Do Chinese Black Box LEDs Work? (Viparspectra)

[hotdrop]

The thing that people don’t realize is that in the led world there is basically Cree and everyone else. If you are running Cree LEDs you get about 2x the brightness per watt so to replace a 100w Cree led you would need at least 200w in Chinese leds . That extra 100 w roughly translates into 365 kilo watts a year figure out how much that costs at local power rates and you will know roughly how much extra it is to run Chinese LEDs and what the payoff duration is

 

[happyhourhero]

Considering I run my black boxes at 70% max, I personally wouldn’t ever see the need for such powerful diodes.

 

[mtraylor]

I have seen some nice black box setups. Including some companies that have them on their stock tanks. They look nice to me and corals looked good.

Most people forget that water quality comes first.

 

[Diggem]

I have 3 Viparspectra over my tank

I'm going to put one over a 20 gallon tall do you have any recommendations on what I should run them at and how long and do you do anything for lunar time or just off your tank is awesome

 

[Mrx7899]

I'm going to put one over a 20 gallon tall do you have any recommendations on what I should run them at and how long and do you do anything for lunar time or just off your tank is awesome

I have one over a 34 gallon frag tank its about 16 inches off the water and I think its set to 80% blue and 20% white and it's on for 12 hrs a day.

 

[Diggem]

I have one over a 34 gallon frag tank its about 16 inches off the water and I think its set to 80% blue and 20% white and it's on for 12 hrs a day.

Thanks for the reply I have not put over tank yet have not stareds tank yet getting everything together stand built sump made got all but overflow played with light man it scares me that it might be too much for such a Small tank would putting some sort of defuser help any ideas

 

[NY_Caveman]

Thanks for the reply I have not put over tank yet have not stareds tank yet getting everything together stand built sump made got all but overflow played with light man it scares me that it might be too much for such a Small tank would putting some sort of defuser help any ideas

I usually run my black box with whites at 50% the value of the blues. If you are curious about my setup with SB Reef Lights 16" Wifi, and the setups of others, check out the PAR database here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/r2r-par-database.538894/

 

[chicago]

Quick question.. has anyone replaced their older black boxes.. mine are from about 4 years ago. I was wondering if anyone that has replaced the older black boxes with viparspectra boxes, noticed an improvement. Thanks

 

[KorD]

Quick question.. has anyone replaced their older black boxes.. mine are from about 4 years ago. I was wondering if anyone that has replaced the older black boxes with viparspectra boxes, noticed an improvement. Thanks

I had an old BB above an old tank and just got the viparspectra 165w..
I find it easier to tune, lighting seems more defused and spread out compared to the BB. I'm really happy with my purchase

 

[redfishbluefish]

Quick question.. has anyone replaced their older black boxes.. mine are from about 4 years ago. I was wondering if anyone that has replaced the older black boxes with viparspectra boxes, noticed an improvement. Thanks

I've taken an old Mars Aqua and replaced the PCB board with an SBReef replacement board. Works great!

 

[Scooter90254]

The issue with these threads is we are trying to assign value to each light. Which isn't a science its more of a personal opinion.

Which light is better.. That's easy Radions are a far superior product. Now that has nothing to do with how each individual reefer assigns value.

A BMW is a far superior car to a KIA but they will both get you to work in morning. Personally I have the resources to use whatever lights I want. This hobby is fairly inexpensive compared to the other things I enjoy. That being said I don't believe I will ever own Radions. Although they are very nice, I simply can't justify the outrageous cost. Now you could make an argument for residual value but that would really get us down a rabbit hole. haha

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

I like the Viparspectra boxes for ease of seeing the exact power % for each channel, built in timers, and that the blue channel is twice as powerful as the white. I verified this with a watts-up meter. I still run my blues at 100% and whites at only a couple percent. For me, that means a black box that puts 50% of it's power into the white channel is just wasted space as I keep them more turned down. Also seems to have a slightly more desirable spectrum (with whites) than my mars aqua one.

The coral don't know how much you paid for your lights. All they can tell is spectrum and intensity. You can achieve that with black box, or radions. Radions are likely just easier to use, and of course look better. If price was no object, I'd have radions, but I'm also content with my BB lights. I could turn them up high enough to burn any coral in my tank if I wanted. Each individual can decide what a brand name light is worth to them and compare the cost to what else is available, including the much more affordable black box lights. If spending $800/light is feasible and worth it to you, than by all means go for it! I don't think many people would argue that they are a great light loaded with features for control-ability. If you want to save almost 90% and don't mind too much that the light isn't as controllable and not as nice looking, than the BB lights are an option. There's no arguing that either will adequately grow any coral, so as with anything else it comes down to the cost vs quality. I think this is a tough one because the difference in cost is just so substantial.

 

[chicago]

i just realized i have had my evergrow it2080 over my tank now for 5 years.. what ever happened to those BB?

 

[Cory]

If you want a gradual dusk to dawn effect for the fish, get an exspensive led. But if you dont care about that go with a ul listed black box.