China Led lights?
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Crabs McJones
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If you're interested in the black box leds I'd look into SB reef lights. @saltyfilmfolks is our resident SB light expert. He may have more info on them for you 
https://www.amazon.com/DSunY-Saltwa...pID=61ew6M8R81L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
Dsuny LED's
I bought these, 5 total for my tank and soooo far haven't had any issues. Glad I got the wifi version as it makes it easy to program. 4 channels, dusk to dawn, moon cycles, and various season cycles. Also has weather effects. Probably not the strongest light for high end corals but for softies, zoas, nems and maybe LPS should be fine IMO lights look great easy install has a small shimmer effect on the gravel but nothing like some of the other offbrand LEDs
Dsuny LED's
I bought these, 5 total for my tank and soooo far haven't had any issues. Glad I got the wifi version as it makes it easy to program. 4 channels, dusk to dawn, moon cycles, and various season cycles. Also has weather effects. Probably not the strongest light for high end corals but for softies, zoas, nems and maybe LPS should be fine IMO lights look great easy install has a small shimmer effect on the gravel but nothing like some of the other offbrand LEDs
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Bronc
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I use these and love them. I’m getting outstanding SPS growth.
https://www.amazon.com/VIPARSPECTRA...15&sr=8-1&keywords=viparspectra+165w+reef+led
https://www.amazon.com/VIPARSPECTRA...15&sr=8-1&keywords=viparspectra+165w+reef+led
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reeferfoxx
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Can you post a picture of the lights with the tank?
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reeferfoxx
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I have 5. Got 2 for my 90 cube, all seemed ok at first. Got 3 more for a 75 tank I set up last December. Caution, they don’t spread light. It goes straight down. Very easy to bleach corals. I use mine at under 50%, 70% blues and 25 % white. BRS did a really good revie on them.
Short term everything seemed good. Long term, all sps dead in my 75. Died from tips back. I had lights turned way down in that tank, maybe 40%. My 90 things are a little better, different China black box light. Corals alive but not growing much after 9 months. Be careful, I would not recommend. Looking now for used radions or hydras for my tanks. I have ai sols on third tank, all doing well.
Short term everything seemed good. Long term, all sps dead in my 75. Died from tips back. I had lights turned way down in that tank, maybe 40%. My 90 things are a little better, different China black box light. Corals alive but not growing much after 9 months. Be careful, I would not recommend. Looking now for used radions or hydras for my tanks. I have ai sols on third tank, all doing well.
ZoWhat
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The eBay/Amazon Chinese LEDs are great....bc 99% of all LED bulbs are all made in China anyway.
Even Highend USA Mfgrs all buy the LED bulbs from China and solder the China LED on their circuit board....and try to upsell you on MADE IN THE USA
BULLXXXX...... a 460nm blue led is usually the same led bulb used in 100s of different fixture...
Coming out of Chinese factories within blocks of each other
The real problem with Ebay/Amazon LEDs are the power supplies inside the fixture. Most convert a 120v AC signal into some DC voltage/amperage to power the light fixture.
Problem is these power supplies usually burn out around the 2-3 yr mark bc of the harsh salt creep in the air getting to the circuit board shorting it out.
The LEDs still have a good 8yrs left on them but the power supplies crap out ~ short out.
Get with the Mfgr on if the power supplies can be bought as a service replacement part.....cause you'll eventually need them if you want 10+ yrs out of the light
Even Highend USA Mfgrs all buy the LED bulbs from China and solder the China LED on their circuit board....and try to upsell you on MADE IN THE USA
BULLXXXX...... a 460nm blue led is usually the same led bulb used in 100s of different fixture...
Coming out of Chinese factories within blocks of each other
The real problem with Ebay/Amazon LEDs are the power supplies inside the fixture. Most convert a 120v AC signal into some DC voltage/amperage to power the light fixture.
Problem is these power supplies usually burn out around the 2-3 yr mark bc of the harsh salt creep in the air getting to the circuit board shorting it out.
The LEDs still have a good 8yrs left on them but the power supplies crap out ~ short out.
Get with the Mfgr on if the power supplies can be bought as a service replacement part.....cause you'll eventually need them if you want 10+ yrs out of the light
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I find just the opposite. My blue emitters burn out at 2 years, the whites last 3 and the power supplies usually last 4-5. I replace emitters every winter in my system with 10 BB fixtures running at 100% on blue and 80% on the white.
