How are blackbox's budget?

actik · Jan 6, 2019

I'm far from a carpenter and not finished of coarse but getting 1 step closer

I do plan to find some type of nice wood to cover the outer shell and put a door in the front... but its stronnnnk.

carbene · Jan 6, 2019

actik said:
I'm far from a carpenter and not finished of coarse but getting 1 step closer I do plan to find some type of nice wood to cover the outer shell and put a door in the front... but its stronnnnk.

Your home depot doesnt let you handpick the 2x4's? Those aren't some of the best looking ones

jsvand5 · Jan 6, 2019

I’m really happy with my SB reefs basic. Better spectrum than the eBay black boxes for only a very small increase in price. I lit my whole 210g for just over $500. Would have cost at least $2000 for some of the high end units to cover my tank. My corals don’t care about WiFi and thunderstorms. I actually think I get less shadowing than with some of the expensive puck style lights. Honestly even with an unlimited budget I wouldn’t buy the high end lights.

I have two old Mars aquas covering this 90g grows my magnificas and gigantea anemones well. Lights are at least 3 years old.

actik · Jan 6, 2019

@jsvand5 its beautiful dude.

rock_lobster · Jan 6, 2019

Viaspectra is a branded black box so it is more expensive. You can also buy the plain old generic Black box on ebay for 60-80$ which is what I did and I have easily grown thousands of frags with them over the last 5-6 years. Kessil A80 is 15watts you would need more than 10 of those for comparable output. Also paying extra $1,000s for thunderstorms and lightning? Just because it happens in nature doesnt necessarily mean it is ideal. I wouldnt want an earthquake or tsunami generator nor an active volcano simulator.

actik · Jan 6, 2019

could always give your aquarium a good friggen shake if fish need the realism in their lives haha.

Lousybreed · Jan 6, 2019

ph123uk said:
I have a Viparspectra, I CAN afford any of the lights on the market, I just chose not to after seeing this in the flesh. I can only compare it to an AI SOl Blue and a Giesemann Tesla (I have had both previously) - but, IMO its better than them both for output, and colour.

I was going to get a Radion g4 Pro, not going to bother now. Only thing id like is to be able to ramp up and down, but no biggie.

Exactly! They are so expensive and I don’t see how the value matches the price tag. Change that G4 Pro to $499 and then they are competitive...barely....and they better include the diffusers for that price. And another year on their warranty.

actik · Jan 6, 2019

carbene said:
Your home depot doesnt let you handpick the 2x4's? Those aren't some of the best looking ones

you've destroyed my self esteem :O jk, lol. Unforunetly the pickings were slim i cant blame them only my carpentry

atleast shes level'd even though it doesnt look it... and strong. Hopefully i can hide the uglyness with panels or something and stain ;Facepalm

Lousybreed · Jan 6, 2019

actik said:
you've destroyed my self esteem :O jk, lol. Unforunetly the pickings were slim i cant blame them only my carpentry atleast shes level'd even though it doesnt look it... and strong. Hopefully i can hide the uglyness with panels or something and stain ;Facepalm

Woodworking is tough but you have to start somewhere. Do your best. That’s all you can do. But the internet has awesome content for woodworking. Here is my frame for my 250:

Lousybreed · Jan 6, 2019

This is the frame and my canopy. I too used a 2x6 frame behind this and then skinned the whole frame with sanded and stained wood.

Lousybreed · Jan 6, 2019

actik · Jan 6, 2019

Lousybreed said:

amazing job well done

Flippers4pups · Jan 6, 2019

I just recently did some research on replacing all my diodes on my black boxes. Around 65 dollars to mimic SB boxes and shipped free.

That's 165 diodes. Three boxes. 55 diodes per box. I'm thinking of hitting the cyans a little harder this time as each box has two per and going 4 per. That's Including 2 UV per box.

Halal Hotdog · Jan 6, 2019

I have been using galaxyhydro lights for a couple years now. I have also added a T5 retrofit kit recently. From what I can tell most of the black boxes are very similar with small quality differences. When I was buying lights Amazon was running a sale on the Galaxyhydros (under $100/light) and seemed like some felt they were on the 'higher quality' end of BB. Overall I have been happy with my BB and the retrofit T5 took it to the next level. I feel long term success can absolutely be had with just BB leds. If I had to do it all over again I would probably change nothing. The reason I say 'probably' is because T5's are definitely something worth investigating.
On an semi-unrelated note: anyone that tells you, "if you can't afford the most expensive equipment then don't do it" should be ignored.

Matt Carden · Jan 6, 2019

actik said:
I'm far from a carpenter and not finished of coarse but getting 1 step closer I do plan to find some type of nice wood to cover the outer shell and put a door in the front... but its stronnnnk.

Looks good but it looks like you have a frameless tank. If this is the case, you need a pad of some sort to go under your tank. I used a 1/2" black yoga mat from Target. You can use sheet insulation from Home Depot or whatever home improvement store of your choice.

Matt Carden · Jan 6, 2019

Shooter6 said:
Check out ledzeal.com i got the Malibu s400 which is a 5 ft light. Both wifi and wired controller with custom layout 601.00 deliversed to.my door.

I would say that the spectrum isn't ideal for growing coral. If you already bought these you could modify them with the help of @dantimdad . To start with there is no UV. The only other problem I saw was that the royal blue and blue were switched in count, at least twice as much royal blue versus blue.

actik · Jan 7, 2019

Matt Carden said:
Looks good but it looks like you have a frameless tank. If this is the case, you need a pad of some sort to go under your tank. I used a 1/2" black yoga mat from Target. You can use sheet insulation from Home Depot or whatever home improvement store of your choice.

thanks, never though of that

Shooter6 · Jan 8, 2019

Matt Carden said:
I would say that the spectrum isn't ideal for growing coral. If you already bought these you could modify them with the help of @dantimdad . To start with there is no UV. The only other problem I saw was that the royal blue and blue were switched in count, at least twice as much royal blue versus blue.

I beg to differ with your assessment. This is the layout i ordered and received from the factory. And my sps down to zoa and shrooms have taken off recently. I actually was given a few acro like strawberry fields from someone who had been struggling with it under gen 4 radions. In the 3 weeks in my system it has regained color and growth at the tips has begun. The layout on the website may not be optional but they are willing to modify the layout any way you want it for no additional charge!

Matt Carden · Jan 8, 2019

Shooter6 said:
I beg to differ with your assessment. This is the layout i ordered and received from the factory. And my sps down to zoa and shrooms have taken off recently. I actually was given a few acro like strawberry fields from someone who had been struggling with it under gen 4 radions. In the 3 weeks in my system it has regained color and growth at the tips has begun. The layout on the website may not be optional but they are willing to modify the layout any way you want it for no additional charge!

Well that changes things! Good layout you choose. I will look into these.