MaxSpect or Cree?

[GR808]

Putting my plan together for an LED upgrade. Thinking of going with the Cree DIY 36 or 48 (3 watt) 2x for my 120g or with the MaxSpect G2 110 2X. Which would be better?
Would they be equal in par ratings as far as the Cree or Maxspect?

 

[pumarjr]

not for nothing but I bought the sunbrite lighting fixture, it's awesome! It uses T10 tubes, they make the fixtures in different sizes and there are eight slots in the unit so that you can configure the lighting exactly as you choose, they make several different led bulbs for the fixture. a 470, 440, 10k, 12k, 16k, 22k. it also has a programmable timer built in that allows you to simulate sunrise/sunset. my 36" fixture with 4 tubes was $1,100.
SUNBRITE LIGHTING SYSTEMS INC-Fixtures

 

[kenjung]

Cree has better efficientcy bulb more light per watt, bulb definately will last longer than Maxspect with the right build. However that may not translate to better fixture its all depends on how you build it, heatsink, power supply unit, your soldering skills, etc.

 

[CJO]

Are you comfortable doing this yourself? If so, I think DIY with Cree is the way to go. Also, do you have a controller?

CJ

 

[steveb]

Cree has better efficientcy bulb more light per watt, bulb definately will last longer than Maxspect with the right build. However that may not translate to better fixture its all depends on how you build it, heatsink, power supply unit, your soldering skills, etc.

Maxspect has the option of using Cree XP-G LED's for white and I think blue now.
Cree Chip Version New Generation Maxspect Programmable Aquarium LED lighting, G1, G2, Maxspect, Maxspect G2, Maxspect G1,

In addition they should have a better color selection than was available w/the G1 version
MAXSPECT LED Color Options: The Rainbow

I think it really boils down to if you are comfortable working with a soldering iron and diy parts.

 

[GR808]

I am comfortable doing the build myself but it come down to the best bang for the buck. DIY 36 bulb unit will probably run me just over $1000 with controller. The MaxSpect looks equally costly but no build and it's a complete fixture. I hope the par ratings are equal as well. DIY I was going to use a 24 inch heatsink to spread the lighting out more on my 72" long tank but the MaxSpect is a bit shorter. It will create more shadows depending on the height. Am I right?

 

[steveb]

Yeah I believe so. Its going to be that way with any of the off the shelf models. I am doing DIY for the exact same reason - to get a more even coverage across the entire tank and to tune the aesthetics (color). I am going to use 24/36 bulbs over a 36 gallon bow front tank. Three channels with some mix of 420nm, 460nm, neutral white, cool white and a couple of warm white. I finally have all the pieces just need to get to building.

 

[pumarjr]

What's nice about the fixture I posted a link to is that there is no shadowing and you can configure the light as you desire. You can also turn the tubes in different directions to point the LEDs in which ever way you choose and with all the different bulbs available, it would be very hard not to take a look at it.

This is when I first placed the light over my newly setup tank.

This is my mist current FTS using the Sunbrite Lighting Fixture.

 

[CJO]

I am comfortable doing the build myself but it come down to the best bang for the buck. DIY 36 bulb unit will probably run me just over $1000 with controller. The MaxSpect looks equally costly but no build and it's a complete fixture. I hope the par ratings are equal as well. DIY I was going to use a 24 inch heatsink to spread the lighting out more on my 72" long tank but the MaxSpect is a bit shorter. It will create more shadows depending on the height. Am I right?

I have a DIY 36 bulb light over my tank. Mine's a 65 gallon and I don't think that 36 bulbs will be enough over your 120. My cost in materials was about $600 and that was about a year ago, so costs have come down somewhat (especially on the LEDs).

CJ

 

[thewackyreefer]

I'd suggest staying away from Sunbrite, their customer service is freaking terrible and the owner is a *****. They're also imported and the company is being sued, so I wouldn't count on them being around in the US very long.

For the $ you'll spend on those you can get some bad butt AI SOL's.

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

What are the complete tank dimensions? I'm confused about a 6' long 120 gallon tank with a 24" heat sink. Something not adding up for me.

 

[maddog2002]

I built dimmable 48 bulb's fixture using Cree XPG and XPE total cost about $600.

If you can DIY. Cree is way to go.
Maxpect is using Cheap LED. much less output that Cree.

If you do not want to build. AI is much better choose than the Maxpect. I saw those two in person.

 

[pumarjr]

I'd suggest staying away from Sunbrite, their customer service is freaking terrible and the owner is a *****. They're also imported and the company is being sued, so I wouldn't count on them being around in the US very long.

For the $ you'll spend on those you can get some bad butt AI SOL's.