ZoWhat
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Trido.....
The only way you could be going thru LEDs that quickly is the LED is not being properly cooled and burning up from the inside out.
I'd take a hard look at your heat sink and the fan airflow over them
Just sayin.....
The only way you could be going thru LEDs that quickly is the LED is not being properly cooled and burning up from the inside out.
I'd take a hard look at your heat sink and the fan airflow over them
Just sayin.....
Has anyone used these lights on their tank for 6 months or more? I have, and I have trouble even getting coraline algae to grow. I think there are several types of these black box lights. BRS did a review and they will grow coral some, but I have only had limited success. I have had better luck with one batch than the other. In my tank where I lost all my sps coral, I can’t get any coraline algae to grow. I have 2 tanks next to each other set up the same. One has ai sols and the other black box China lights. The first, healthy, and corals, clams, and soft coral doing well. The second sps bleached out after 3 or 4 months of struggling. Soft corals alive, but little growth. Xenia not even growing. Lol.
I am going to go to radions or ai and retire these lights. I may use them on my freshwater tank, but not on any coral tanks.
I am going to go to radions or ai and retire these lights. I may use them on my freshwater tank, but not on any coral tanks.
Maybe I just got a bad set of lights. I can’t seem to get anything to grow in tank. I have 3 larger tanks, and this one is my only problem child. I am looking for new lights. I will update, if the lights fix my problem. Everything is the same except lights.
Like I said, I run mine at 100% on the blue channel and 80% on the white channel. I've been using BB for five years (My own DIY LED for two before that) and have to rebuild the blue channel every two years because the emitters burn up from heat. ALL black boxes have cheap heat sinks if any at all, most now days simply have a sheet of aluminum and cooling fans without any finned heat sink. I grow SPS all the way to the bottom of a 30" deep tank with my Mars Aqua fixtures but they dont last long at all.
Many many years with great success. Not all black boxes are created equal. I change the spectrum before any new ones go over my tank.
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I've been using led fixtures made in China (most of mine made by EverGrow including ones sold by Reef Breeders) for over 7 years now and I've had very healthy coral, good growth rates and very reliable led fixtures. The only issues I have with leds, and I consider both of these to be almost insignificant, is deep shadows under ledges and overhangs as well as lost of sps coral on the underside of large branchy colonies.
Older, off brand Chinese led fixtures had problems in a number of areas. They ran too hot for good led life (no heatsinks... a sheet of thin aluminum isn't enough), poorly made drivers that needed to be replaced, cases made of metal that rusts, crappy stainless steel screws that rust, cheap fans that fail too soon and more. Some of the black box led fixtures on the market today still exhibit some of these issues, some don't. Some are much improved and are very well made.
My advise it to stick with the brands that others have used with more success and fewer issues. And watch for little details like the power per led is in the 1.8w to 2.4w per led rather than 0.03w to 0.06w per led, aluminum cases instead of steel, real heatsinks instead of a sheet of aluminum, powder coated instead of painted, and the most important to me, that they are a sponsor here at R2R and run a forum here so you can be in contact with them for better customer service. I've never had and customer service needs for my Reef Breeders Photon V2 fixtures, but I did for a Jebao CrossFlow. And they stood behind it 100% even though they had stopped selling them long ago due to weak motor issues. BTW, the replacement motors were free and have worked fine for over a year now.
This is my take on Chinese black box led fixtures:
The range of more inexpensive or economical ‘black box’ fixtures runs from very basic $100 units to $350 units with lot of features (even better looking cases than the basic black box). The name ‘black box’ refers to the fact that the case is just a rectangular box and not exactly aesthetically pleasing. That's OK inside a canopy, but some may not care for the look so much when it's just sitting on the tank. Most are either steel or aluminum (better) and painted or powder coated (better).
To be sure, I have missed or left out some brands here. This isn’t an effort to review every brand, just to give some basic understanding of the features available and some basic costs. Two features I didn’t cover are how many power cords each fixture uses, some have 1 and some have 2. Or the fact that basic fixtures have manual only controls, but those with more features may have remote controls, or wifi, or apps.
