Are Chinese LED's bad/inferior?

[Ryeguy1284]

im very happy with m Chinese fixture i picked up a dimmable fixture 120w to put over my 20g to test out and just ordered 2 more to put over my 72g

 

[ReefLEDLights]

im very happy with m Chinese fixture i picked up a dimmable fixture 120w to put over my 20g to test out and just ordered 2 more to put over my 72g

Keep us informed with your long term results.

Bill

 

[kes]

pretty much all are made in china, just go with trusted brands made in that country

 

[ReefLEDLights]

pretty much all are made in china, just go with trusted brands made in that country

Not All Are Manufactured In China!!!

AI and one other that comes to mind (Name Withheld) are manufactured in the USA

Just remember most of every dollar spent on a Chinese Fixture goes to China

Most of every dollar spent on an American Manufactured Fixture (Name Withheld) stays here...

Bill

 

[joeyhatch11]

Any pics of the lights over a few tanks? Would love to upgrade my T5's over my 33L (48") but wish I could get one light to cover the whole tank. DIY when it comes to LEDs aren't my thing so.............

 

[definitionofreal]

Any pics of the lights over a few tanks? Would love to upgrade my T5's over my 33L (48") but wish I could get one light to cover the whole tank. DIY when it comes to LEDs aren't my thing so.............

Heres my full spectrum over a 30g. I've had it for a couple of months now and everything seems to be doing good. I plan on ordering 4 more for my other tanks.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Keep us posted

I got killer growth with my euphyllia when they got a little food and to be honest fish poo as I would feed the fish over them.

More food means more filtration.

Any thoughts about adding more live rock to help with filtration.

Bill

 

[dwilliams87]

I'm very happy with my DIY led builds. I have done 3 for myself and helped a friend with another. I have no complaints thus far I have done full spectrum, and blue and white only. All bridgelux from aquastyleonline.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have heard Nothing but GOOD about China LEDs although I use coralife units.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

I have heard Nothing but GOOD about China LEDs although I use coralife units.

Can you toss us pics and long term results?


Bill

 

[trickedout900]

I hate to say it Bill but you sir are fighting a loosing battle. In this day and age most people will always shy to way of saving a buck or two.

 

[RUGDOG]

I hate to say it Bill but you sir are fighting a loosing battle. In this day and age most people will always shy to way of saving a buck or two.

I agree.... Been running eBay type led on my 220 for 4 years with good results. Sorry I can't post pics from my IPad but I know lots of folks have very good success with Chinese Led.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I have heard Nothing but GOOD about China LEDs although I use coralife units.

Maybe you haven't heard it, but if you read, it's all over this website! :wink:
Ever hear of Reef Breeders or EverGrow? They are probably two of the hottest sells led brands going right now and they are both made in China. I bought 6 EverGrow fixtures for my 4 tanks in Dec of 2012. Great deal and great lights. I even swapped out an Eco Tech Radion for an EG D120. Why spend $750 for an led fixture when spending $160 works just as well? My DT was 1000W of MH, 160W of t5 and 100W of led for 3 years. Now it's 480W driving 200 leds and coral growth hasn't dropped off at all and color is better.

 

[Djtonton]

Maybe you haven't heard it, but if you read, it's all over this website! :wink:
Ever hear of Reef Breeders or EverGrow? They are probably two of the hottest sells led brands going right now and they are both made in China. I bought 6 EverGrow fixtures for my 4 tanks in Dec of 2012. Great deal and great lights. I even swapped out an Eco Tech Radion for an EG D120. Why spend $750 for an led fixture when spending $160 works just as well? My DT was 1000W of MH, 160W of t5 and 100W of led for 3 years. Now it's 480W driving 200 leds and coral growth hasn't dropped off at all and color is better.

I agree i just got a reefbreeder Photon 48 this thing kicks butt. My temp has dropped at least 2 degrees, my corals look better, SPS polyps are finally starting to extend and pop. Im very happy. but once again i just got this the other day so ill have to see how it works out long term. But after reading threads on here about reefbreeders and LEDS i dont think im going to have an issue.

 

[bhazard451]

I hate to say it Bill but you sir are fighting a loosing battle. In this day and age most people will always shy to way of saving a buck or two.

Especially when you can achieve the same performance (or better) over the more expensive option. Why pay for a Ferrari if a Camry can go just as fast? Looks?

Even if you do want to support a US company, a lot of their cost goes into the raw material, which comes from guess where.... Until manufacturing comes back into the US in a larger scale, you will be supporting China either way, so that is a loosing argument.

Here's the thing, A Cree led IS superior to a chinese "bridgelux" led. However, on a 16" fixture, 55 leds at 2W will have less shadowing, less disco (if optics are used), less heat (on the fixture), and have the same PAR compared to 24 Cree leds driven at 1000mah spread out over the same fixture. You STILL need to turn down the intensity even with the chinese leds, so why add more power when you are just going to have to dial it back?

If the cost of the leds and fixtures were similar, Cree US based fixtures would be the way to go. They aren't, and they don't really have compelling reasons to spend the extra money, yet. When they do, I will be upgrading to one ASAP.

The Radion Pro is a joke to me, but people still waste money on it and think it is the greatest thing ever. I ran it and PREFERRED the chinese fixture, by a wide margin.

 

[shred5]

What I see with allot of the Chinese fixtures is they have really crappy heat sinks and even though they may put out decent par they will not last as long and degrade faster. One of the most important things in building a led fixture is a good heat sink.

 

[Aesl1982]

Reef breeders

 

[Djtonton]

Reef breeders

+ 1

 

[vetteguy53081]

I stated earlier in the post that I have heard nothing but good about Chinese LED's. Then last week, I was offered fish for my tank cheap and the fellow had a Chinese 36" strip by Beam works on his 125 gallon. He was not using it and I asked him if he wanted to part with it. Ready????.......................... $25.00 !!!! I added it to my top and my corals are at least 1" taller, multiplying already like mice (Zoas and Zenias) and the colors I never knew were present are AMAZING !!! At This point, I believe Very much in these lights. YES as posted by a member DO run warm but I also have adequate ventilation for the strip.

 

[1.0reef]

I love reefbreeders, but wish they'd switch to Cree luxeon or True bridgelux, along with most other chinese/cheap lights