Opinions on these lights?

[Elricsfate]

A friend of mine bout this fixture a while back, and he says it is performing well, tank looks good, corals are happy.

I'm just looking for a second (or third) opinion on these. Pros/cons? Reasons they secretly suck but he doesn't know it.... etc.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OK8IDTS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks in advance

 

[ericarenee]

I have two concerns . Well 3.

1. that is a lot of wattage for the size of the box. I See no reason why 300 w would be needed on a 24x24 area unless the tank was super deep

2. 300w in that size of a box would have to get super hot ..
3. There description says Simulate sunset and sunrise .(this lite has a on and of switch for two channels and a Dial dimmer .Description is Misleading

 

[Elricsfate]

I have two concerns . Well 3.

1. that is a lot of wattage for the size of the box. I See no reason why 300 w would be needed on a 24x24 area unless the tank was super deep

2. 300w in that size of a box would have to get super hot ..
3. There description says Simulate sunset and sunrise .(this lite has a on and of switch for two channels and a Dial dimmer .Description is Misleading

Thanks for the reply.

I definitely will not be running these at max power. I am putting them on a 75 to start with, to check them out. If they work well I plan to put them over my 180.

I basically plan to start and end with blue only, and add the other channel in the middle. That's as far as I am interested in going with the simulation of sunrise and sunset.

I had originally intended to go with Maxspect Ethereal's on both tanks, but I didn't see a lot of point in spending 2k for lights if I didn't have to. Obviously, if they don't work out I'll have to consider other options, and I'll be out $200. But I can live with that.

 

[ericarenee]

Thanks for the reply.

I definitely will not be running these at max power. I am putting them on a 75 to start with, to check them out. If they work well I plan to put them over my 180.

I basically plan to start and end with blue only, and add the other channel in the middle. That's as far as I am interested in going with the simulation of sunrise and sunset.

I had originally intended to go with Maxspect Ethereal's on both tanks, but I didn't see a lot of point in spending 2k for lights if I didn't have to. Obviously, if they don't work out I'll have to consider other options, and I'll be out $200. But I can live with that.

Do you actually have the lights yet, I seen your post in the other thread.

I have these
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UMXAR5S?psc=1


they have digital timers for each channel and a remote . But they do NOT Do ramp up and down..

The Reason i ask is from your comment ,unless I am reading wrong these of some kind of ramping ability... But to me from looking at the light itself you have to use external timer .I am assuming there is a plug for each of the two channels...

Just curious...

 

[jayball]

1. that is a lot of wattage for the size of the box. I See no reason why 300 w would be needed on a 24x24 area unless the tank was super deep

2. 300w in that size of a box would have to get super hot ..

"Actual Power:120W±5%"

not much different than the other black boxes in the power department.

Some downsides I see are no 420 NM (violet led's) and the red diodes are on the blue channel.

If they are true 5 w LED's then they should run a little more efficient than the 3 W LED's in the regular black box.

 

[Elricsfate]

Do you actually have the lights yet, I seen your post in the other thread.

I have these
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UMXAR5S?psc=1


they have digital timers for each channel and a remote . But they do NOT Do ramp up and down..

The Reason i ask is from your comment ,unless I am reading wrong these of some kind of ramping ability... But to me from looking at the light itself you have to use external timer .I am assuming there is a plug for each of the two channels...

Just curious...

No, they arrive today. However a friend of mine has had them for several months and recommended them. So I bought them on his advice.

I'm confused as to how the freakin description of the light says "300W" and then the actual power is 120w. How the heck can they both be right??

Anyway, I got 2, they cost me $200 (which is a dinner with my wife and kids at the Japanese Steakhouse) and they are going on a 75g. So they will be sufficient wattage, regardless. And if they are junk...I've wasted $200 before, it won't impact my life.

As far as all of the controls, dimming, etc. I simply want them to come on and turn off. I'll plug them into my Apex, set the times, and be done with it.

After I do get them setup I'll post about them.

 

[ericarenee]

They are from China they can claim anything they want ...

