Sunbrite Slimline LED Info & Par Readings

I heard back from Tim at Sunbrite with answers to my questions. The timer feature works very differently from any of the previously posted versions. Here are his answers, and a few of my own observations/comments at the end:


1) is it ok if the mounting bracket is in the water? There doesn't seem to be any way to mount it that doesn't put it in the water in my tank. Won't aluminum oxidize? And is it dangerous to have metal with electric components in the water? Will the aluminum (I think it's aluminum) leech metals into my tank?

Answer: It's ok to be in the water. The unit is only 24DC, it's safe even the entire Unit is in the water. (not the power supply!)

2) What does the "timer setting" button do, exactly? And how does it work? When does it start and end? And what is the cycle that it cycles?

Answer:
Button A: once you pushed it, the internal clock starts at 6.00AM. Button B: Demo mode, it will run through the sunrise to sunset cycle. For demo purpose only. Button C: cycle through the white LEDs, 20% at a time. Button D: for the blue LEDs, works the same way as button C.

3) If I select a light color/intensity, when the timed cycle comes on, does it go to my pre-set color, or to full bright on all LED's?

Answer:
Once you plug in the power, the unit is 100%. use button C or D to adjust the intensity. Then click on button A to start the timer. Once you click on A. The clock starts at 6.00 am.

4) If I change the lights during a timed cycle, what happens in the next cycle? Does it cycle back to the most recent color? Or reset to something else?

Answer:
You may just unplug and plug it back in to reset the clock.

5) Did the Slimline S come standard with the 60 or 80 degree optics?

Answer:

All slim line and slim line S comes with a 80 degree optic. You may purchase 60 degree optic at $.99 a piece.


When I asked for clarification the sequence of lights for the timed sunrise/sunset moonlight feature:

Answer:
Pressing A sets the timer at 6AM, then:
6am first group blue.
9 am second group blue.
11am first group white.
1 pm second group white. Everything on.
The sunset starts at 5pm, it shuts off the first group of white (5 of them).
Then 7 pm shuts off the second group of white.
9pm shuts off the first group of blue
then it jumps to moon lights mode, only 4 in the middle driven at 0.1 watt each

My thoughts now that I've been playing with this unit for 5 days:

On the timer sequence:
~The timed sequence is kind of a bummer to me. It seems that you only get full lights for 4 hours in the middle of the day. And there is no way to have these 4 hours be the evening hours when most of us are home to enjoy the aquarium unless the tank is dark most of the day and light well into the wee hours of morning. And for a big chunk of the evening (and morning), the tank is all blue. So I'm pretty disappointed with the way it's programmed. For the time being I've set it to start the sequence at 8AM, but since I only got these directions yesterday afternoon, I haven't had a chance to live with it a few days to see how I feel about it in practice (or how the animals in the tank will do with this scheme.)
~When I asked if the light could be re-programmed with a different program, his reply was: "All program are pre set and burn into a ROM. We might able to burn a different one for you in the future. Please keep bugging me." So it may be that they can somehow send another program, but I'm unclear how/when/for what cost. I'll check back with him again another time. In the mean time I'm gong to try living with their program for a bit and see how it feels, and if I don't like it, I'll just put the light on an old-fashioned timer (which is a big bummer since the programmed sunrise-sunset and moonlights was a big part of why I chose this fixture.)

