21ledusa vs Reef Brite vs SBreef

[BigJohnny]

Has anyone had two or three of these led bars and noticed much of a difference? I have the 21ledusa ultra actinic reefbar pro (red leds blocked) and I want to know if there is any reason at all to try the SBar or Reefbrite xho. The Reefbrite is absurdly overpriced but on sale at bulk reef supply and I almost pulled the trigger. My hesitation is that I won't notice a difference.

All the big players use reef brite xho and tulio del aquilla definitely knows what he's talking about, but I hate that the leds are a secret. 21ledbar doesnt have the sleek mount for my ati so it is ghetto rigged with zip ties, but $260 for a sleek mounting option (if that's the only difference) is not worth it obviously. I only use it for dusk/dawn pop at 50% max so power/par is not my concern. The 21ledbar/sbar have individual lenses and the reefbrite has a big reflector, so not sure if that makes it look better or not. I'm pretty sure the sbreef would look nearly identical to my 21ledbar.

Led wise:

21ledusa- mostly 445nm with a couple 465nm and 422nm, all bridgelux
Sbar- 450nm cree, 420nm epistar
Reefbrite- ?

Would love your input, thanks.

 

[Bacon505]

Here is a photo of the sb reef bar (left)and the reefbrite lumi lite(right). I have the xho comming so i sill do a comparison pretty soon.

 

[BigJohnny]

Here is a photo of the sb reef bar (left)and the reefbrite lumi lite(right). I have the xho comming so i sill do a comparison pretty soon.

Thanks. Do you notice much of a difference besides the fact that the lumilite is way weaker? The xho vs sbreef will be a much better comparison. Btw, love your tank I saw your build thread, epic.

 

[Bacon505]

December 2014. The sb bar is brighter than the lumi for sure but the down size is the lense they used. It is very focus making it very narrowed. The light js hanged about 12” i think to get a better coverage has to be hang atleast 18”-20” imo

 

[BigJohnny]

Well, I pulled the trigger on the actinic reefbrite xho, so I'll let everyone know how it compares vs the 21ledusa ultra actinic bar atleast. Bacon can tell us how it is vs the sbreef.

 

[Brian W]

I use 2 24" 21leds strip lights mounted to a heatsink on my 40 gallon tank. (these are the leds that come on a rall and have a stocky back)
They are ok if your lights in your house are out and its dark outside. They are not very bright. But bright enough to make the corals pop.

That being said I am considering trying the 48" version and mounting them on my new tank. The thought is more leds, more brighter.
I cant justify spending all that money for reef brites or sbar's.

 

[BigJohnny]

I use 2 24" 21leds strip lights mounted to a heatsink on my 40 gallon tank. (these are the leds that come on a rall and have a stocky back)
They are ok if your lights in your house are out and its dark outside. They are not very bright. But bright enough to make the corals pop.

That being said I am considering trying the 48" version and mounting them on my new tank. The thought is more leds, more brighter.
I cant justify spending all that money for reef brites or sbar's.

I think those are the stock reefbars. I have a reefbar pro which is very powerful. I recommend you get the reef bar pro instead when you upgrade. I also have the sunsetter dimmer.

 

[Brian W]

I think those are the stock reefbars. I have a reefbar pro which is very powerful. I recommend you get the reef bar pro instead when you upgrade. I also have the sunsetter dimmer.

you are talking about their leds with the led chips?

 

[BigJohnny]

you are talking about their leds with the led chips?

This is the reef bar pro
And this is the sunsetter dimmer/timer

 

[Brian W]

This is the reef bar pro
And this is the sunsetter dimmer/timer

gotcha. I was looking at that last week. may go that route. thanks

 

[Brian W]

gotcha. I was looking at that last week. may go that route. thanks

I live about 5 miles from their shop. I may have them custom make me something. I will let you know!

 

[BigJohnny]

I live about 5 miles from their shop. I may have them custom make me something. I will let you know!

Niceeee

 

[BigJohnny]

Well I caved and bought a 36" reebrite actinic blue xho during BRS black friday sale and boy is it a pretty fixture. Amazing how much smaller it is than my 21ledusa, but the mounting brackets/reputation is really what pushed me over the edge.

It looks extremely well designed/made and can't wait to fire it up and see the difference. Having said that, it doesn't come with a dimmer and I thought I could use my 21ledusa sunsetter module, but the size of the connectors is slightly different. I think I found adapters that will work but I wanted to ask you led guys on here to confirm that the dimmer will work properly.

Here is the power supply for the reefbrite, and here are the specs on the dimmer. The reefbrite is 24v max 4amps and the dimmer says 12-24v and max 4amps per channel, so I don't see why not........but I'm no expert. I did see that the dimmer premium aquatics sells for reefbrites (doesn't have the built in ramp/timer like my sunsetter does) is rated for 12-24v as well but 6a max. I really would prefer to use the sunsetter instead of buying another dimmer and a timer.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[BigJohnny]

It works, just needed barrel plug adapters which I got on amazon

 

[Bacon505]

Here is some pic between the sb bar abd the reefbrite xho. The sb bar is max on dimmer

 

[BigJohnny]

Here is some pic between the sb bar abd the reefbrite xho. The sb bar is max on dimmer

Which do you prefer? The reef Brite looks much more powerful with better spread as well, based on pics. That was certainly the case for me vs my 21ledusa bar

 

[Bacon505]

I prefer the reefbrite, the spead and colors is amazing

 

[BigJohnny]

I prefer the reefbrite, the spead and colors is amazing

Agreed. How long will you be running on your tank? Btw, what t5 bulbs do you have in there?

-bigJ

 

[Bacon505]

I run 10h on the xho and sb bar. My t5 run for 7h. I run 4 blue plus 4 coral plus. Now with the xho i will probably run 3 coral plus 2 purple plus and 3 blue plus for 6h on my next bulbs replacement

 

[yellojello]

I had the 48” Reefbrite Tech non-xho for about 5 years. Then replaced it recently with an sbar. Wow your xho pic looks super bright is it that much brighter or just cause of the wider lens spread? The UV purple led on the sbar does bring out a nicer glow than just blues. Because of the different lens, it penetrates deeper but less spread. I would say single Reefbrite covered my 24” width well, and the sbar only like 12-14” width.

Here are photos of my 5 year old Reefbrite Tech vs sBar.

I setup my 48” frag tank, and went with two eBay led bars about $60 each. Since it’s a shallow tank, it does the job. Plus it mounts directly to my ATI.