Expenisve LEDs Worth the Cost?

[Shep]

For my new build I have decided to go with LEDs and have started shopping around for them but I as with everything there are some really nice but expensive options. For people who have used LEDs for a long time are Ecotech Radions, Kessil AP700 or Orphek Atkantik V4s worth their price tag? Can you get just as good growth and coral health out of cheaper brands?

 

[ndrwater]

Yes, and yes are the simplest answers to your questions.
The high end LEDs are definitely worth the money for a few reasons. They last, have a proven track record at growing and coloring corals and have MANY more features that most of the cheap "no name" brands have.
Couple that with the customer service and warranty support that the big names have if something were ever to go wrong makes the price justifiable even more.
Lastly, the big name brands hold their value over time.
While the cheaper "black boxes" have been shown to grow corals, oftentimes well, the reasons listed above are why I chose the more expensive brand.
The old addages that you get what you pay for holds true. Cheaper equipment ie. LEDs, pumps, heaters, whatever, will often break or die long before one of the more expensive brands with a long and proven track record do.

 

[rsljr81]

I have been using ocean revive led and so far have not disappointed me. They do not have any fancy features as the expensive brands but growth and colo.r have been pretty good. I have nout three months lighting my tank but so far so good.

 

[Amoo]

For my new build I have decided to go with LEDs and have started shopping around for them but I as with everything there are some really nice but expensive options. For people who have used LEDs for a long time are Ecotech Radions, Kessil AP700 or Orphek Atkantik V4s worth their price tag? Can you get just as good growth and coral health out of cheaper brands?

Hey Shep,

I still have my 3 Hydra 26s, not the HD and honestly I haven't seen enough "jump" to justify purchasing. Couple that with mediocre CS in my personal experience, and I will not be replacing these with new AIs when that time comes.

Now that said, I still have some custom built LEDs that I run as high powered sump lights in my Fuges. Here's the best way I can explain it. The same Cree assembly plant may make 1000 of the exact same type of chip. The best chips with the cleanest and clearest spectrum end up in higher dollar lots while others end up in middle ground lots, a few end up in low dollar lots and then you have the factory rejects. Typically with the higher end brands they pull chips from those higher quality lights AND couple those with superior cooling to make a more robust and better "LED Fixture". Most of the off brand stuff (not all nobody kill me here please I'm trying to simplify), ends up picking chips from lower batches and don't always provide adequate heat transfer or try to over drive them for the cooling environment and that's essentially how you end up with EBay boxes which may say they have the same Cree XM-whatever as the higher brands, but in reality while yes they are the same, they also are not.

Now add in the cost of customer support and whatever fancy phone apps everybody makes these days and there you go. So essentially, cheap boxes are GENERALLY not just the same LEDs without the features, there really is a lot more to the end product.

 

[Shep]

Thanks for all the replies, You all made some good points. Hopefully more people will chime in with their opinions.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

The high-end LEDs seem awesome and well worth it. The downside, I'd say, to them is that they seem to be emulating Moore's law, and there'll be a light that's twice as good as yours within 6 months.

 

[Salty1962]

I believe the Radion's are worth the $$. You get quality workmanship, good customer service and great growth. The ability to manipulate the colors to suit your corals are top notch! I love my XR30W G.3 Pro's that I control with my APEX WXM.

 

[madweazl]

On the current tank I've had SBReef basic boxes and Kessils. The SBReef boxes looked like cheap boxes (dents, chips in paint, poor solder joints, etc.), no doubt about that but, they worked. The Kessils (360 in my case) look the part and they have worked every bit as good. The 360s lack all the whiz bang features (spectrum, WiFi, etc.) but I run them off a controller and the lack of spectral control was a huge plus in my book. When it comes to growing corals, I'd find it pretty unlikely that a Radion (for example) would produce significantly better growth/color than one of the "nicer" black boxes. The features (which I dont find many to actually be "features") of the higher end LED solutions may be something you deem worth the price of admission and the customer service may be better with some. ReefBreeders took care of me when I was running a Photon 24, SBReef responded to a request I had but never followed through, and I've never needed to contact Kessil.

 

[Amoo]

Sorry for a second post Shep, but something came to me after commenting earlier and I wanted to add to it. $ for $ Reefbreeders, who I actually purchased my first LED fixture from still makes some of the best LED lights on the market IMO. Their customer service is also 100% top notch. I remember I wanted a custom spectrum (light layout) on the until I ordered for my original 75G tank and they had the light to me within a weekish IIRC even answering emails on a Sunday. So if you're considering going LEDs but aren't sure you want to dive in like 2-3K deep, reefbreeders would be a place I would start. HTH.

