"Best" low priced LEDs

DesertReefT4r · Oct 9, 2019

What's the best options for a 4ft 75g sps mixed reef? Something between a Mars Aqua BB and something nicer like a Photon V2. Considering replacing the 2x 250w MH setup up I currently have. I would like a bit more pop from my corals and things like a bit less heat and no bulb replacements would be nice. Not getting the PAR I would like from my current lighting as well.

Bpb · Oct 9, 2019

You’re just looking at more
Black boxes in that price range. There’s not much in between. But....on a practical level. Whatever you buy, make sure you stick with it for at least 2 years or more. If you replace them with something different before then you’ve essentially negated the bulb change issue. Each BB costs about what 2 bulbs cost. Not turning this into a debate, just calling out the logic of not wanting to replace bulbs, but then seeing people upgrade their entire led panels every 12-18 months any time something new comes out. And spending a heck of a lot more in the process. Even with resale offset of the old units.

Sump Crab · Oct 9, 2019

I had ocean revive arctic t247 on a past tank for 2 or 3 years and had excellent growth. The lights come fully programable. I now have radions and obviously you cannot really compare the two in quality and spectrum BUT the t247 did its job admirably.

Semisonyx · Oct 9, 2019

Ocean Revive is gone. There are marked down units to be had out there (I’ve seen as low as$125 if buying 4), but no warranty or support.

I tried the “new” mars aqua units. They have SMD LEDs (not easily swappable like the older units) and their new layout is horrible. I sent them back immediately. Too much warm white and red with too much 460 blue gave a very Grimace purple hue to them.

Viparspectra has been the winner for me. Their new layout is a great mix (plenty of 420nm). Hard to distinguish the color between them and my 250w radiums when I was running them side by side. Corals are looking good and growing quickly. I second what @Bpb said about having to run them for two years to break even with halide bulb changes.

Sump Crab · Oct 9, 2019

Semisonyx said:
Ocean Revive is gone. There are marked down units to be had out there (I’ve seen as low as$125 if buying 4), but no warranty or support.

Too bad, good lights IME

mshonk · Oct 9, 2019

Viparspectras will handle your par needs. I beleive 2 will work your tank. Its just a question of what color you favor lighting your tank. To bump out the higher par at you will end up on the 10k-12k appearance. So you may want to supplement blues to make it look more like 20k. I measured my par over a 40g and it hitting just over 700 par top center and 350 par bottom center.

Jon Fishman · Oct 9, 2019

I had the 300w. Mars Aqua on my 75. great light. I spared little expense this far on the new tank, but still went with cheap Mars Aqua and run three of the 300W

Addicted2Coral · Oct 9, 2019

Ocean revive brand +1. I loved mine!! Even more so than reef breeders. I've been hearing a lot of good about vipar as of late, though.

Bpb · Oct 9, 2019

Again. Ocean revive is bunk. They’re no more. If you find any they’ll be used or just new old stock with no warranty support. It’s also lame that they pair the 420 nm diodes in with the red/green/white dimmer. They’re well constructed but poorly designed in the spectrum dept. Viparspectra has a fantastic warranty, great support, massive product line, and a better spectrum layout than any other black box. Highly recommended in that price point.

Han · Oct 9, 2019

I just ordered a fluval marine 3.0 led for my new 73 gal, don’t have it yet but it was relatively affordable (compared to my hydras on my other tanks). Time will tell how it performs.

AdamB · Oct 9, 2019

I also second viper spectras. I had 2 of them on my 90 gallon mixed and my acros has great color and had great growth along with others . I was pretty impressed with them granted they cost much less than my hydras on my 80 gallon .

EMeyer · Oct 9, 2019

Bpb said:
Again. Ocean revive is bunk. They’re no more. If you find any they’ll be used or just new old stock with no warranty support. It’s also lame that they pair the 420 nm diodes in with the red/green/white dimmer. They’re well constructed but poorly designed in the spectrum dept. Viparspectra has a fantastic warranty, great support, massive product line, and a better spectrum layout than any other black box. Highly recommended in that price point.

I agree about the purples on the white channel. For that matter, I'm not a fan of any of the black boxes choice of spectrum in the first place (I just dont think its bad enough to make any actual difference)

But on the warranty/support point -- isnt the warranty void as soon as you open a black box anyway? Makes the theoretical warranty kind of a moot point for me.

AdamB · Oct 9, 2019

AdamB said:
I also second viper spectras. I had 2 of them on my 90 gallon mixed and my acros has great color and had great growth along with others . I was pretty impressed with them granted they cost much less than my hydras on my 80 gallon .

Also , I ran blues at 90% and whites at less than 20%. Strong light

AbjectMaelstroM · Oct 9, 2019

+1 for Viparspectra. 3 year warranty (though not sure of how CS a oriented they are) or if you want to do your own "warranty" work its easy to do and you can modify the spectrum to your liking if you so wish. Solid spectrum out of the box, plus you can cover your whole tank for $220 for the two lights.

Ocean Revives are dead in the water, so I would avoid them unless you can get them for dang near free.

Malifry97 · Oct 9, 2019

The new and improved marineland reef capable light, I have a Nem working great with it and it has great look to the light. I'll try to find link.

Edit: Here is the link

Robot Check

Roid Reefs · Oct 9, 2019

I have a photon v2 Im trying to sell locally. never shipped before but willing to try it with some guidance from an experienced member

Malifry97 · Oct 9, 2019

Roid Reefs said:
I have a photon v2 Im trying to sell locally. never shipped before but willing to try it with some guidance from an experienced member

How much?

jda · Oct 9, 2019

I strongly suggest that you keep those halides around for a while. Most people with long-term halide use struggles with higher quality lights like Orphek or EcoTech, and these will not be as easy as these.

If you just want some pop, then get a ReefBrite or Orphek strip.

Backreefing · Oct 9, 2019

You stated your not getting much par with metal halides ? They got the biggest punch of all . If you want led pop then get some blues along with the halides. ( orbecs , reefbrights ect )
That way you get the pop and the punch .

SeaDweller · Oct 9, 2019

Kinda piggybacking off of what jda said...
This may or may not be relevant to you, but I can tell you in my experience buying from MH lit tanks and then going into my all LED system one of two things happen, at least with acros (for me). If frags came from a super healthy, maintained tank, they take a while to develop color and grow. Some pieces stall out. If the frags come from a poorly maintained tank, lit by MH, but have decent growth in the parent tank, they’ve stalled out completely in my tank. They take many months to color up, and I’m almost at a year with some of those pieces with absolutely no growth.