I was not judging your purchase just pointing out what i have noticed.

i as not going to mention this for a while but i have come to a conclusion about LEDS..
I Have many tanks and setups.. The tank that corals are doing best in is the tank that is running 13.00 30w 700k LED FLOOD LIGHTS..... I was using these for a time over my Big tank and am considering going back. I had 7 of them each on a timers to come on in sequence of timers ....

I Might make a treat about them in a few months as I am still watching how it goes. With that said i have no complaints about the boxes i have over my main tank..

Keep us updated ... Good Luck and always use these lights on a GFI ..

 

[Elricsfate]

They are from China they can claim anything they want ...

I was not judging your purchase just pointing out what i have noticed.

i as not going to mention this for a while but i have come to a conclusion about LEDS..
I Have many tanks and setups.. The tank that corals are doing best in is the tank that is running 13.00 30w 700k LED FLOOD LIGHTS..... I was using these for a time over my Big tank and am considering going back. I had 7 of them each on a timers to come on in sequence of timers ....

I Might make a treat about them in a few months as I am still watching how it goes. With that said i have no complaints about the boxes i have over my main tank..

Keep us updated ... Good Luck and always use these lights on a GFI ..

Thanks. I didn't take any comments as judgment. I was mainly just saying that I took a shot on them to see if they work for me, and if they don't...oh well. No biggie.

I appreciate, and listen to, and include in my thought process, every comment from everyone. I appreciate you (and others) taking the time.

Will keep the board posted.

 

[Ron Reefman]

The other concern I had is the lack of info telling how many of each spectrum of led there are. I'd like to assume they picked good numbers and all will be fine, but they are from China and they do promote this as a 60x 5w fixture and then say it's running at 120 watts. So who knows.

Elricsfate, any chance you have a kill-o-meter so you can confirm if the entire fixture is running at 120w or is each channel running at 120w? If both channels run 120w individually, they sure missed the boat by marketing it as 120w total. That's just not like the over hype Chinece ebay marketers to miss that opportunity.

 

[Elricsfate]

I do not currently own one Ron. But I do have the new Apex, and it can measure wattage through an outlet. I'll see what it turns up. Or I can get a kill-a-watt, if the Apex won't serve the purpose.

At the end of the day, I bought these because a friend has been using them on his 150 and he specifically stated that his corals appear to "love" the light. Right now I have a simple, standard, comes with the tank, low watt LED sitting on my 75, and there is already visible (though slow) growth on the few corals I already have (A couple each of leathers, mushrooms, xenia, star polyps, and a Kenya tree).

If I see no improvement, or suddenly start growing algae, or the corals appear to be reacting poorly...I'll toss them and go buy the high dollar fixtures I intended to get to begin with (Maxspect Ethereals). I just wanted to take this opportunity to see if I could save a little money.

I am however appreciative of the replies by everyone here. I now have a few things to check on, and keep an eye on. That's a good thing.

I wasn't looking for everyone to tell me how awesome my choice was. Just wanted some honest opinions, and I got them. So thanks to all.

 

[Elricsfate]

The other concern I had is the lack of info telling how many of each spectrum of led there are. I'd like to assume they picked good numbers and all will be fine, but they are from China and they do promote this as a 60x 5w fixture and then say it's running at 120 watts. So who knows.

Elricsfate, any chance you have a kill-o-meter so you can confirm if the entire fixture is running at 120w or is each channel running at 120w? If both channels run 120w individually, they sure missed the boat by marketing it as 120w total. That's just not like the over hype Chinece ebay marketers to miss that opportunity.

So the lights arrived. I plugged in both cords and turned the knobs to max. The Apex registered an increase in wattage of 115w total. So clearly not 300 watt lights as listed in BOLD print in the description. This leads me to two conclusions.

I ordered two lights, so this amounts to about 230 watts, which should be sufficient over my 75g tank.

Second, I will likely NOT order more of these particular lights as the primary light source for my 180 when it is set up. I do not know if I'll go all the way to Ethereals or AP700's, but I'll be looking for a bit more than 115w per fixture on my 2' deep tank.

