Reviews of SB Reef Lights

[happyhourhero]

Let me start off with saying I met this couple a few weeks ago working a job in Florida straight up very nice ppl. Answered a lot of questions was there at closing time so they were not busy and had a polite and informative conversation with both. Great people! Fast forward a couple weeks read great and awesome reviews great experience meeting them deff wanted to spend my money with them. Called the store a few times left message wanting to ask a question or two no reply not upset must mean there busy right. Good deal like seeing someone do great with there own business good for them. Now a week after ordering get a email finally shipped except I track it and shipping information was just received item not actually on they way yet from Singapore. Kinda thought they had a supply over here guess not so all in all great ppl supposedly great product just have to be patient and wait on it to make its way across the world.

Maybe y'all could help with one of the questions I snatched up a 32 bio cube offline tank only for 89$ great deal still available great if you plan on upgraded lights anyways. Well this was for a coral only tank in living room was just wondering if the 16" extreme wifi I ordered was gonna be over kill but from comments here I'm guessing just start off real low percentage and go up slowly till corals respond like it may have been to much ???

They stocked up over here and it sold out so quick that they were unable to keep a steady stock over here with the store opening and such. I have done 3 orders and all show up within a week or so after leaving the Orient. I would run the light 50b 25w or maybe a touch lower and go up no more than 5% a week until you hit the sweet spot. I grow sps on bottom with 80b 50 w

 

[Jason mack]

120gal 2'x2'x4' sb 32 inch wifi 10 inches off tank lights were at ruffly

20%7-10 UV 5
30%10-11 UV 15
50%11-12 UV 20
60%12-5 UV 30
50%5-6 UV 20
30%6-7 UV 15
20%7-9 UV 5
9pm -7am 4% blue 4% UV no white

Are you running your blues and uv all night ? .. corals and also fish need time too sleep just like the rest of us !!!

 

[Bama-Reefer]

Well a week on my order and nothing but a shipping label created hasn't even started its way over yet

 

[Rakie]

Does anyone have experience with their SBar? Looking to get one to attach to an ATI fixture.

Should work fine for that. The mounting for them is awesome and lends well for that kind of application. FYI, they will be redoing their power supply and adding in ramping. Hopefully soon. I would wait.

The reason the SBar is being redesigned is that the owner of the SB Reef Lights apparently had zero knowledge that the SBar was massively under-powered. I can't find his quote, but they're redoing the power supply because it's a fraction of what he's been claiming it was.

So while I'm excited that it will come with ramping and the ACTUAL power it's supposedly always had -- I'm really hoping the price doesn't go up much. Being sold something that was untested with unknown parameters is bad enough.. If price goes into Reef Brite territory then I don't see much point going with SBar's.

 

[jason2459]

Yes, I was the one that brought it to his attention. Ramping will be a great addition too as reefbrites can be ramped manually or via a controller.

 

[Devisissy]

OK so it has been a month and some odd weeks I think. A very noticeable difference. IN ALL CORALS. Even the hammers have colored up considerably. And in the first time in five years growth! I will post pictures of some of the changes here. I also had a pink birdsnest that was brown, however is now hot pink, unfortunately I don't have a before pick for comparison.

So this was my Oregon Tort. It was almost completely white and no polyps were active. Now it is turning blue again and the polyps are out. It is my slowest recovery though. Then I had a rainbow monti. It turned grey and again no polyps. Under the SB Reef light it is making a full recovery.

I recently got some new corals too. A pink stylo and a german blue. Both have grown new arms and are very happy. The only thing that doesn't seem to like the new lights is the Blasto. However I moved it into a more shaded area and it seems to be doing better. These lights are less pinpoint than my old Kessil, but much much stronger. So that needs to be taken into consideration. So far I am overjoyed and I love my new light so much!

 

[SteelerMike]

I am contemplating betting the actinic Sbar to supplement my 8 bulb 60" ATI but not sure how it compares to the reefbrites. The reefbrite XHO is considerably more money but I am worried about either one of them being drowned out by the 8 bulbs as it is. Any thoughts?

edit: just saw the post about it being underpowered...guess I should wait. Will the updated one be more expensive?

 

[Pockets]

Have had lights on tank for almost a week and loving them lots of power I had black box leds from budget reefers in Green Bay wi for 3 yrs also great lights but didn't have the timer options or the moon lights which is a huge plus. This box feels solid. I have the pro series. One cord is also a plus now I can plug something else in haha. I'm running them at 70 percent everything's responding well. I really like the overall color and the moonlights are pretty sweet. Me and the wife will be watching a movie well she is im watching the tank lol.

 

[Rakie]

I am contemplating betting the actinic Sbar to supplement my 8 bulb 60" ATI but not sure how it compares to the reefbrites. The reefbrite XHO is considerably more money but I am worried about either one of them being drowned out by the 8 bulbs as it is. Any thoughts?

The XHO will be completely drowned out by the 8 bulb -- I have just got a brand new 24" XHO to put on my 6x24 ATI fixture and it's almost unnoticeable when all 6 bulbs are on.

Cons
- If you want a noticeable visual difference during daylight hours, you need 2 XHO -- At least with my bulb combination on a 6x24 fixture (3 Blue+, 1 Coral+, 1 Purple+, 1 ABS). On a scale of 1 - 10 it gives you +2 pop (Yeah, I got a little RPG there).

