way my 40b is over loaded with SPS. Not enough light is not the issue. To much light will be. The 40b is a very shallow tank. Sure I guess you can put 2 over it and run them at 20% but why. I also got rid of my D120 to put one of these oceanrevive arctic t247. And its a nice light but to be honest I would rather have my old D120 back. I cant get this one dialed in.

I believe CUZZA was basing his comment on the retailer stating that at 12" you get 36" of usable coverage for growing corals, because LEDs are spotlight they need to be higher. How high do you have the T247?

300 PAR is great, did you use lenses when you had the D120?

 

[stupidgoodness]

All I went by was the reviews and the manufacturers website. They do have a page with par readings up there. Either way I already purchased the unit and it will be here next week. I also purchased it via the manufacturer over eBay and did not pay full price

 

[CuzzA]

Evergrow d120 over 40b

Cuzza Is 300 par at the bottom right and left sides enough for you? Because thats what I had when I turned my d120 up to 100% on a 40b with the light 16" above the tank. Like I said I could not run mine at over 45% with out cooking everything. Yes they are spotlights and thats why you lift them so high off of the tank. The spread was not an issue at all. I personally think that the "recommended" amount of units on a 36" tank is more of what you say "salesmanship" To sell more units. By the way my 40b is over loaded with SPS. Not enough light is not the issue. To much light will be. The 40b is a very shallow tank. Sure I guess you can put 2 over it and run them at 20% but why. I also got rid of my D120 to put one of these oceanrevive arctic t247. And its a nice light but to be honest I would rather have my old D120 back. I cant get this one dialed in.

It's not what's good for me. And I'll be the first to admit if I'm wrong. There's a lot of variables like aquascaping, what type of coral you want to grow, etc. that all play a factor. I'm not trying to argue with you, but for the sake of conversation I'll go back to my point, I haven't seen any data that could support that 16" light covering a 36" area can grow anything everywhere. In fact all the research I did before buying the Photon 48" suggested that with LEDs you should try to cover the length of the tank. This would allow growth of anything anywhere in the tank. You mentioned you achieved a PAR rating of 300 at the ends of your 40b at 100%, but in the same sentence contradict yourself saying that you can only run them at 45% otherwise you would cook everything. I would imagine the cooking would happen in the center of the tank and not the ends. So, this leads me to believe the actual PAR rating was less than half of the 300 at normal operating intensity.

I'm simply sharing the research I did on lighting and LEDs and specifically the Evergrow product. Here's one of many articles I read and brought me to the conclusion that I was going to need a lot of light on the ends if I want to grow Acros over there. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/1/lines/view

 

[sirrealism]

Cuzza I was not trying to argue with you or anyone. I had a rough day and barked a bit. On the other hand not many want to grow acros at the very end of a tank. Most would want those a show pieces more towards the middle. Also Most reef keepers do not just keep ultra high light corals. I like to keep some leptos, acans and other high end corals. Some of them do not need 300par so where would I keep them? My 40b is a bare bottom with no rock system so I need a little less par at the edges and I would think most do. Thats why we place a coral in a certain spot. I have had SPS burn a little so i had to move them lower and to one end to get them out of the super high par light. You must grow Sticks at the end of you tank to think you need that kind of par there and if so great. I dont know a single other reefer who does that and I have been around for a bit and have seen a lot of the clubs members systems and cant think of one where they wanted that much par at the very ends of there tank. Its all about having a blend of light because not every coral is the same. If they were this would be simple.