Opinions on best 165w black box LEDS available today.

kaceyo

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Hey All, I'm looking to add another light fixture over my tank to go with the one I already have. I bought my Evergrow led after doing a fair amount of research on these black box fixtures about 2+ yrs ago. Now I'm wondering if I should just get another Evergrow or if there are any comparably priced 165w leds that have stood out in the last few years as being more dependable, having better quality parts, Wi-Fi, spectrum etc. I realize these things are based largely on opinion but so i'm looking for a mix of opinion and facts.
If you have never owned or used any "Black Box" fixtures please don't reply with negative opinions of them.
Thanks,
 

sbash

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I have two vipra spectras on a 70 gallon long (48" long). I really liked them at first, now... not so much. Every now and then the colours reset, so both channels are down to 5%. This happens on both of them. Also the dimming scale is messed up. I keep the blue channel at 100% and the whites at 5%, any more whites and it is too much, any less and they are off... Also there must not be very many 450-460nm blue diodes on the blue channel, the colouring is very poor for SPS, but fine for LPS and soft corals.

I have 10 black box fixtures (including the two above), most of them I have had to swap out diodes to get a nicer colour (largely adding more 450nm blue and swapping some of the whites for cooler whites), this one I have liked the best out of the box:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/dim...th-55pcs-3W-Epistar-chip-led/32794999740.html

But it doesn't list any greens, so I am going to swap out the warm whites with cooler whites and add two greens.

I also dislike the wifi and programmable black boxes, this simply because I have my own controller tied into my home automation system. I also find the ability to tune the colours on demand and fade on and off slowly (to simulate sunrise and sunset) unnecessary. I do have a system with these features (my only non-black box fixture) and at first I adjusted the colours way way way too many times it actually hampered the system, and more than 15 minutes of fad in/out times just makes viewing annoying, lol... (it also seems to take much longer for everything to open up).
 
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Ranjib

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I have two vipra spectras on a 70 gallon long (48" long). I really liked them at first, now... not so much. Every now and then the colours reset, so both channels are down to 5%. This happens on both of them. Also the dimming scale is messed up. I keep the blue channel at 100% and the whites at 5%, any more whites and it is too much, any less and they are off... Also there must not be very many 250-260nm blue diodes on the blue channel, the colouring is very poor for SPS, but fine for LPS and soft corals.

I have 10 black box fixtures (including the two above), most of them I have had to swap out diodes to get a nicer colour (largely adding more 250nm blue and swapping some of the whites for cooler whites), this one I have liked the best out of the box:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/dim...th-55pcs-3W-Epistar-chip-led/32794999740.html

But it doesn't list any greens, so I am going to swap out the warm whites with cooler whites and add two greens.

I also dislike the wifi and programmable black boxes, this simply because I have my own controller tied into my home automation system. I also find the ability to tune the colours on demand and fade on and off slowly (to simulate sunrise and sunset) unnecessary. I do have a system with these features (my only non-black box fixture) and at first I adjusted the colours way way way too many times it actually hampered the system, and more than 15 minutes of fad in/out times just makes viewing annoying, lol... (it also seems to take much longer for everything to open up).
Curious, did you modify the dimming circuits of the blackboxes?
 

sbash

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Curious, did you modify the dimming circuits of the blackboxes?

No, there doesn't appear to be a need, I run the blues at full and the whites around 30% and I don't touch them. There is a slight difference between each model, but nothing that would merit the time to 'fix'. Spectrum and aesthetics are what I am after.

That said, I did consider building some of my own PWM circuits into my raspberry pi network (I have about four running various aspects of my systems), but when push came to shove, it wasn't worth the effort.
 
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kaceyo

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I also heard the Mars and Vipar brands were built better with higher quality parts. I bought the Evergrow because I liked the led array better than others and since I'm not as diy as many of you I would be stuck with the choice made by the manufacturer. I am concerned about the wifi reliability. I was planning on getting one w/wifi but it sounds like the wifi unit may be a week link in the system. Do they have a lot of issues/glitches? I can easily imagine them disabling otherwise good lights. Maybe I should stick with the older style.
 

