Reviews of SB Reef Lights

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 10, 2016

PS I have a kidney on ebay right now to put toward my SB.
Unless you want to trade.

SB Reef Lights · Feb 10, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
Hi Mike,
I usually tell people this for acclimation. Am I wrong.
Lux meter will help with that. App or $15 meter from Amazon. Meter the t5 ,Pick your color mix. Match the overall intensity and drop it by 30% IMO. ramp up from there. you should be able to match the old intensity over the next couple weeks. watch the corals. Youll likely be able to keep going. Watch the corals. AND GO SLOW.

Not a bad place to start.

However a LUX meter will not measure wavelength, so for example when switching from a MarsAqua to a SB Reef Light you would think, just match intensity since they are both 165w units. However if you do that you may cook your corals. Our spectrum is much heavier in 450nm, 420nm etc... That being said, a Lux meter or even a LUX meter app is a decent place to start.

saltyfilmfolks · Feb 10, 2016

SB Reef Lights said:
Not a bad place to start.
However a LUX meter will not measure wavelength, so for example when switching from a MarsAqua to a SB Reef Light you would think, just match intensity since they are both 165w units. However if you do that you may cook your corals. Our spectrum is much heavier in 450nm, 420nm etc... That being said, a Lux meter or even a LUX meter app is a decent place to start.

Thank you sir. This I know too well about the wavelengths. Intimate actually.
But I think its a good safe way to start. My 30% is the safety net.
I would say that even a PAR meter is very much the same as a Lux meter in theses cases as , number 1, it does not measure UV nor see it. and deeper water corals get little to no UV, in nateure and most folks tanks.
And Personally, even for sps and other shallow water corals Id leave that Chanel alone on its own acclimation schedule. Possibly the same with the high 420 wavelength on a deeper water coral. (my favorite color btw)
With a par meter its also difficult to assess weather its intensity or spectrum that needs to be adjusted in acclimation I understand, as it shares the same photocell with the other colors. not actually "seeing" them individually. The Apogee anyway.

30 to 50% intensity if you want a big safety net. And get to know the app first! its not as good as a $15 lux meter. the $15 lux meter IS almost as good as my $500 one.

Thanks.
Really cant wait to get my hands on one of these.

FFKiwi · May 30, 2016

Hey ya'll.

New to the forum thing (i know, i have no Avatar yet, i'm workin on it), but does anyone have any follow up on this post about the SB Wifi lights? An update on your tank, Trickyrich? I'm thinking of buying some SB Wifi too, but I don't know how many I would need of which for a 48" long standard 75 gallon. Anyone?

FFKiwi · May 30, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
Hi Mike,
I usually tell people this for acclimation. Am I wrong.
Lux meter will help with that. App or $15 meter from Amazon. Meter the t5 ,Pick your color mix. Match the overall intensity and drop it by 30% IMO. ramp up from there. you should be able to match the old intensity over the next couple weeks. watch the corals. Youll likely be able to keep going. Watch the corals. AND GO SLOW.

Hello Salty- I will be acclimating with lighting soon. Was wondering how soon you would know if the light was too strong for your corals? Is it like, days or weeks that they would bleach? It seems like most of these high powered LED light setups have most not being able to go over 35% - 40% probably....

ReefQueen · May 30, 2016

FFKiwi said:
Hey ya'll.

New to the forum thing (i know, i have no Avatar yet, i'm workin on it), but does anyone have any follow up on this post about the SB Wifi lights? An update on your tank, Trickyrich? I'm thinking of buying some SB Wifi too, but I don't know how many I would need of which for a 48" long standard 75 gallon. Anyone?

If my memory is correct each 16" unit covers 24x24 inches. So 2 for a standard 75 should be good.

FFKiwi · May 30, 2016

ah ReefQueen sweet, thank you!!! i wonder if those come in Wifi? i'm just starting to learn about this brand?

ReefQueen · May 30, 2016

FFKiwi said:
ah ReefQueen sweet, thank you!!! i wonder if those come in Wifi? i'm just starting to learn about this brand?

No prob, and yes I believe the 16" does come in wifi.

SB Reef Lights · May 30, 2016

Www.sbreeflights.com

They come in a basic, time, ramping and WiFi version.

saltyfilmfolks · May 30, 2016

FFKiwi said:
Hello Salty- I will be acclimating with lighting soon. Was wondering how soon you would know if the light was too strong for your corals? Is it like, days or weeks that they would bleach? It seems like most of these high powered LED light setups have most not being able to go over 35% - 40% probably....

Hi, I dont go by %. its not really a quantified number like par or lux. I do this.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lighting-upgrade-with-a-lux-meter-saltyfilmfolks.248417/
It also depends on what else may be going on in your tank and the overall health of your corals, and the intensity and PAR of the new light compared to your old light. If you go from 150 par to 5oo par there will likely be problems.
Using a lux meter is a bit safer way IMO to acclimate. I measure the average LUX at the top of the tank and then lower it 30% to 40% and come up slowly(weeks) from there until it matches the old lights. the last 10 to 20% I go slowest.

Acroporaaddict · May 30, 2016

Agreed these lights are super strong. Had mine running at 40white 65blue 50uv and all my acros turned white. I thought it was a low nutrient issue. I lowered intensity to 30% and the acros are starting to regain color

happyhourhero · May 31, 2016

I have had mine a little over 6 months now and could not be happier. Great growth and color across the board for my corals.

happyhourhero · May 31, 2016

Although I do want to air a grievance that my birdsnest has grown so much that it broke off of its mount and is now far too heavy to remount anywhere so I have it wedged against the back. I am resisting the urge to cut it up. We shall see what it does in it's new location. It's been there a couple of weeks and seems ok.

trickyrich · May 31, 2016

My tank is loving my lights I was having issues with intensity at first but I have moved my lights to about 2 feet off the tank much more than the 10 inch mounts they come with and have whites and blue Ramp up to about 60% I'll post my schedule later but hear is a quick tank shot ... Lots of growth and great color !! Had to increase my dosing to keep up with new growth