Are Chinese LED's bad/inferior?

[vetteguy53081]

Who is the ebay seller?? I would like to get a couple.

I have 4 of them. $179 each but now down to $130. I have 4 and I love them. Will buy more. Very superior to what I built myself for much more cash bout a year and a half ago.

 

[Rob&Gab]

If you want some good lights full spectrum and grow sps and all type of coral at a good price.

reefradiance.com

 

[Dog Boy Dave]

Wow, information overload. Hope my DIY rig works out good.

I spent 12 hundred bucks building a decent set of lights for my 325 cube. About a year later I bought 4 of the chinese lights. I nee 4 more to remove my homemades completely from my main tank. I wish I had spent the money I spent on the diy sets on more chinese lights I would be set now. I am a retired avionics tech so the electronics part is no mystery to me. The chinese lights are much better than what I built myself. Expensive lesson. Here is the PN for the light I purchased. (281004271627) seller is topledseller. They ship from Portland. Shipping is included and they get to my house in Florida on Thursday if i order on Monday. I order on ebay occasionally and i have never had any issues with returns. Any time I have had a problem with an item the vendor takes it back and paypall refunds immediately. I dont have a dog in this fight, no interest in what you use, but if you just ant to light your tank and dont need the programing then these lights work just fine. My tank is 27 inches deep. I run the lights at between 50 and 90 percent and I get plenty of light at the bottom of my tank. I have used all the lights. Been doing this 30 years. I currently have halides, several types of leds and t5s over my system. For the money these Chinese lights are the best all around lights I have ever used.

Here is the current link to the lights I purchased. The price has droped 30 bucks since i bought them.....

Dimmable LED Aquarium Light 120W with Lens 55X3WATT Bridgelux Coral Reef Fixture | eBay

 

[inurocker]

No doubt I could have got the job done cheaper. For less than $400 all in I got a mix of 34 cree's, 6 violet LED's, 4 mean well drivers, heat sink, fan and a typhon controller. I also had fun building it and learned some new technology. I have used all the other kind of lights so LED is a new experiment for me. It is a hobby after all, fun, learning and enjoyment are the reasons I do it. I could have got a manufactured system but I would have learned nothing.

 

[reefernutz]

I've had the Evergrow fixtures and I now have Kessil A350Ws on my tank. The whole reason I went to the Kessils is that I saw a side by side comparison in a LFS and the Kessil's were so much clearer. So I got one and brought it home to do a side by side on my own tank. The Kessils are clear as can be while the Chinese fixtures have a hazy look to them. Bottom line, both will grow coral and give you color, but as of right now you can't show me a Chinese fixture that compares to Kessil or Ecotech.

 

[Rob&Gab]

I've had the Evergrow fixtures and I now have Kessil A350Ws on my tank. The whole reason I went to the Kessils is that I saw a side by side comparison in a LFS and the Kessil's were so much clearer. So I got one and brought it home to do a side by side on my own tank. The Kessils are clear as can be while the Chinese fixtures have a hazy look to them. Bottom line, both will grow coral and give you color, but as of right now you can't show me a Chinese fixture that compares to Kessil or Ecotech.

How did you like the evergrow? was it growing SPS for you? ND where did you buy yours from The it2040? 60 or 80? 90opts? What size tank did you have them on? how many units? little info please. cause im getting a piar comming in the mail in afew days would like to no what im stepping into. spent 600$

 

[reefernutz]

I was running the d120s. They seemed to do OK..........SPS and LPS were all growing and colored up. It was just the haziness of the Evergrow lights that drove me to switch.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Just Got Ecotech 6D yesterday. Wow is all I can say. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR IS WHAT I QUICKLY FOUND OUT !!!

 

[Ron Reefman]

How did you like the evergrow? was it growing SPS for you? ND where did you buy yours from The it2040? 60 or 80? 90opts? What size tank did you have them on? how many units? little info please. cause im getting a piar comming in the mail in afew days would like to no what im stepping into. spent 600$

I have 2 OR-IT2080's and an OR-IT2040 and they have run 24/7 for a year with zero issues and my corals are growing great. I started a 1" tip broken off a birdsnest colony and 11 months later it's bigger than a softball (about 8" tall & 6"+ wide) with over 70 growing tips. I have 90 degree lenses and run it on an 8 hour sunrise, 1 hour midday and 8 hour sunset. Peak at midday is 80% blue and 40% white.

 

[NanaReefer]

Why would any American buy from China in the first place? Especially when you can buy American made!

 

[Kingpin]

Why would any American buy from China in the first place? Especially when you can buy American made!

Which led fixture is made in America and "assembled in America" using Chinese parts doesn't count

 

[diesel3443]

Why would any American buy from China in the first place? Especially when you can buy American made!

You must never buy anything?

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Which led fixture is made in America and "assembled in America" using Chinese parts doesn't count

Generally the Drivers are all made in China.

I was lucky to meet a local driver manufacturer at the Chicago Marine Expo...If they are competitive we will switch.

Either way I'm sure some small part like a screw or a standoff was originated in China only to be resold by an American Company.

At least we are employing Americans to produce most of our fixture.

Bill

 

[NanaReefer]

Generally the Drivers are all made in China.

I was lucky to meet a local driver manufacturer at the Chicago Marine Expo...If they are competitive we will switch.

Either way I'm sure some small part like a screw or a standoff was originated in China only to be resold by an American Company.

At least we are employing Americans to produce most of our fixture.

Bill

Thank You!

 

[Kingpin]

Generally the Drivers are all made in China.

I was lucky to meet a local driver manufacturer at the Chicago Marine Expo...If they are competitive we will switch.

Either way I'm sure some small part like a screw or a standoff was originated in China only to be resold by an American Company.

At least we are employing Americans to produce most of our fixture.

Bill

Just so I know what part of your fixtures are manufactured in america

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Just so I know what part of your fixtures are manufactured in america

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk

The LEDs are from Vermont so we can ensure proper Bins.

Carbon Fiber Housing is from Texas

Heatsink is from Michigan

Hardware is sourced domestically

Assembly is done in our shop

Bill

 

[ibanezgfx]

This is all some very good information. I've got T5's now with some mushrooms and other easy corals, but have always loved the LED look. Thinking about switching.
I think the Chinese ones seem reasonable, they look good too.

 

[stingman]

ive got chinese lights blue and white non dimmable non programmable no lightning growing acros montipora seriatapora poccilipora millepora stylophora lps and soft corals in my mixed reef been running stong for 7 years no maintanence no repairs never touch them i also bought radion pros which are lighting my refugium now as i like the chinese better. Im guessing most of the complaints on here are based on childish ideals and people running these lights incorrectly to long to low ect. I have good color and great growth all my corals started as frags and are now large colonies. Grows clams well too.

 

[reeferbuddy215]

Have mars aqua 165watt full spectrum dimmable for $100 a unit

 

[reeferbuddy215]

What's you phosphate levels currently?