Bouncingsoul39

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I have used a Vipar Spectra. One thing I noticed about it is the weight, it’s quite hefty at 8 Lbs. looking inside I see a good size aluminum heat sink topped with fins. Much better than old school ones that had the license plate looking thing. It’s a very intense light with an appealing spectrum imo. I had it set to 5% white and 10% blue. Didn’t test par but others have shown it can crank it out.
The timer was easy to program with the simple remote included. One thing that bugs me about it is the fan noise. The fans are really loud. Funny cause the amazon ad says new quieter high cfm fans! Uhhhh no. They’re not quiet or high cfm.
 
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kaceyo

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You run it at only 10% blue? I run mine at 20% white and 55% blue. It's 11" above the water and the tank is 20" tall. I've wondered if 55% is too high for the blue and I haven't really put anything on the top of the rocks yet. I placed a small un-named dark brown acro on a frag rack at the bottom of the tank and it turned completely green within a couple of weeks. Hopefully it will be OK when placed at the top.
 

Bouncingsoul39

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You run it at only 10% blue? I run mine at 20% white and 55% blue. It's 11" above the water and the tank is 20" tall. I've wondered if 55% is too high for the blue and I haven't really put anything on the top of the rocks yet. I placed a small un-named dark brown acro on a frag rack at the bottom of the tank and it turned completely green within a couple of weeks. Hopefully it will be OK when placed at the top.

That was just a low setting for a light acclimation period so the corals don’t get shocked...
 

pjb9166

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Vipar Spectra!
+1 viper spectra

I have the 300w 30 inch version over my standard reef ready 65 gal.
Never had any issues with it at all. Running whites at 22% and blues at 49%. SPS and LPS love it. Can't hear the fans unless you have the unit in your hands.
I also have a clam growing like crazy.
Everything I have has great color and growth.
Super happy with the unit.
I've been running it for 10 months now. Definitely would recommend.

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kaceyo

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I have the 300w 30 inch version over my standard reef ready 65 gal.
Never had any issues with it at all. Running whites at 22% and blues at 49%. SPS and LPS love it. Can't hear the fans unless you have the unit in your hands.
I also have a clam growing like crazy.
Everything I have has great color and growth.
Super happy with the unit.
I've been running it for 10 months now. Definitely would recommend.

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Very nice. I'd be happy with results like that. Now, one last question. My tank is a 50 tall, 36L x 15D x20H. Do you think I should put another 165w unit over the tank or is one enough to place most anything along the top without being limited to only the center of the tank for high light loving sps?
 

sbash

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Very nice. I'd be happy with results like that. Now, one last question. My tank is a 50 tall, 36L x 15D x20H. Do you think I should put another 165w unit over the tank or is one enough to place most anything along the top without being limited to only the center of the tank for high light loving sps?

I would use two on a 3' tank. One won't quite be enough spread (although two would be too much, technically), but if you can find a 30" version, I think there are 300w models that would fit nicely.
 

pjb9166

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My tank is 36x18x24. I'm using the one 30 inch version. No problem. If I can throw in one bit of advice. Hang at least 10 to 12 inches above tank. I have mine at 8 inches.
The line at which the coralline grows is there inches down and below.
 
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kaceyo

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My tank is 36x18x24. I'm using the one 30 inch version. No problem. If I can throw in one bit of advice. Hang at least 10 to 12 inches above tank. I have mine at 8 inches.
The line at which the coralline grows is there inches down and below.
Good advice, mine is exactly 11" above the water. I didn't decide that 11" was what I wanted. That's just where it ended up when I set it up, looking to keep it from being too close to the water surface.
 
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kaceyo

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I would use two on a 3' tank. One won't quite be enough spread (although two would be too much, technically), but if you can find a 30" version, I think there are 300w models that would fit nicely.
Just what I thought. Two will be overkill but ones not enough. I suppose I could use my current light over a fuge if I got a 30". Should grow mass macro algea.
 

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