Chinese Black Box LED or Expensive LED?

[Ashv5]

Hi guys,
I have used a Chinese black box led and it seems to have worked great. Recently my led fell in the water so I had to get t5's which haven't been working well so far. My question is, are the cheap black box leds better than the expensive kessils and or radions? The black box for me have been great and worth the money. Tell me what you think!

 

[Cabinetman]

Well I have a par meter and have been testing. I have a 300 watt ever grow black box, a 165 watt black box a pair of ai hydra 26 and 3 of the old AI Sol blue. I can tell you this, the expensive leds blow the black boxes out of the water. Brs did a video comparing the black boxes to a higher end led and what they said about them is very acurate. The AI Sol have way more par. Use way less power and have way better spread. I used to think the black boxes were just as good until I got the apogee 200

 

[WVNed]

Ya and the black boxes catch on fire, cause cancer and make you cats spit up hairballs.

 

[Ashv5]

Do they really cause cancer?????

 

[Ashv5]

But for the price, and on a budget, would the black box led be good enough?

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

I had a black box hydro galaxy 165w and it was alright but never could get a ton of growth out of my corals sps and some lps so I got a xr15 gen4 and everything is looking so much healthier and growing much faster, I fell the black box was lacking some spectrum somehow and had very poor par on the edges

 

[Ashv5]

Ok. How about 2 black box leds side by side? Would that accommodate the par issues? Still cheaper than one xr15?

 

[Cabinetman]

But really it doesn’t cure the par issue cause not only do they not have the spread but they don’t have near as much par at similar depths

 

[Ashv5]

Oh... then I must be confused about par vs light spread. Would the black boxes be good for soft corals?

 

[Lasse]

Two of whatever LED will give more PAR compared with one if they illuminate the same area.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

for me its a spectrum issue

 

[Gareth elliott]

I didnt like the disco ball of the BB. Mine did not fully blend and could see the individual colors on the sand bed. I also found mounting them a challenge if not going from the ceiling.

 

[Matthew Frost]

As some others have said, BRS did an amazing video on it. BB LED's will grow corals and will works as a light source for any tank. The question isn't will they work because the answer to that question is yes. The question is are you willing to trade the quality, safety, reliability, adjustability and flexibility to save some money. Your entry level BB lights simply aren't made as well, in many cases don't use UL listed power supplys, don't cool as well, don't have spectrum adjustability or WiFi access. What's important to you?

 

[Ashv5]

Well, I have seen some BB's that have adjustable wifi lights and all the other cool stuff for a higher price. Another question is, have you guys figured a way to hang/mount the leds? I have a high ceiling and I am concerned with mounting as it may fall (really heavy)

 

[WVNed]

Pay the big money or the reef gods will burn down your house.

Living dangerously

Plenty of power for a 24" deep tank.
I never saw the disco ball effect. Neither did my camera.

They are hard to mount, unless you have a hacksaw and can buy $25 of PVC pipe

Plenty of spread for a 48" wide tank. Notice I did not have to mount them 2 feet over the tank.

That all being said I use this now.

ReefBreeders Photon V2.
It is better but it costs more. 6 color channels instead of 2 and you get ramping and basically a 24 slot timer for each channel.

 

[Ashv5]

Wow nice tanks! Here's a pic of mine under the t5's For some reason, my zoas don't like it.

 

[Gareth elliott]

I had mine mounted on a diy pvc stand.

Something like this, i couldnt find pictures of it.
Sorry for bad paint app pics lol.

Yellow is the hanging cables.
Blue the black box
Red pvc

Second picture is the legs.

 

[Ashv5]

I see. So making a mount requires a lot of "diy" work. I'm only 14... not sure if I can attempt to do something like this. But thanks for the effort in making a diagram!

 

[WVNed]

How often do you change your bulbs and what ones are you using? T-5s have to be replaced yearly If I remember right..

 

[Ashv5]

I need to change my complete fixture actually. Seems my coralife 30inch t5 fixture has been discontinued so I will have to move on to something like the leds. I am using 1 actinic, 1 blue plus and 2 natural colors but there are no more 30inch bulbs for sale.