The fixture I had I thought was acting
Up, it was plugged into my rkl and kept turning off and on, it ended up being that the outlet I was plugged into was setup for a pump. The owner of sunbrite sent me a brand new fixture before I had even came to that conclusion, at least for me, the customer service was excellent.

 

[GR808]

What's nice about the fixture I posted a link to is that there is no shadowing and you can configure the light as you desire. You can also turn the tubes in different directions to point the LEDs in which ever way you choose and with all the different bulbs available, it would be very hard not to take a look at it.

This is when I first placed the light over my newly setup tank.

This is my mist current FTS using the Sunbrite Lighting Fixture.

Nice FTS... Must be beautiful with a fully established tank
I would take a look at all the options out there of course. Thanks for the link.

 

[GR808]

I have a DIY 36 bulb light over my tank. Mine's a 65 gallon and I don't think that 36 bulbs will be enough over your 120. My cost in materials was about $600 and that was about a year ago, so costs have come down somewhat (especially on the LEDs).

CJ

I was planning on going with 36 or 48 bulb 2X each.. How deep is your tank and do you have par ratings?

 

[GR808]

What are the complete tank dimensions? I'm confused about a 6' long 120 gallon tank with a 24" heat sink. Something not adding up for me.

72" long, 18" wide, 20" tall. the 2 back corners have 5"X5" overflows. 24" heatsinks will be somewhere between 6" from the ends with about just under a 12" gap between heatsinks over the center support. I will have to play with the light coverage with the height of the heatsinks..

 

[GR808]

I built dimmable 48 bulb's fixture using Cree XPG and XPE total cost about $600.

If you can DIY. Cree is way to go.
Maxpect is using Cheap LED. much less output that Cree.

If you do not want to build. AI is much better choose than the Maxpect. I saw those two in person.

How big is your tank?

 

[fragman2]

I would disagree with Maddog. I built two 24 LED fixtures using CREE's one dimmable and one not dimmable, using the DIY kits from Rapid LED. These have performed well now for over a year. However by the time you add up the cost for all of the parts for fans, frames, heat sinks, etc.... I spent within a $100 of just buying a MaxSpect G2. I liked the idea of the programable drivers in the MaxSpect fixtures so I purchased a singe MaxSpect G2 160 and put it over a 20 gal. breeder (frag tank) The lighting was way more intense than the 175 Watt 14K plus 2 x 36Watt PCs that I had over the tank. I was so blown away with how powerful this fixture was. I decided to go for it and purchased 3 more MaxSpect G2 160's and 3 MaxSpect G2 110's. All my tanks have these fixtures over them now and the corals are growing well and best of all they look GREAT! Oh and how much am I saving on Bulbs and Electricity? For fun I ordered 20 CREE LED replacements and began experimenting with replacing selected White LEDs with CREE 480nm LEDs. I replaced 3 or 3 Whites with Blues and I was able to take the 10k to 12k appearance to a 16k to 20k appearance. There is very little difference between the Semi and Cree LEDs when you look at the output of the fixture itself. It Rocks!

Here is a shot this morning from my 150 system with 4 MaxSpect G2 160's over it. This tank was set up 3 months ago.

[video]http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/9513/file23961.mp4[/video]

 

[GR808]

I would disagree with Maddog. I built two 24 LED fixtures using CREE's one dimmable and one not dimmable, using the DIY kits from Rapid LED. These have performed well now for over a year. However by the time you add up the cost for all of the parts for fans, frames, heat sinks, etc.... I spent within a $100 of just buying a MaxSpect G2. I liked the idea of the programable drivers in the MaxSpect fixtures so I purchased a singe MaxSpect G2 160 and put it over a 20 gal. breeder (frag tank) The lighting was way more intense than the 175 Watt 14K plus 2 x 36Watt PCs that I had over the tank. I was so blown away with how powerful this fixture was. I decided to go for it and purchased 3 more MaxSpect G2 160's and 3 MaxSpect G2 110's. All my tanks have these fixtures over them now and the corals are growing well and best of all they look GREAT! Oh and how much am I saving on Bulbs and Electricity? For fun I ordered 20 CREE LED replacements and began experimenting with replacing selected White LEDs with CREE 480nm LEDs. I replaced 3 or 3 Whites with Blues and I was able to take the 10k to 12k appearance to a 16k to 20k appearance. There is very little difference between the Semi and Cree LEDs when you look at the output of the fixture itself. It Rocks!

Here is a shot this morning from my 150 system with 4 MaxSpect G2 160's over it. This tank was set up 3 months ago.

[video]http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/9513/file23961.mp4[/video]

Incredible tank fragman... love the tank.... how big is your tank? I have a 120 and need to find suitable fixtures to fit my 72" long tank. I don't have much sps but mostly softies and LPS, but as the addiction grows, you know the SPS will start coming.