ReefBreeders Value fixture vs. OceanRevive Arctic SO26

The new fish on the block · Mar 5, 2015

Which one should I get ?

NanaReefer · Mar 6, 2015

Reef Radiance DM-165p+

eklapp · Mar 6, 2015

I hear lots of good things about the OR but my vote is RB. I've had my value fixtures for over 2 years and they will grow everything. Logan has great customer service too.

This was about 4 months ago before the crash[emoji17]

hart24601 · Mar 6, 2015

I was very happy with my value fixtures, but after I noticed that 2 of my 3 fixtures over my 120 now have burnt blue LEDs. I run them all at 100%, but they are not that old, under 2 years. Now going with a bunch of hydra 26s, so I have to say Ocean revive now.

Poriferan · Mar 11, 2015

I run Ocean Revive over my tank. Customer service has been perfect. Out of the 8 fixtures I have run for the last couple years, I lost a fan and a driver. Both were sent to me free of charge and arrived very quickly. The newer remote dimable fixture is an added bonus.

!Jonathan! · Apr 7, 2015

Just got my T247 for a JBJ Nanocube 28G

swayd · Apr 7, 2015

I run two OR and I have the best color and growth! They grow everything and have great spread!

Bbaz123456 · Apr 7, 2015

Good question! I'm in the same boat. Also wondering if there is really a difference between these two and the cheap $90 china Ebay LEDs

joekool · Apr 8, 2015

Bbaz123456 said:
Good question! I'm in the same boat. Also wondering if there is really a difference between these two and the cheap $90 china Ebay LEDs

I'm sure you don't get much customer service with eBay bought lights.

So here the down low. RB OR RR are basically the same lights same drivers same 3 watt Bridglux LEDs. The difference is the colors and layout. They will tell you our light is different but in fact if you look at them they are the same just color customized for the vendor. Next and most important choice is customer service. I here nothing but great things about OR and RB as for RR well you can Search the threads and figure that one out on your own.

Good companies should only sell lights that they have in inventory unless explicitly telling you that they only order them in when they get enough orders. So beware of this. They should also reply to you in a timely manner. They should not blame the customer for issues with the lights like the blue led lenses melting because it is happening to a multiple people from different vendors.

As for the led burning out this is happening. The value fixtures have a heat plate not sure you could even call it a heat sink. The LEDs are getting to hot and melting there lenses. In most cases this happens when blues are up near 70% and up and whites are up near 45% and up at the same time. The heat sink isn't pulling enough heat off the LEDs and they are burning up. If you run lower settings you will be fine. You could add some strips of 90 degree aluminum with thermal adhesive to the back of the heat plate and this would help out a lot.

These are value fixtures and they are not built expensively so to save you money. So you get what you pay for.

I have three over my tank and they work fine other than the heat issue which I'm fixing. Just wish there was a light more middle of the road that we could buy. I would be very willing to buy these type lights again and spend more money on them if they were to include a better heat sink. I mean even if it was a 1/4" thick and had fins on it would be a huge improvement.

Shep · Apr 8, 2015

I have heard nothing but good things about OR but I do not have personal experience with them. As the for the RB, I used the value fixture for a little over 2 years and it worked great, in fact I am settng up a frag tank and I plan on using my old RB value fixture on it.

ifarmer · Apr 8, 2015

eklapp said:
I hear lots of good things about the OR but my vote is RB. I've had my value fixtures for over 2 years and they will grow everything. Logan has great customer service too.

This was about 4 months ago before the crash[emoji17]

that sucks. it's such a beautiful tank. too bad, the light crashed your tank.

dmort · Apr 8, 2015

I had the or lights for a year and liked them a lot. I built a frame out of square aluminum tube and hung the lights. Recently the frame fell apart and I decided to sell the lights. If I did it again I'd get the model up with the built in controller and 1 fewer power cord.

Bbaz123456 · Apr 10, 2015

I ordered a Mars hydro and an OR to compare side by side

TheClark · Apr 27, 2015

Good points on the D120 style fixtures, it is just a sheet of aluminum. Now the ORs do claim to have a heat sink and the LEDs are spaced wider. So in theory they should have better cooling.

joekool said:
I'm sure you don't get much customer service with eBay bought lights.

So here the down low. RB OR RR are basically the same lights same drivers same 3 watt Bridglux LEDs. The difference is the colors and layout. They will tell you our light is different but in fact if you look at them they are the same just color customized for the vendor. Next and most important choice is customer service. I here nothing but great things about OR and RB as for RR well you can Search the threads and figure that one out on your own.

Good companies should only sell lights that they have in inventory unless explicitly telling you that they only order them in when they get enough orders. So beware of this. They should also reply to you in a timely manner. They should not blame the customer for issues with the lights like the blue led lenses melting because it is happening to a multiple people from different vendors.

As for the led burning out this is happening. The value fixtures have a heat plate not sure you could even call it a heat sink. The LEDs are getting to hot and melting there lenses. In most cases this happens when blues are up near 70% and up and whites are up near 45% and up at the same time. The heat sink isn't pulling enough heat off the LEDs and they are burning up. If you run lower settings you will be fine. You could add some strips of 90 degree aluminum with thermal adhesive to the back of the heat plate and this would help out a lot.

These are value fixtures and they are not built expensively so to save you money. So you get what you pay for.

I have three over my tank and they work fine other than the heat issue which I'm fixing. Just wish there was a light more middle of the road that we could buy. I would be very willing to buy these type lights again and spend more money on them if they were to include a better heat sink. I mean even if it was a 1/4" thick and had fins on it would be a huge improvement.

hart24601 · Apr 27, 2015

joekool said:
I'm sure you don't get much customer service with eBay bought lights.

As for the led burning out this is happening. The value fixtures have a heat plate not sure you could even call it a heat sink. The LEDs are getting to hot and melting there lenses. In most cases this happens when blues are up near 70% and up and whites are up near 45% and up at the same time. The heat sink isn't pulling enough heat off the LEDs and they are burning up. If you run lower settings you will be fine. You could add some strips of 90 degree aluminum with thermal adhesive to the back of the heat plate and this would help out a lot.

I wish I knew that when I was running RB value fixtures! Although it was good motivation to get better overall lighting when they burnt... by spending a lot more money! I sure hope these hydras last longer. It sounds like people have run the older AI lights for years with no issues, so I hope that continues.

joekool · Apr 28, 2015

Clark if this is true it would help these lights out a lot as far as longevity at higher output levels. I have been considering making the switch to kessil a360ew three of them for my tank. But haven't made up my mind. I will howeve mod my lights and take some of the whites out and add uv and blue in. May try that first.

sawdonkey · Apr 28, 2015

What is the dimension of your tank? The nice thing about the ORs is that they are 16x10, so if your tank wider, you can hang them sideways for better coverage. The RB are only 8" wide, so if you hang them long ways, you get a dark front and rear of your tank. If you hand them sideways, you would need more units because they are narrower.

I've had evergrows (pretty much the same as RB) and ORs. I prefer the ORs just because I like the dimensions. The components are similar. I know because I have swapped out many leds in both.