Black box leds?

[Parkerbenz]

I have heard of the cheap "black box leds" from china, but I would like to know a little more about them! My first question is where do you buy them from? Ebay? Also, what is the general consensus on them, are they junk?

 

[Ruben's Reef]

You can get it on EBay, Amazon etc. I have a Viparspectra 300W and before this one a 165w and both are good especially if you are on a low budget.

 

[Parkerbenz]

Thanks for the reply! I currently have just a few zoas and a ton of leather coral, but plan on getting into more intermediate corals soon. What do you think about 2 165w Viparspectra leds on a 75g?

 

[Clarinuto]

Following! I’ve been wondering about this

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Thanks for the reply! I currently have just a few zoas and a ton of leather coral, but plan on getting into more intermediate corals soon. What do you think about 2 165w Viparspectra leds on a 75g?

That would be perfect, specially if the tank has the middle trim brace.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/black-box-led-lit-tanks-showoff-thread.339850/page-4


This is my SBREEFLIGHT

 

[cvrle1]

eBay, Amazon, Aliexpress are the 3 you can go with. Aliexpress would have more choices, but would take longest too due to shipping from China. Viparspectra have good following. Here is pne discussion thread about them: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/viparspectra-165watt-anyone-using-these.317612/page-6 (6 pages)

You can also look at Bloomspect, which are 99% same as Viparspectra. I would go with ones that are cheaper between the 2.

Few other to look at:
Mars Aqua
Ocean Revive T247
SB Reef lights

Take a look at this thread as well for some more ideas. Will be great source of info once it starts up and has some results: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-real-black-box-light-study.503052/page-11#post-5446131

 

[Hal3134]

I guess it depends on what you mean by "cheap black box led's from china". As you no doubt already know, most LED's are sourced from China. Heck, even Apple builds most of its hardware in China. I'm pretty sure that my 3 "economy" units that I got from reefbreeders.com were built in China; I seem to recall talking with Josh about a recent trip he had there to get some manufacturing issues worked out.

I just bought a new LED light off Amazon from "ZXMEAN". Based on the poorish grammar and other things I'm pretty sure it came from China too.

Having said all that, I, and I think most people will tell you, that we/they are pretty satisfied with our purchases. I think as long as you avoid buying it from an unknown vendor with little feedback/reviews you should be ok. The stuff coming from Chinese companies is getting pretty good. I'm not sure if you've heard of "ghost shifts", but that is where a company works first shift making known branded products (golf clubs are a big one here) and then works second shift using the same materials, design, and production line to create their own branded products (usually unknown to the first brand company).

 

[Parkerbenz]

Thanks for all of the "brands." I was realy having the most trouble searching online for led lights, since most stuff I got was just junk lol. Sbreefs is actually about an hour away from me, might check them out this weekend! My 75 does have a center brace, so I think 2 suspended lights would look amazing!

 

[Parkerbenz]

@Hal3134 I have noticed that some products coming out of china are almost exact replicas of the original thing, and sometimes even better quality!

So far I am thinking of going with 2 viparspecrta 165w timer control lights, or going with something I find at SBreefs.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thanks for all of the "brands." I was realy having the most trouble searching online for led lights, since most stuff I got was just junk lol. Sbreefs is actually about an hour away from me, might check them out this weekend! My 75 does have a center brace, so I think 2 suspended lights would look amazing!

I have 3 basics in my 55.

 

[Parkerbenz]

Just checked out sbreefs store, awesome selection, one of the best around. BUT they only stock one or two lights in the store, they usually tell people to order them online, but they do repair stuff if you bring it into the store!

 

[Ariel V Rosa]

I have heard of the cheap "black box leds" from china, but I would like to know a little more about them! My first question is where do you buy them from? Ebay? Also, what is the general consensus on them, are they junk?

I would encourage you to give SBreef lights a look, they are chinese black boxes done correctly. At a very fair price.

 

[Parkerbenz]

I would encourage you to give SBreef lights a look, they are chinese black boxes done correctly. At a very fair price.

I still cant decide between 2 SBreef 18" Sbox basic, or 2 viparspectra 165w lights. I really think that sbreefs lights have been "fine tuned" to make them worth $20 more a light. I dislike how each SBreefs light uses 2 ports. The viparspectra has a built in timer, only uses one outlet, and has a remote (remote isnt that big of a deal lol). Any thoughts?

 

[Ariel V Rosa]

I still cant decide between 2 SBreef 18" Sbox basic, or 2 viparspectra 165w lights. I really think that sbreefs lights have been "fine tuned" to make them worth $20 more a light. I dislike how each SBreefs light uses 2 ports. The viparspectra has a built in timer, only uses one outlet, and has a remote (remote isnt that big of a deal lol). Any thoughts?

I have not had first hand with the Viraspectra, but they were similar to the mars aqua when I looked at them a few years ago. The SB reef lifhts are going to be the only led lights that have a true UV spectrum at this price range, they go down as short as 395. Mine are custom so they go start at 385nm and work thier way up to heavy 440nm. I would encourage you to examine the spectrum gor each light you will see that the SB has you more than coverd. These lights have more than enough power to fry any unfortunate coral under them if you are not carefull. My blues blues run at 40% and white channel at 10%.

 

[Parkerbenz]

Oh wow, so they are super powerful? I was planning on hanging them, since my 75g has a center brace, but do you think just one 32" SBreefs light mounted using the legs would work, or would it be best to use two?

 

[cracker]

I have some basic 164 black boxes , been using them about 3,4 years now. No problems growing corals or breakdowns . Even the fans are still quiet . I would recommend them to someone on a budget .

 

[Parkerbenz]

I have decided to go with the sb reef lights SBOX 32" timer pro. It should mount directly over my 48" 75g tank, but I am still considering hanging it, I love the look of suspended lights!

 

[AcroCrush]

Interesting post. I did some research and I build my own LED lights with aluminum heat sinks and raw 10w LED chips. I use a second hand laptop computer power supply, resistors, knowhow, and covert old aquarium fluorescent light fixtures to hold it all. They grow corals and lack some cool features unless you get more creative but a 60w, 2-channel light I have been useing for the last eight years only cost me $60 in additional materials to convert an old 4-bulb 48” T8 fixture. It looks retro and it works well on my 80g breeder. I setup the 10w LED chips to run fixed at 50% so I could potentially rework this light with a dimmer and get more out of it since the chips and surrounding heat sinks as it is only reach 93 degrees F.

 

[Parkerbenz]

Interesting post. I did some research and I build my own LED lights with aluminum heat sinks and raw 10w LED chips. I use a second hand laptop computer power supply, resistors, knowhow, and covert old aquarium fluorescent light fixtures to hold it all. They grow corals and lack some cool features unless you get more creative but a 60w, 2-channel light I have been useing for the last eight years only cost me $60 in additional materials to convert an old 4-bulb 48” T8 fixture. It looks retro and it works well on my 80g breeder. I setup the 10w LED chips to run fixed at 50% so I could potentially rework this light with a dimmer and get more out of it since the chips and surrounding heat sinks as it is only reach 93 degrees F.

Very cool! Any pictures?