LED light from ebay for reefs?
- Thread starter protoxeno
- Start date
I have been looking at these as well to replace the 250w MH over my shallow frag tank. I would like the fixture in the 20K but currently this seller only sells a 14K. I emailed this ebay seller and asked if he could make me a 20K version. His reply was that his supplier currently only makes the 14K version, but he is working on getting a 20K version made. He said that it would be a few months before they would be available. He seems like a really nice guy and was very prompt in his replies to my questions. Look forward to seeing these in action, so if you buy one please post your experience back on this thread.:wave:
cveverly
New member
I am using one of these and found it to be good but not great. Before using this fixture I was using a 250 halide over the same area. I have a mix of SPS, LPS and softies in this section of my tank.
Color using the LEDs is really pleasing to my eyes. Growth has slowed and I am starting to see some Acros loosing color. I have two leathers under these lights and they have a lot less PE. Zoas, mushrooms and other soft polyps are doing well. SPS that are in the top 25% of the tank are doing well. The LPS coral are all located in the top half of the tank and seem to be happy.
My tank is 24" deep. If this light is over a 18" or less tank I think it would work really well. The other options is to be creative with your coral placement to get the best out of this fixture. It has three fans and they are a little noisy but tolerable.
I am building my next LED fixture using Cree XPG and XPE LEDs in hopes to drive the light deeper in the tank.
Color using the LEDs is really pleasing to my eyes. Growth has slowed and I am starting to see some Acros loosing color. I have two leathers under these lights and they have a lot less PE. Zoas, mushrooms and other soft polyps are doing well. SPS that are in the top 25% of the tank are doing well. The LPS coral are all located in the top half of the tank and seem to be happy.
My tank is 24" deep. If this light is over a 18" or less tank I think it would work really well. The other options is to be creative with your coral placement to get the best out of this fixture. It has three fans and they are a little noisy but tolerable.
I am building my next LED fixture using Cree XPG and XPE LEDs in hopes to drive the light deeper in the tank.
Acrotrdco
New member
+1
Those ebay LED or reefkoi LED fixtures aren't really bright enough for anything but LPS / softies, for SPS you need something else.
Besides, those LED fixtures are probably using "mat-based" LED, which means if only one of the 100's of bulbs are burnt, you'll need to replace the entire mat. Good luck. :rollface:
Something else to note...it lists a 30 day warranty on one spot and a year in another spot? What is the real warranty and who is offering it? It looks like an import item, note the CE compliance, who are you going to go to when you have a problem? That should tell you something...if the seller will only stand behind the product for 30 days then they know it is not made to last more than 30 days before problems may arise. Would you buy a new car with a 30 day warranty?
Chances are it will last a long time, but if the seller isn't going to stand behind their product for more than 30 days that should be a red flag, especially for a product that should last for many years.
Chances are it will last a long time, but if the seller isn't going to stand behind their product for more than 30 days that should be a red flag, especially for a product that should last for many years.
bigdog0598
New member
He also told me 1 year and seems very easy to deal with. Told me I'd get a refund if I don't like. Just pay shipping. I should have them mon or tues of next week and then will have to figure out how to mount it I excited. I want a mixed reef with sps at the top so not that worried about the par I also figure for this price it like 2 years of bulbs so even if they go out no money lost
I'm also in the lighting business and I see LEDs as I do plasma tv in the late 90 early 2000's. It used to got 10 to 20k for a hd plasma with no channels now you can get them for $800. Led will be the same. Led is the future of all lighting and will drastically drop in price and get way better in technology sp in2 years time I'll prob want to change them anyways. Just like tv it's always time for a new one!
I'm also in the lighting business and I see LEDs as I do plasma tv in the late 90 early 2000's. It used to got 10 to 20k for a hd plasma with no channels now you can get them for $800. Led will be the same. Led is the future of all lighting and will drastically drop in price and get way better in technology sp in2 years time I'll prob want to change them anyways. Just like tv it's always time for a new one!
looser
New member
Just got mine. Ordered it on the 24th. Got it on the 27th. Not bad at all. Seems pretty solidly built. Plugged it in. Fans work. Looks pretty darn bright to me. I will wait till tonight and get some pics with just one 250 MH pendant lit, and then with this unit so everyone can see the difference.
looser
New member
As you can see the MH gives a much wider dispersion of light, and the LED light is much more blue. The LED also has kind of an eerie glow to it. I'm going to try raising it up a bit, and run it with my VHO florescent lights and see how that looks. Maybe if raise it up and swap out one of the actinic bulbs with daylight it might work out. But that's for tomorrow. Just wanted to get the pics up for people to see/comment on. BTW.. The tank is 72X24X30 just as a reference point.
Last edited:
Similar threads
