Ebay LED Fixtures

[dbrewsky]

Of the various makers of the popular Ebay led light fixtures such as the Taotronics, Mars Aqua, Sunspect; is there major differences as to the quality of the fixtures themselves or the light they produce? I am curious about purchasing some of these down the road and they seem to be very effective, but it is difficult to compare them and decide which maker to go with.

Any thoughts or input?

 

[hybridazn]

They are essentially the same light with minor cosmetic differences. They use the same leds and other components. I used one over a small frag tank and it would always grow a nasty brown algae no matter how much cleaning and maintenance I did. i believe it was caused by the spectrum of the leds, meaning they are low quality.

 

[StevenBell]

We have used several of these low quality lights in our store.While they do seem to grow corals they do a heck of a job growing algae as well!They also seem to only last somewhere between 6 months and one year before the power pack completely goes to hell.When it comes down to it,we order expensive lights because they work AND that warranty is pretty nice ;)

 

[kchapmanjr]

Almost all LED fixtures are made in China. It is only a matter of quality, not country of manufacture, IMO. Maxspect, Kessil, Radion (to the best of my knowledge) are all made in China. It has to do with the LEDS, drivers, lenses, fans, heat sinks, and power supplies more than anything else. I am all about finding a balance between functionality and financial feasibility. I have been using "Chinese made" LEDs for quite some time (Ocean Revive Arctic T247's) for around a year and a half, and aside from controllability, are some of the best LEDs available. It's a case by case basis situation, not an issue of where they are made, (once again, just my opinion...).

 

[jasonandsarah]

Almost all LED fixtures are made in China. It is only a matter of quality, not country of manufacture, IMO. Maxspect, Kessil, Radion (to the best of my knowledge) are all made in China. It has to do with the LEDS, drivers, lenses, fans, heat sinks, and power supplies more than anything else. I am all about finding a balance between functionality and financial feasibility. I have been using "Chinese made" LEDs for quite some time (Ocean Revive Arctic T247's) for around a year and a half, and aside from controllability, are some of the best LEDs available. It's a case by case basis situation, not an issue of where they are made, (once again, just my opinion...).

Actually kessil is almost entirely a "made in the USA" product. As well as Ecotech and Aqua illumination except I'm sure most of their components are made in china.

 

[alan.lee3]

My buddy bought one off of amazon for $115, not bad of a light for the price. It grew his corals out but like everyone stated there was algae that came along with it.

I have an onyx by rapid LED, clearly states that it's made in China. But quality wise it's by far better than the Amazon one my buddy bought.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

There are still "Made in the USA Fixtures".

In fact Cree Manufactures LEDs here in the USA.

Domestic Fixtures do cost a tad more as they do not use counterfeit LEDs and use UL Approved Drivers and Power Supplies.

The last thing I want to worry about is my LED driver failing or catching fire.

If your going to spend several hundred dollars on a high end SPS Frags why compromise them with cheap lights?

Bill

 

[macscale]

Honestly i find some of these experiences a little odd.
I have a pair of the Taotronics above my 65g rimless growing sps lps and the whole show perfectly.
I also have never had algae problems because of them....
Check out my thread if you want pictures.

 

[sharkboy99999]

All the tanks I've seen with them did great.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Spectrum Matters

Honestly i find some of these experiences a little odd.
I have a pair of the Taotronics above my 65g rimless growing sps lps and the whole show perfectly.
I also have never had algae problems because of them....
Check out my thread if you want pictures.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I have a Mars Aqua from EBay for $78 and I couldn't be happier. I've had a number of different LED's....including TauTronics, and Apollo's, which claimed to be US manufactured....but opening them up, all the components come from China. Might be assembled here, but the guts come from China.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Apollo at best inspected in the USA

 

[NanaReefer]

Actually kessil is almost entirely a "made in the USA" product. As well as Ecotech and Aqua illumination except I'm sure most of their components are made in china.

Otherwise made in China but assembled in the USA-lol.

 

[scardall]

No matter who makes the led fixture, junk parts are still junk parts. the Chinese make cheap parts(low quality control) for cheap fixtures etc. All said and done, you buy what you can afford. Hopefully it will work for your specific use.

 

[jasonandsarah]

No matter who makes the led fixture, junk parts are still junk parts. the Chinese make cheap parts(low quality control) for cheap fixtures etc. All said and done, you buy what you can afford. Hopefully it will work for your specific use.

China also makes the high quality led (most electronics) parts as well.

 

[Harold Green]

I've been running the ebay lights for over a year now with no issues so far. Coral grows well once I got sufficient par to do the job. No algae growth after a year but I control nitrates and phosphates and have a refusium that also grows very little algae. I see nothing wrong with these fixtures at least until better quality lights are available at a reasonable price. I think the real advantage comes in that you can cover the entire top of the tank with these lights so if one fails you don't have to do a mad scramble to replace it before you lose all the livestock. I've had that issue several times with ballasts when I ran mh or vho fixtures. And yes you can buy more powerful fixtures that only require a bare minimum of lights to run the tank but then you can end up with more shading issues along with what to do if one fails and doesn't leave enough lighting to keep corals alive until you can get a replacement.

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Otherwise made in China but assembled in the USA-lol.

I cannot speak for other manufacturers but...

Made In The USA is still viable.

Cree Manufactures Here In The USA. I prefer These as I know they are not counterfeits.

Quality optics are made here as well as the UK

Only the Drivers and Power Supplies are very hard to source domestically and be cost effective.

Personally if possible I prefer to avoid products from Mainland China if possible.

Bill

 

[Daytonareefing]

Bill I'm wondering why you don't offer a full spectrum light all I see on your website is lights with blue and white lights but it's possible I missed something. Thank you

 

[ReefLEDLights]

Our Phoenix P47 Board was updated to include two 660 nm Reds for looks via a controllable driver. The Board was developed to replace a 400 watt Radium MH. By replacing the two Blue Moolights with two 660nm Red one has complete control over looks without adding a T5.

We started and continue to replicate MH Lights.

Full Spectrum is a gimmick. The Cree Whites are a full spectrum LED less some Blue and with the Cool White less the Red.

Our Phoenix 250 DIY Kit includes Violet for extra colour pop and much more than Ebay Fixtures which only toss in a pair or two to say they cover this spectrum. With DIY you can always add these tertiary colours to suit the look of your reef to your taste perfectly.

Soon we will offer a Made In The USA Fixture that is fully controllable so you can choose if you want a Reef Spectrum or Natural Sunlight over your Reef.

Bill

 

[Harold Green]

Bill I think everyone has their own view as to what they want in an led fixture. My diy crees have a channel of royal blues that I use for moon lites after all the other led's shut down for the night, and although the whites may have a full spectrum I like a few reds, greens and warm whites to make the corals look as natural as possible to the viewer. As far as normal lighting goes I prefer 2 to 4 royal blues to each cool white to give the tank that deep water blue look and my corals open much better if I'm not providing a lot of white led's. The whites tend to bleach the corals much easier than the blues do if you run a fairly high intensity.