Expensive light worth it ?
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X-37B
Fight The Good Fight
I have an old black box on my fuge. One coral grew out of the live rock and I just put a small colony in. Its for macro and controlling po4.
1 diamond goby to keeo the sand clean and one fire fish.
I had it on an old nano 6 years ago and it worked well for all corals.
I have 2 16HD's on my current 18□ nano.
These are fantastic lights for the price point.
Just picked up 2 more for my 45 frag system.
Looking for a used 32HD to replace my 150 MH and then the frag sytem will be all led.
Leds have come a long way and I have seen good tanks with high dollar leds and not so good.
Same with low end leds.
1 diamond goby to keeo the sand clean and one fire fish.
I had it on an old nano 6 years ago and it worked well for all corals.
I have 2 16HD's on my current 18□ nano.
These are fantastic lights for the price point.
Just picked up 2 more for my 45 frag system.
Looking for a used 32HD to replace my 150 MH and then the frag sytem will be all led.
Leds have come a long way and I have seen good tanks with high dollar leds and not so good.
Same with low end leds.
Disco effect is from individual LEDs not being able to blend properly. Surface agitation shows it off more but even with no surface agitation (this is bad BTW) you can still see the separation. Some of us are much more sensitive to it.
LeftyReefer
2500 Club Member
I guess I'm confused... is a Smat Farm or Noopsyche still considered a black box light? Because they have just as good if not better spread than most high end lights on the market... no disco ball, plenty of shimmer, correct spectrum and plenty of PAR, etc... Inexpensive chinese lights have improved a lot in recent years.
At this point, I guess I consider a black box a light that only has 2 channels; blue and white, and only turns ON/OFF. But that isn't all that is available to us now... Now there are better options than the old black boxes.
Today you can get inexpensive lights with much better lenses, that put out great spread, 6 channels, ramping, moon lighting, plenty of PAR, etc... that I don't really consider black boxes anymore. They are much closer to the high end lights than the black boxes of a few years ago, other than their low prices.
I started out with Viparspectra lights, which I consider a black box, and Viparspectra is probably the best of the black boxes as far as those go. I recently replaced them with Smat Farm lights, which I've found to be a big improvement all around. The Viparspectra's grew coral just fine, but I like the Smat Farm lights much better visually, and they allow more control with ramping and their 6 channels. I did go with @telegraham's recommendation and also added a 470nm LED bar from Aliexpress to my setup too, for only $40. I have the LED bar on a smart strip programmed to only run during my peak lighting hours each day, since it doesn't dim.
Freenow54
Valuable Member
I guess I just got lucky then. I made the statement because My Razor light which has been going for 7or 8 years never did it until I directed my power head s flow higher. My new aquanest M 8's don't either
jmichaelh7
2500 Club Member
I’d like to see that too
ReeferSamster
Active Member
I'd recommend the Reefi UNO for cheaper than the big box names (but more than amazon black boxes) and a 3 year warranty. The big names only offer 1 year warranty and the black boxes from amazon...well. good luck with warranty.
It has excellent spread 30 by 30, minimize hotspots, better UV peak (radions are near UV) and absolutely no glare from the patented reeflectors. Check out the review by Danah Riddle, reef lighting guru.
https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/dana-riddles-review-of-the-reefi-uno.4131/
Here is the website:
https://www.reefi-lab.com/product/reefi-uno/
Daniel, the founder is an Intel chip engineer and designed everything.
The lights are fantastic. The web portal UI is a bit ugly looking, (you can tell it was made by an engineer! LoL), but the micro level of controlling the lights are awesome if you are a tech geek. I mean you can customize everything! From all the different channels, and you can even see the percentage OR by LUX. It even syncs up to NTP servers in the internet andauto adjusts to moonlighting totally customizable with clouds. That's how nerdy these lights are. LoL. The code was even released so users can make their own UI frontend thats built into the lights via local webserver.
You have been warned: If you are NOT a nerd and like simple UI (although he does have some presets to start to get your feet wet) and slim pretty looking things: These lights are not for you. If you are a nerd that likes to be able to control every little thing and prefer function over form: Then these lights are for you.
The lights even look nerdy. They have an OLED display in the front, which you can disable showing you the primary stats of the light (current mode, temperature, fan speed, IP address etc).