MarsAqua ($100): The case is the very definition of a black box. It is the least expensive and has the fewest features, 2 channels of leds, one blue & violet and the other all white with a couple of red and green tossed in. It has 2 manual dimmer knobs and no timers. As with all the true black box fixtures, it uses Bridgelux or Epistar leds. They work just fine and they cost less than Cree leds. Each channel also has a manual dimmer to control the intensity of the light. They also drive their leds at a 15% to 20% lower power level than all the others. So it doesn’t produce as intense a light as the others do, but it’s adequate for 24” deep tanks. It comes with a hanging kit but no legs or rear bracket mount. SB Reef Lights ($140) has a very similar version with legs and run at higher power levels equal to all the other brands other than MarsAqua.
Reef Breeders SuperLux and SB Reef Light ($200) are better fixtures that are almost the same but have built-in timers and digital dimmers with a remote control and both have adjustable legs. There are Viparspectra and Galaxyhydro brands (various sizes and prices) that are just like these Reef Breeders SuperLux fixture, but they don't have legs.
A better looking version of the 3 above is the OceanRevive T247B ($200). I owned one of these. It's well made with an aluminum case, good fans and heat sinks. Like the RB SuperLux above, it has built-in timers and digital dimmers and adjustable legs. But instead of the standard black box case, it has a more modern looking case that is thinner and the upper surface is curved at the front and back edges so the top curves down to meet with the bottom surface. The spread of leds in this fixture is better as well.
If you like the idea of having a sunrise/sunset/moonlight controller and a standard black box case (with rounded corners), look at the Euphotica led ($265). Or the SB Reef Light version in a standard 30” long black box with legs ($400). They look to be very similar to the EverGrow made Reef Breeders Photon original design (not to be confused with the Photon V2 which is a much nicer fixture).
Probably the least expensive, high end, full feature Chinese made fixture that comes in a much better looking case is the Reef Breeders Photon V2 ($340) and the EverGrow version (common outside the US). This is what I have over my display tanks now. It's only 1" thick, very streamline and modern looking and has adjustable legs. It also has lots of extra features that cost more, but the light for the tank is about the same (actually, a little better) than all the true black box fixtures as it uses 3 and 5 watt leds by Cree and OSRAM. It has the sunrise/sunset controller, but it also is the least expensive fixture to have 6 channels of led control (a channel for each color of led) that can ramp up & down separate from each other. This gives great control of the exact color in the aquarium, if that’s important to you? Just to be clear, your corals are happy with lots of blue, half as much white and maybe a dash of red.
Older, off brand Chinese led fixtures had problems in a number of areas. They ran too hot for good led life (no heatsinks... a sheet of thin aluminum isn't enough), poorly made drivers that needed to be replaced, cases made of metal that rusts, crappy stainless steel screws that rust, cheap fans that fail too soon and more. Some of the black box led fixtures on the market today still exhibit some of these issues, some don't. Some are much improved and are very well made.
My advise it to stick with the brands that others have used with more success and fewer issues. And watch for little details like the power per led is in the 1.8w to 2.4w per led rather than 0.03w to 0.06w per led, aluminum cases instead of steel, real heatsinks instead of a sheet of aluminum, powder coated instead of painted, and the most important to me, that they are a sponsor here at R2R and run a forum here so you can be in contact with them for better customer service. I've never had and customer service needs for my Reef Breeders Photon V2 fixtures, but I did for a Jebao CrossFlow. And they stood behind it 100% even though they had stopped selling them long ago due to weak motor issues. BTW, the replacement motors were free and have worked fine for over a year now.
This is my take on Chinese black box led fixtures:
The range of more inexpensive or economical ‘black box’ fixtures runs from very basic $100 units to $350 units with lot of features (even better looking cases than the basic black box). The name ‘black box’ refers to the fact that the case is just a rectangular box and not exactly aesthetically pleasing. That's OK inside a canopy, but some may not care for the look so much when it's just sitting on the tank. Most are either steel or aluminum (better) and painted or powder coated (better).
To be sure, I have missed or left out some brands here. This isn’t an effort to review every brand, just to give some basic understanding of the features available and some basic costs. Two features I didn’t cover are how many power cords each fixture uses, some have 1 and some have 2. Or the fact that basic fixtures have manual only controls, but those with more features may have remote controls, or wifi, or apps.