On the spread over my Solana 34:
~Well, so far I haven't been able to find the ideal way to mount this light over my Solana 34 (20"X20"X20" cube with built-in rear sump.) Mounted on the back glass wall, the farthest back row of lights barely clears the sump section, which means that a lot of the light actually falls into the sump. I've got chaeto growing back there on a reverse schedule, so light in the sump isn't ideal. This also means that the bulk of the lights are centered on the back half of the tank. The light fall-off from that location means that the very back of my rockwork is wel-lit, but the front third of the tank is much less lit. Light does reach the entire floorplan, though. It's just that the intensity is greatest in the rear, and not centered over my rocks. If you have a pure cube with no sump and centered rockwork, this light might work well for you in up to a 20"X20" cube.
~My Solana has the wood trim & top holder on the top, and I like it and want to keep it. However, I can't figure out any way to mount the light and still keep the wood trim around the top. If I was totally happy with the light spread with the lights mounted on the back wall, I would just modify my trim to accommodate it. But since the position of the lights is too far back in my tank anyhow, I'm not going to cut up my trim section.
~I tried mounting the light on the black wall between the back sump and the tank. However, in order to do so, the mounting bracket has to be very far in the water, and I don't like a) how it looks, b) that metal is in the water (although they say it is safe, I'm not convinced it won't cause electrolysis or leech metal into the tank...anyone with more knowledge of aluminum, salt water, and electricity have an opinion?), c) the back wall seems too fragile/flimsy to hold such a heavy light with the torque it produces, d) the bracket blocks access to the 2nd chamber media box. So I've ruled this out as an option.
~Considered mounting it on the side, which puts the spread in a decent location, but still puts the bracket deeply in the water, and I'd have to greatly modify my wood trim. Plus it looks funny on the side.
~My temporary solution: I've removed the mounting bracket and stuck some felt pads under the corners and have it sitting on the glass. Unfortunately, this doesn't get the fixture high enough to get light spread over the whole tank (it needs to be maybe 6 inches up to get good coverage.) Considering making some taller legs from dowels or something, but sliding the light on the glass is a pain. So ideally I'm going to make (or have made) a bracket that straddles the tank and holds the light at the ideal level, which would also allow the glass to be opened and closed with the light in place. Seems workable, but well, it's going to take some work.
~Also of note, no matter how you mount the bracket on the back of the Solana, your ability to access the second chamber to change media baskets/etc is limited.

The long and the short of it:
If the bracket as provided serves your dimensions (probably a pure square of 16-20" with no rear sump), and you can live with the bracket in the water (perhaps not true in every case), and you don't mind the timer sequence as programmed, this is a sharp light. But it seems like its design is quite limited as is.

Hmmm, maybe I'll go back to bugging them and see if there is any way to get a mounting bracket that would move the light further forward over the tank. It seems that if they want to sell this fixture for a variety of tanks, having more than one mounting bracket might be good for them (shorter for smaller tanks, longer for larger ones.) Just a thought.

Dawn
 
Dawn, thanks for sharing. I agree - in it's current configuration it does seem to be more geared toward specific applications. On my 15x15 cube with light mouted to wood affixed to the back glass - it's perfect. For every inch outward it changes things. You also answered my question - what if the power goes out (or unplugged) - you have to reset the light at a specific time.

Those issues aside, I still think this is a great light for the price and although I have the first gen I'm happy! Love this light!
 
I was able to see one of the first gen units over a oceanic biocube today. I will say, it was a lot dimmer than I was expecting. The tank in the store 20x20x16H is similar to mine 20x20x20 so I'm not sure what to do now. With the wider optics on the new models, I'm wondering if its going to look even more dim.

I'm not sure I want to step up to the larger S model either, cause at that price point, I think I'd rather just get the AI Nano when they come out.

If anyone has any experience with the new smaller Sunbrite over a Solana, I'd be curious to hear your opinions.

Playapixie, also curious to see if you've come up with any good start time for the timer.
 
Last edited:
If it was an original Slimline, yeah, 20x20 is a push, especially if it isn't centered very well.

I'd do the S. It's got the LEDs spread out wider on the unit (see the 5/11 comparison pic of the three models by mordibv), plus 18 LEDs and not just 12 LEDs. You can see a much more robust spread in the 5/12 pic by mordibv.
 
I just got mine today and I'm in the same boat I have an external overflow on my 20x20x9 setup. If I mount it on the back of the extrenal oveflow it sits to far back, i'm not so keen about mounting the foot in the water.. While this tank is 100% LPS, it shares a sump w/my SPS tank which is much more sensitive.
 