 

[Ron Reefman]

So the lights arrived. I plugged in both cords and turned the knobs to max. The Apex registered an increase in wattage of 115w total. So clearly not 300 watt lights as listed in BOLD print in the description. This leads me to two conclusions.

I ordered two lights, so this amounts to about 230 watts, which should be sufficient over my 75g tank.

Second, I will likely NOT order more of these particular lights as the primary light source for my 180 when it is set up. I do not know if I'll go all the way to Ethereals or AP700's, but I'll be looking for a bit more than 115w per fixture on my 2' deep tank.

Good to know and thank you VERY MUCH for following up. You should be OK for this tank and who knows what new stuff will be out there when you get around to setting up the 180G.

 

[Elricsfate]

Good to know and thank you VERY MUCH for following up. You should be OK for this tank and who knows what new stuff will be out there when you get around to setting up the 180G.

Well, the 180 is currently sitting in my dining room awaiting a sump from Synergy Reef. So it will be set up in the next few weeks. YAY!

Now Ron, I know you in particular have some experience with this *type* of light (not this exact model). I'm looking for a suggestion on how high above the water to hang them. It's a 75 g like I said. So 48 long.

Just growing a few "easy" corals and fish right now. Mostly leathers and mushrooms, xenia, star polyps. Wouldn't mind getting into some SPS at some point.

But since I have 2, covering the 4ft spread shouldn't be a problem. Just need a rough idea on height.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Well, the 180 is currently sitting in my dining room awaiting a sump from Synergy Reef. So it will be set up in the next few weeks. YAY!

Now Ron, I know you in particular have some experience with this *type* of light (not this exact model). I'm looking for a suggestion on how high above the water to hang them. It's a 75 g like I said. So 48 long.

Just growing a few "easy" corals and fish right now. Mostly leathers and mushrooms, xenia, star polyps. Wouldn't mind getting into some SPS at some point.

But since I have 2, covering the 4ft spread shouldn't be a problem. Just need a rough idea on height.

Congrats on getting the new system up and running. Are you going to migrate these fixtures to the 180g? If not, do you know what light fixture you are going to use over it? Even after 12 years and 8 or 9 previous tanks (several still running in my house) setting up the new 125g with the 50g display refugium was great fun!

To your question: Since these fixtures are running leds at roughly 2.0 watts, it will be similar to all the other 1.8w to 2.2w fixtures. At 6" to 12" off the water over a 20-21" deep tank should work.

You don't need the height to control the light intensity, that issue went away with the addition of the dimmer controls. Your only concern with height should be about coverage of the light footprint at the bottom of the tank. You want to be high enough to cover the entire bottom of the tank, but NOT so high that you 'spill' a lot of light out the sides or front of the tank. Light that spills out of the tank and onto the floor is just wasted light, you want to try and keep as much as you can inside the tank. That way you can run the fixture at a bit lower intensity, save electricity, keep the fixture even cooler and help with life span of the leds (a really minor issue).

The bigger issue is how much PAR this fixture is going to produce at any given power setting. If you don't have access to a PAR meter, I'd recommend starting a bit lower than 'normal' as the 5w leds run at 2 watts might (very iffy) produce a bit more PAR than a 3w led run at 2.2w. Something like 20%white and 40% blue to start.

 

[Elricsfate]

Downside #1- There is a butt load of disco effect on the sand. Luckily, I don't have epilepsy.

I guess it's not actually unbearable, but certainly more than I would have liked.

 

[jayball]

Downside #1- There is a butt load of disco effect on the sand. Luckily, I don't have epilepsy.



I guess it's not actually unbearable, but certainly more than I would have liked.

Can you try to take the lens off of the green and red? That may help with the disco some

 

[Elricsfate]

Can you try to take the lens off of the green and red? That may help with the disco some

I can certainly try. I'll take a look at it when I get back home.

Green and red serve no actual function as far as the animals go, and are included for visual effect...correct? So taking the lenses off (if I can) will not alter anything in the tank aside from how it looks?

 

[jayball]

Opinions on these lights?

Neither is needed but the light will still be getting there, it will just diffuse better to help soften the disco and color shadows

Some people even put tape over them.


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