MarsAqua ($100): The case is the very definition of a black box. It is the least expensive and has the fewest features, 2 channels of leds, one blue & violet and the other all white with a couple of red and green tossed in. It has 2 manual dimmer knobs and no timers. As with all the true black box fixtures, it uses Bridgelux or Epistar leds. They work just fine and they cost less than Cree leds. Each channel also has a manual dimmer to control the intensity of the light. They also drive their leds at a 15% to 20% lower power level than all the others. So it doesn’t produce as intense a light as the others do, but it’s adequate for 24” deep tanks. It comes with a hanging kit but no legs or rear bracket mount. SB Reef Lights ($140) has a very similar version with legs and run at higher power levels equal to all the other brands other than MarsAqua.
Reef Breeders SuperLux and SB Reef Light ($200) are better fixtures that are almost the same but have built-in timers and digital dimmers with a remote control and both have adjustable legs. There are Viparspectra and Galaxyhydro brands (various sizes and prices) that are just like these Reef Breeders SuperLux fixture, but they don't have legs.
A better looking version of the 3 above is the OceanRevive T247B ($200). I owned one of these. It's well made with an aluminum case, good fans and heat sinks. Like the RB SuperLux above, it has built-in timers and digital dimmers and adjustable legs. But instead of the standard black box case, it has a more modern looking case that is thinner and the upper surface is curved at the front and back edges so the top curves down to meet with the bottom surface. The spread of leds in this fixture is better as well.
If you like the idea of having a sunrise/sunset/moonlight controller and a standard black box case (with rounded corners), look at the Euphotica led ($265). Or the SB Reef Light version in a standard 30” long black box with legs ($400). They look to be very similar to the EverGrow made Reef Breeders Photon original design (not to be confused with the Photon V2 which is a much nicer fixture).
Probably the least expensive, high end, full feature Chinese made fixture that comes in a much better looking case is the Reef Breeders Photon V2 ($340) and the EverGrow version (common outside the US). This is what I have over my display tanks now. It's only 1" thick, very streamline and modern looking and has adjustable legs. It also has lots of extra features that cost more, but the light for the tank is about the same (actually, a little better) than all the true black box fixtures as it uses 3 and 5 watt leds by Cree and OSRAM. It has the sunrise/sunset controller, but it also is the least expensive fixture to have 6 channels of led control (a channel for each color of led) that can ramp up & down separate from each other. This gives great control of the exact color in the aquarium, if that’s important to you? Just to be clear, your corals are happy with lots of blue, half as much white and maybe a dash of red.
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ZoWhat
10K Club member
Im going to hijack this post to use it as a training session....
See the two outer black rectangle boxes inside the LED fixture pictured below?
Those are the power supplies that eeeeeeasily go bad way before the led bulbs have reach their end-of-life-cycle. One is for powering the White channel. The other is for powering the Blue channel.
They are easily replaced by clipping into two matching pairs of cables per power supply. But which cable gets clipped to what cable?
You gotta mark each cable with tape and a handwritten note as you take the dead power supply out.
The outgoing cable ALWAYS leads to the circuit board....see the white cables drooping to the lower silverbacked circuit board? That's your outgoing power to power the lights and where you clip the "outgoing power" coming out of the power suplly.
Then obviously the 2nd cable coming out of the power supply is for the "incoming" 120v ac feed.
Problem is getting your hands on the proper power supply voltage/amperage wise
See the two outer black rectangle boxes inside the LED fixture pictured below?
Those are the power supplies that eeeeeeasily go bad way before the led bulbs have reach their end-of-life-cycle. One is for powering the White channel. The other is for powering the Blue channel.
They are easily replaced by clipping into two matching pairs of cables per power supply. But which cable gets clipped to what cable?
You gotta mark each cable with tape and a handwritten note as you take the dead power supply out.
The outgoing cable ALWAYS leads to the circuit board....see the white cables drooping to the lower silverbacked circuit board? That's your outgoing power to power the lights and where you clip the "outgoing power" coming out of the power suplly.
Then obviously the 2nd cable coming out of the power supply is for the "incoming" 120v ac feed.
Problem is getting your hands on the proper power supply voltage/amperage wise
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