LOL right now nowhere! A guy in my area called Sunbrite two weeks ago and got the last one in stock. The next shipment is due into the country next week I think.
 
I just got mine today and I'm in the same boat I have an external overflow on my 20x20x9 setup. If I mount it on the back of the extrenal oveflow it sits to far back, i'm not so keen about mounting the foot in the water.. While this tank is 100% LPS, it shares a sump w/my SPS tank which is much more sensitive.


Not sure if you overflow is the same as mine . I slapped this together for mounting issue . I have double stick tape and a brace that wedges between the two long bars and my overflow pipe .
I just cut two inches off the top today . I wanted to drop the light down a few more inches .
It sits right on the overflow box . The wood does not get wet and neither does my light .


HTH

DSCF1267.jpg
 
The first time I did the brace is in post 48 and 49 . Here it is now .I may order the optics as the spread is still slightly greater than the tank . I also like the added bonus of the increase in par .


DSCF13111.jpg
 
I removed my 150w sunpod, and have added 2 sunbrite slimline LED's

Here is the review!

I went to bay mac today and bought lots of corals and 2 sunbrite slimline LED
I gotta say, I love them, the best part is the remote. I really am the person that loves the blue effect, so since this has remote there is I think 11 different types of color combo you can have. Since I noticed it takes 11 click to dim a whole white bulb light or blue light.
Also its cool that this has a clamp on that you clamp on behind the tank. So no need to go through all the hassle with hanging kit and mumbo jumbo. This is also made out of 12x3 watt Cree LED XP.
So its pretty nice LED. 36watt total.

[Par reading / Coloration] I talked to the Sunbrite guys, and the Par reading for this was 24inch was 180, with water. Not too bad, perfect for nano tanks. will cover 20x20x20. So I could of just went for 1, but as you can see my rock works are not high at all, so I needed probably 2 to keep sps. But if my rock works were high atleast up to like +50%, I could of just gotten away with 1. But since I bought 2, I can make it more blue withought having to worry about losing too par value. If this thing is at 100% white and blue on, it looks pretty white rather then blue.


[Blue Color] This has a different blue coloration compared to like phoenix bulb or other LED set ups I seen. While most set up blue colors are from sky blue to pure ocean blue. This LED blue was little weird for me, so this gives it -1. Its not bad, its actually okay, but I rather let it be pure blue. But I can live with this with 90% satisfied coloration. The color is actually more like turquoise color, from dark to light depending on your blue settings.


[Dimming / Remote] Its still cool how you can control the blueness of the tank, or the whiteness, you can just play around with it however you want and be creative and create sunrise and sunset effect. It even has moonlight effect. However I noticed with me using 2 fixtures, it can get little annoying to use the remote. Since 1 remote works on both of them which is nice, but sometimes 1 fixture reads the remote little late to none while other one reads it. So both can get little off when it comes to coloration, and it gets annoying to get them back up same coloration. So its best to do it in front of the light which messes up the least

However if you only have 1 fixture you can control it from wherever your sitting around up to 8ft away, sitting on couch or whatever. Normally with fixtures that has controls on them, you would have to go back up to see colors from a distance, while this allows you to change color from distance, so its little bit more comfy.

The remote comes with 4 switches. A B C D.
A is to switch modes. [6500k, 12,000k, 16,000k, 22,000k] +1 on that
B is to switch modes from either to dim blueness or the whiteness
C is to make the lights stronger (+)
D is to make the lights more dimmer (-)

[With remote shield slide on]
2bsk9d.jpg


[With remote shield slide off]
1530llc.jpg



[Mounting] As I have said before this LED fixture is clamp on where you can clamp it behind from the tank. Only problem is it does not come out far as I would like to. It almost stops before the middle. So I have more lights on back of the tank rather then upper. Im going to have to see if there are other options or If I should just keep with this. Its not bad really though.