- It adds zero shimmer during daylight, nearly zero during actinic light, and very little when the XHO is on alone (which is fine to me, but others will care)

- The level of 'POP' you gain depends on the level of 'POP' you already had -- Healthier colorful corals pop more, so they will pop exponentially with the XHO -- AKA, the XHO isn't a magic pop wand, corals still gotta be happy to properly pop for ya.

Pro's
- You WILL get a positive response from corals (even if you can barely tell it's on -- They can). Increased PE for me within 4-5 hours.

- Other people say you will also get corals to color up better, and potentially gain growth -- it's too early for me to say that definitively.


Suggestion: @CoralNerd has the best of both worlds. He runs a 6x36 ATI and 2 Radions. For the cost of two XHO, it might be better to just buy a used Gen 3 Radion Pro, as it will give you all the benefits the reef brite does, + a whole ton more that the RB doesn't give you.

 

[GoVols]

The XHO will be completely drowned out by the 8 bulb -- I have just got a brand new 24" XHO to put on my 6x24 ATI fixture and it's almost unnoticeable when all 6 bulbs are on.

Cons
- If you want a noticeable visual difference during daylight hours, you need 2 XHO -- At least with my bulb combination on a 6x24 fixture (3 Blue+, 1 Coral+, 1 Purple+, 1 ABS). On a scale of 1 - 10 it gives you +2 pop (Yeah, I got a little RPG there).

- It adds zero shimmer during daylight, nearly zero during actinic light, and very little when the XHO is on alone (which is fine to me, but others will care)

- The level of 'POP' you gain depends on the level of 'POP' you already had -- Healthier colorful corals pop more, so they will pop exponentially with the XHO -- AKA, the XHO isn't a magic pop wand, corals still gotta be happy to properly pop for ya.

Pro's
- You WILL get a positive response from corals (even if you can barely tell it's on -- They can). Increased PE for me within 4-5 hours.

- Other people say you will also get corals to color up better, and potentially gain growth -- it's too early for me to say that definitively.


Suggestion: @CoralNerd has the best of both worlds. He runs a 6x36 ATI and 2 Radions. For the cost of two XHO, it might be better to just buy a used Gen 3 Radion Pro, as it will give you all the benefits the reef brite does, + a whole ton more that the RB doesn't give you.

Seems to me the the XHO's may be and better fit the help out MH fixtures instead of T5's.

But... JMO

 

[LSDcoral]

Bathed in SBREEFLIGHTS. So HAPPY I went this route instead of over paying for other LEDS. The results of 6 days have really stimulated colors in these guys. Coming from the 250w 14k Phx. Lights are about 14in of the water line.[emoji3]

 

[happyhourhero]

Mine are pulling different colors out of some frags than WWC was getting. Its interesting how acros respond to other light sources.

 

[kevlow]

A quick video of feeding time about a week or two old. I am adding a second display tank to the system. Two brand new SB 32" units will be hung over the new tank. This will duplicate the lighting over the 40g tank.


http://vid1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc458/kevlow1/VID_20170419_162442.mp4

 

[679x]

I'm currently trying to figure out whether to get a single sBox elite 30" or two Hydra 26s. I don't know which one is better... I want one that will look nice, e.g. the lighting unit itself above the tank and the lighting effect it has on the tank, but more importantly, I want it to grow all coral types and bring out their colours. I can see from this thread that SB reef lights surely can do the latter two.

But can I get away with a single sbox elite 30" unit? The tank would be a Red Sea Reefer 250, and this option would be cheaper than getting the Reefer Deluxe, which has two Hydra 26s.

 

[Cebackhaus]

Hoping somebody could give me some advice on what to get. I'm in the planning stages of setting up a small mixed reef in an innovative marine fusion 40g, Dimensions are 24"x 16" x19". Would their 16" light be enough, if so which one would be best? I've only ever used t5 lighting so I'm new to led and have been trying to read and learn as much as I can about them. Thanks!!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Would their 16" light be enough,

Yes. And any will do. Its the bells and whistles that cost. the colors are the same.
I hange mine at 14in, I also pulled lenses for better spread and less shimmer and more t5 like appearance. I highly recommend a par or lux meter to set them esp for first timers or get REAL good recommendations for %'s

 

[Cebackhaus]

Yes. And any will do. Its the bells and whistles that cost. the colors are the same.
I hange mine at 14in, I also pulled lenses for better spread and less shimmer and more t5 like appearance. I highly recommend a par or lux meter to set them esp for first timers or get REAL good recommendations for %'s

Awesome thanks for the advice! It's still probably going to be a month or 2 down the road before i purchase everything and get rolling. Are their mounting legs a good way to go, I'm not too crazy about hanging them from the ceiling and have seen a few people with negative comments regarding them?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Awesome thanks for the advice! It's still probably going to be a month or 2 down the road before i purchase everything and get rolling. Are their mounting legs a good way to go, I'm not too crazy about hanging them from the ceiling and have seen a few people with negative comments regarding them?

yea, Ive seen some that love them some that hate em. I hung mine.

 

[Cebackhaus]

yea, Ive seen some that love them some that hate em. I hung mine.

Right on, I'll just have to wait and see when the time comes. Thanks again for the advice!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Right on, I'll just have to wait and see when the time comes. Thanks again for the advice!

No problem. Im sure others will chime in too.