Crap I forgot to look and see if they are a sponsor here, I'll edit and send you a pm if not, brb.

 

[Shep]

Sorry for a second post Shep, but something came to me after commenting earlier and I wanted to add to it. $ for $ Reefbreeders, who I actually purchased my first LED fixture from still makes some of the best LED lights on the market IMO. Their customer service is also 100% top notch. I remember I wanted a custom spectrum (light layout) on the until I ordered for my original 75G tank and they had the light to me within a weekish IIRC even answering emails on a Sunday. So if you're considering going LEDs but aren't sure you want to dive in like 2-3K deep, reefbreeders would be a place I would start. HTH.

Crap I forgot to look and see if they are a sponsor here, I'll edit and send you a pm if not, brb.

Haha never be sorry for a second post! I always want more opinions and options

 

[OrionN]

I love my Radion. You really don't need to go for the Radion G4 IMO. I love my Radion Pro and G3 Pro fine. Really seve me a lot of money in electricity (in light and chillers) and bulb replacement. Not to mention evaporation water and the need to deal with tons of elaborated water input into the house air conditioning system. I have large tanks. 450 gal in the past and 320 gal at this time.
My corals are doing great, MH or LED

 

[Waters]

I learned my lesson with buying cheaper lights. Ended up fighting with the company for months to try and get them repaired under warranty. Finally gave up, threw them in the trash, and bought better lights like I should have done in the beginning. Some things you can get away with buying cheaper.....I am not sure lights is one of them....at least not in my case lol.

 

[bif24701]

I can say without an doubt I am very happy to own two Kessil AP700. Many folks in my are use and have success with SB Reef Lights, in fact I know the owner. Mike of SB Reef Lights is local to my area and I frequent his SB Reefs Store in Pensacola. I think his lights are great and well worth the money. I love Kessil Lights for all the reasons that make them great and still to this day very happy with my choice.

Yes, high end LEDs are worth the money if the extra features and performance is worth the money to you.

 

[Shep]

I can say without an doubt I am very happy to own two Kessil AP700. Many folks in my are use and have success with SB Reef Lights, in fact I know the owner. Mike of SB Reef Lights is local to my area and I frequent his SB Reefs Store in Pensacola. I think his lights are great and well worth the money. I love Kessil Lights for all the reasons that make them great and still to this day very happy with my choice.

Yes, high end LEDs are worth the money if the extra features and performance is worth the money to you.

I may or may not have just pulled the trigger on an AP700. Suggestions on mounting?

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

I ran kessil 160s and loved them coupled with 4x ati t5s over my 90. I had to kick the t5s when swapped tanks due to it being rimless and not wanting the top covered with lights. Instead of dropping the $$$ on the kessils to provide the coverage I snagged a 32" timer SB Reef Light for my 80 shallow. I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER. Especially recently after I ramped the blues to 100% and white at 22.5%. Color and growth has really started to take off and my confidence in sps is definitely setting in.

My 90 with 2 kessil 160we and 4x ati t5 on Home Depot HOT5 fixtures.

My 80 shallow a few months in after the tank swap:

 

[bif24701]

I may or may not have just pulled the trigger on an AP700. Suggestions on mounting?

I mounted mine from the ceiling. With a sleek low profile light this option makes for a very clean look. The Kessil ceiling hardware was easy to mount and adjust the height.

 

[bif24701]

I ran kessil 160s and loved them coupled with 4x ati t5s over my 90. I had to kick the t5s when swapped tanks due to it being rimless and not wanting the top covered with lights. Instead of dropping the $$$ on the kessils to provide the coverage I snagged a 32" timer SB Reef Light for my 80 shallow. I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER. Especially recently after I ramped the blues to 100% and white at 22.5%. Color and growth has really started to take off and my confidence in sps is definitely setting in.

My 90 with 2 kessil 160we and 4x ati t5 on Home Depot HOT5 fixtures.

My 80 shallow a few months in after the tank swap:

No doubt that SB Reef Lights perform. However 160s on a90 isn't really ideal. Two 360s would have been better and 3 360s would have made a world of difference. Kind of hard to compare the two brands in that aspect due to the large gap in intended coverage.

 

[Dana Riddle]

The choice is really yours. Bear in mind heat is the enemy of LEDs and cooling fan failure can possibly damage the unit. Personally I prefer units that don't use fans as I feel the reliability is increased. But that's not to say that I haven't (or don't currently) use fan-cooled LED panels.