Orphek or Reef Brite

Manny’s Reef · Mar 30, 2022

Which supplemental light bars would you choose over your tank and why?

shakacuz · Mar 30, 2022

currently reefbrite since that’s what i bought before doing actual research. now i had wished i would’ve gotten custom made aliexpress led bars for 450/470nm alternating

Sean Clark · Mar 30, 2022

I would use Orphek. The ReefBrite is not controllable without an added controller and that means even more cords... Kind of silly.

mfinn · Mar 31, 2022

I tried both and liked the Reef Brite color better.

rtparty · Mar 31, 2022

Reef Brite or Quanta. I wouldn't touch Orphek if they were the last lighting company in the hobby. Their old sales rep threatened myself and my family years ago because I dared to say LEDs don't have the same spectrum as T5s and halides.

Utubereefer · Mar 31, 2022

I tried orphek because of the price and I couldn’t be happier

dedragon · Mar 31, 2022

I like orpheks, but i have not seen the new reefbrite lumenbar v2 yet with the addition of 385nm uv leds. Might be a real winner but cant say without seeing it yet

Acros · Mar 31, 2022

Neither. I did a custom 420nm/470nm AliExpress led bar.

happyhourhero · Mar 31, 2022

ReefBreeders

Lbrdsoxfan · Mar 31, 2022

jamesdomini4 said:
Neither. I did a custom 420nm/470nm AliExpress led bar.

Best deal in the game right now. Bought two of the lights and couldn't be happyier

Smite · Mar 31, 2022

The quanta bars look pretty cool and sound like they actually come with 120 degree lenses. Beefier though due to more diodes.

I’m going back and forth on which bar to use as well. Non of them can touch the reefbrite Xho spread and blending capabilities. The color of Xho is awesome too.
Price is the only draw back.

Ali E are a killer deal. I did ask for a quote for custom diode layout and they just said extra and haven’t responded with a price yet.

I’m also contacting a maker on alibaba since they utilize the same housing as quanta and already have reef based mixes that look really good. Choice of 90/120 optics as well and fully customizable.
Waiting for a shipping quote from them. They’ll take a while I’m sure being straight from china factory. So cheap before shipping, if it ain’t bad I may build myself panel with them to mimic my T5 layout.

afrokobe · Mar 31, 2022

I was considering the same, but I went with Quanta. Just got my two quanta lights yesterday and I have to say I am very impressed. The build quality is solid and the light output seems really strong. I don't have a par meter, so I can't do any testing. Just comparing visually to my a360x with reefbrite addon kit, the bars are super strong.

Smite · Mar 31, 2022

afrokobe said:
I was considering the same, but I went with Quanta. Just got my two quanta lights yesterday and I have to say I am very impressed. The build quality is solid and the light output seems really strong. I don't have a par meter, so I can't do any testing. Just comparing visually to my a360x with reefbrite addon kit, the bars are super strong.

Just got a shipping quote for 6 bars and it's 200 bucks to ship. So they went from 1/4 price to about 1/2 just like that. That plus the possibility of getting stuck on a boat, I maybe looking at the quanta now.

EDIT: not to mention the extra out put and customer service if something goes sideways.

kev.2013 · Mar 31, 2022

Sean Clark said:
I would use Orphek. The ReefBrite is not controllable without an added controller and that means even more cords... Kind of silly.

You can buy an in-line controller that doesn’t really add any cords at all. And costs ~$15

CNDReef · Mar 31, 2022

Reefbrite over Orphek any day. Had them on my tank one on each side and the color of the Orphek looked like ati aqua blue special bulbs. Not a fan of that color.

minus9 · Mar 31, 2022

I should have my Quanta meso blues soon, so I'll give you a direct comparison, since I have both xho's and OR2 blue plus bars.

shakacuz · Mar 31, 2022

kev.2013 said:
You can buy an in-line controller that doesn’t really add any cords at all. And costs ~$15

for the price of the reefbrite, it should already come included, honestly.. i have 0 issues with my reefbrites, but that would've been a bigger deal breaker for me.

Sean Clark · Mar 31, 2022

kev.2013 said:
You can buy an in-line controller that doesn’t really add any cords at all. And costs ~$15

I guess I should have said cord connections/complexity. IMO they should be controllable out of the box. If you want to "add" bluetooth or wifi control then I can see providing that as an add-on option.

kev.2013 · Mar 31, 2022

Sean Clark said:
I guess I should have said cord connections/complexity. IMO they should be controllable out of the box. If you want to "add" bluetooth or wifi control then I can see providing that as an add-on option.

Are there any LED light bars that have controllability right outside of the box? I don’t think so, unless I’m mistaken.