[Side view]
2mxhmq1.jpg


[Mounting leg]
2ibjlg0.jpg



This tank is 20x20x20 Solana 34 gallon tank made by Current

2 Slimline, 30% white off
2lvidko.jpg


New corals i got under LED, around 6 1/2 inch derasa clam $30 I bought at baymac
3467ti0.jpg


80% white off
m7f8l0.jpg


[12x3 watt LED 6 blue 6 white]
5wgy00.jpg


[Manuel]
10wi81t.jpg


[Manuel pg 2]
24fjp04.jpg


[I rate this fixture]
Dimming effect: (+1) Must have with LED fixture
Mounting: (1/2) Easy mounting but does not reach far enough
Modes: (+1) I like the way you can choose the mods, including moonlight effect.
Style: (+1) Looks modern looking and very slim, also no fan so it stays quite, and no heat.
Coloration: (-1 )due to turquoise looking color rather then pure blue
Remote / Controls: (+1) Works around up to like 8ft away
Price: (+1) Best for low budgets since its only $250. Its the cheapest dimmable LED (from my experince) in market. Also its Cree XP LED, + dimmable.

I bought the 2 fixture at baymac event in bay area for $199 each no tax.
But my question is, is 2 too much for my tank? Im noticing my zoa's wont come out much, so I have it dimmed. Anybody know how many par reading these give out?

[This gets 5 1/2 out of 7]

*This fixture has 2 year warranty*
 
Great write-up! And at $199 each, a great deal! Congrats!

Two seems like a LOT of PAR for this tank, which you would probably need for clams and SPS. This is the original Slimline, which should have the 60* optics, which focuses light and maximizes PAR.

Spoke to a local reefer this weekend who added a Slimline S to an 18x18x18 cube. The S is same size fixture as yours, but has 18 LEDs which are spread over more of the fixture. Anyhow, with just one, he was turning down the white LEDs and moving things like ricordia around because they looked stressed.

I'd move your zoas to an area that is not directly under the LEDs. That would probably give them some relief.
 
Last edited:
yeah thats what I figured, but I noticed 1 was little too weak for my tank, and 2 is little too much. They had S there, but it was not on sale like the regular model. And I just bought 2 incase of future upgrade. But Im currently running it 40% dimmed, I noticed running 2 on full power was killing my lps :(

I still have not figured out what mode to do, for my sps and lps, as you can see my rocks do not go high
 
@mkizz21 .. IMHO u called it right buy using two fixtures . The corals are new , so they will need some time to adjust . I would not run them wide open for at least 6 weeks . I would work my way up on the hours of operation . I never ran my halides for more than 7 hours a day . LEDS are a different beast so take it easy with them . They are similar to a point source light but the degradation of color & intensity does not vary as in halides OR T5'S .They will fool your eyes . I have seen corals fry under leds in many posts . I am guilty of this too .
 
Yeah, they are opening much better now, Im turning on the intensity only about 50% white and 60% on blue kinda, not running on at 100% / 100%

Zoa's are doing much better now :)
 
I've been running the Slimline (not the 'S') on my 15x15x15 cube for about 50 days now. In the tank are two anenomes (1 top of rocks, 1 side/bottom of rocks), frog spawn (top) yuma and ricordias (middle), tubbs blues (middle), duncans and gsp (bottom) - all are doing great! Different applications may yield different results; however, for my rig - this IS the perfect light.

Important to note; I do not have the lights at 100%. I'd estimate they are 65-70% since I dialed them in for a 20k look.
 
I've been running the Slimline (not the 'S') on my 15x15x15 cube for about 50 days now. In the tank are two anenomes (1 top of rocks, 1 side/bottom of rocks), frog spawn (top) yuma and ricordias (middle), tubbs blues (middle), duncans and gsp (bottom) - all are doing great! Different applications may yield different results; however, for my rig - this IS the perfect light.

Important to note; I do not have the lights at 100%. I'd estimate they are 65-70% since I dialed them in for a 20k look.

Im still debating on getting the s model. I have a 24x24x18h tank. The looks of the light is exactly what I want. I just hope that it performs. I am looking at other brands as well.
 
Back
Top