It even shuts off nerdy. If you power down the lights from the local webserver integrated into each light, you can hear the fan rev up to high speed to super cool the lights before shutoff. I actually dont think this is needed, as from what I see, these are hiwatt LEDs that are running underpowered, which is one of the reasons why I think he is willing to risk the 3 year warranty. Its still pretty cool. And nerdy.
The UNO's ballasts are even nerdy. They are water resistant remote ballasts that sit along the cable in a cabinet. Because of this, the lights literally weigh about 2 lbs i think.
Its just like his website. You can tell it was written by an engineer. LoL Its pretty nerdy describing the innards of the lights. Also, you directly talk to the owner and designer of the lights if you need troubleshooting. Prepare to have nerdy emails. If you happen to talk to him on the phone, prepare for a nerdy conversation.
The Reefi lights are nerdy lights. For nerds only. And I'm a nerd. Nerds rule the world.
PS: These are my personal honest opinions about the lights. I have no affiliation with Reefi other than just a customer. Maybe non-nerdy types will have a different opinion. But I hope ya'll know I was just joking about the nerd stuff. Sort of.
https://www.reefi-lab.com/product/reefi-uno/
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HPfunk
Community Member
I’ve got a 60” tank! Just enough room for three stratons;Greedy
At this point in my life sometimes you just want want you want.
For me the light needs to look great, make the tank look great, and grow SPS.
If you just cover everything with a hood then who cares what they look like or how many.
Philip Chin
Active Member
I liked them
casey012293
Community Member
I really like the ability to fine tune my AI hydra and the ability to change the lighting on a whim through my phone. The ability to set your lights to specific kelvin temperature based on the needs of your corals has made a huge difference in the growth of the SPS in my tank and the softies in my fiancés.
That said: there are great cheap options people can choose and that I recommend to beginners. While the customization and tuning was desired by me of the AI and made it worth the money, it may not matter as much to others who can get competitive growth from the cheaper options.
I wish there were better resources on which cheaper lights to go with. If I didn’t get my Hydra64 for $300 after the original owner only used it a few months I would not have one.
That said: there are great cheap options people can choose and that I recommend to beginners. While the customization and tuning was desired by me of the AI and made it worth the money, it may not matter as much to others who can get competitive growth from the cheaper options.
I wish there were better resources on which cheaper lights to go with. If I didn’t get my Hydra64 for $300 after the original owner only used it a few months I would not have one.
Reef_Obsessed
Active Member
I ran the Ocean Revives for 4 years. They’re good strong lights and very affordable, but they do not offer any of the UV spectrum. They do grow SPS, but I was never able to get the beautiful colors I have now since switching to Illumagic X4’s.
Pic below is an old pic of my tank when I was running the OR.
MaxTremors
2500 Club Member
I agree that the Noopsyches and Smat Farms are a big step above the black boxes and Viparspectras. For me, the spectrum on the black boxes leaves a lot to be desired, I don’t think you’ll get the best coloration and I don’t think the spectrum is as aesthetically pleasing (at least to my eyes). They’ll for sure grow corals, but I spending a little more for a Noopsyche or Smar Farm is well worth it.
WVNed
The fish are staring at me with hungry eyes.
If buying a cheap light was the only way I could do this I would.
well I did. 2 T5 tubes. It worked.
I am sure the ones mentioned work.
I have 2 viparspectras that have run for years going in the fish room now.
But I have reached a point where I do not have to put up with a light I cant get through a video on programming without falling asleep.
I have reached an age where doing what I want doesn't feel like stealing money from something for important.
I hope all of you get there.
well I did. 2 T5 tubes. It worked.
I am sure the ones mentioned work.
I have 2 viparspectras that have run for years going in the fish room now.
But I have reached a point where I do not have to put up with a light I cant get through a video on programming without falling asleep.
I have reached an age where doing what I want doesn't feel like stealing money from something for important.
I hope all of you get there.
elcapitan1993
Well-Known Member
Kessil= success
Neil Cohen
Active Member
Only in the hobby a few years but my opinion is “maybe”. However, for my tank of mostly softies, the Chinese black box has as much or more than the two Kessels that are on either side.
but I prefer the color, shimmer and programming I get with them.
I’m sure it is different with sps and lps. And if you are one of the people buying $$$$ sticks, everything else is should be $$$$. You don’t put Walmart generic brakes on a Lamborghini.
but I prefer the color, shimmer and programming I get with them.
I’m sure it is different with sps and lps. And if you are one of the people buying $$$$ sticks, everything else is should be $$$$. You don’t put Walmart generic brakes on a Lamborghini.
