Should I start a company & build the light reefers actually need?

[icejam]

I do not what your background is. But you might want to start with researching the LEDs. Then how the light behaves in water. And in air. And how to measure light and what all the number mean. And then photosynthesis and the marine life requirement for light. - All that is free(ish) at the local aquarium, library and the internet.

How will you drive LEDs? CC or CV? How to prevent flickering? How to design safety circuits so nobody and nothing gets fried? Heat dissipation? Etc..

Will you prototyping and manufacturing in your home country or abroad? Fees, taxes, royalties, duties?

Now that you have all that follow @jda advice.

As for the light - keep is simple and design to be modular - forget about wifi and app for now - if you market it right you can sell that later as an addon (all you need is access to 6 pin connector for 4 channels wifi driven controller)

 

[ReefInskeep]

One more thing... I fear that you are going to have to choose between making money and helping out fellow reefers. You will not be able to ride both of those horses. If helping is what you are after, then consider getting something working, publish the specs, parts list, instructions, etc. for DIY and take donations from PayPal from people who build your unit... kinda in a Radiohead "In Rainbows" kind of fashion (probably nobody knows what I am talking about, sorry). Grateful people will support you for a while, until others get derivative and the market is flooded with pay-if-you-want designs... which is why you have to iterate and stay better than the derivatives.

Yes! I payed $15 for In Rainbows. lol

 

[ReefInskeep]

Really solid comments. Thank you all.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Concept looks good. It comes down to price and yes- marketability.

 

[vetteguy53081]

May be a investment with help of Shark tank !!!

 

[ReefInskeep]

May be a investment with help of Shark tank !!!

Imagine the reaction...

Me: “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, A SUPERIOR REEF AQUARIUM LIGHT THAT IS RELATIVELY AFFORDABLE! BY A REEFER, FOR REEFERS.’”

Them: “What...? How did this guy get past the producers?” “Did he say reefer? Is this a cannabis thing? No? I’m fu#*ing done with this show.”

 

[vetteguy53081]

Imagine the reaction...

Me: “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, A SUPERIOR REEF AQUARIUM LIGHT THAT IS RELATIVELY AFFORDABLE! BY A REEFER, FOR REEFERS.’”

Them: “What...? How did this guy get past the producers?” “Did he say reefer? Is this a cannabis thing? No? I’m fu#*ing done with this show.”

IKR ????

 

[srad750c]

Working at a public aquarium messing with several brands of aquarium LEDs, the one thing I really miss is a LED without all the programming. Just a on/off switch. Possibly a dimmer button (waiting to test the Orphek OR bar)
I guess that would be cheaper as well.

Kessils are that simple, I’ve been using them for 3 years. I use their control unit with a very simple program. Nothing exotic by any means. Ramp up, ramp down 10 hour cycle with a two hour peak midday for two hours.

 

[ReefInskeep]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are some other things I’d like to try & develop. Not just a great light.

One idea: A macro-algae/chaeto reactor that uses standard size NSF food grade buckets (5 gal., 2 gal., available in most home improvement stores) as the main housing, and develop a watertight lid that contains high quality lighting & some nifty plumbing arrangement that would keep the flow/algae rotating around the cylinder/light. It would provide huge gains in reactor capacity and would be significantly cheaper than most available options.

Another thing, there’s a whole world of untapped potential with high quality 3D printed reefing products.

 

[Forsaken77]

I always wondered if a curved type of light hood would work. Similar to how tanning beds have the curved top piece. That way it would eliminate, or reduce, shadowing

 

[mcarroll]

I don't see the market. Could you get some market share? Sure. Would it be huge? Probably not. The main reason being that reefers have too much variety in what they like in a light. Some people want Apex compatible, which would best be achieved with 2 channels. Others want 8+ channels which would require an app. Some like the spotlight effective of a tight cluster to kick up PAR levels at a specific location, others like things more spread out. Some like LED shimmer, some don't.
Could you break into the market? Sure. Lots of different black box options. I doubt you would get much more than a small part of the market share these guys currently have.

I think I agree.

The light being described here is better but just better doesn't usually cut it. You have to make something WAY better, including different. Wii vs standard console games. Mac vs DOS.

To me, this light sounds like BSD vs DOS:

From a distance, most folks will not be able to tell the difference even though one really is better.

I know that sounds anti, but it just means you need to find a way to start small.

 

[alton]

Rapid LED, BML, to name a few of smaller companies that make LED lights. Your biggest challenge is testing and making a high quality product with high quality diodes to start will be key. Too many think all diodes are the same. An example is BML had their standard and XB. Even though XB was brighter, it did not draw more power than the standard light. Good luck with your adventure.

 

[jda]

The only other way to get a large part of the market is to convince a few of the highest end hobbyists to use your stuff and then get the same, or better results with it. Right now, most of those people who keep what I keep (I understand that this is not everybody, but this is all that I know) are advertisements for Ushio/XM/Radium MH bulbs, T5 panels, etc. where most of the LED love is from Vendors (the big ones are usually on staff with free gear) and noobies (who are all over the place with brands).

It would take years, but if you threw a Copps level tank out there with your lights, that would go a long way - you can have a wall to wall high end SPS tank in three years if you do it right. Most of the people who you are competing against just put their lights over a tank that the-day-before was lit with something else and then claim victory... or type up an infomercial in the form of a lab test. A genuine effort could go a long way here to build brand trust.

I also think that you could get some market with just having a panel with no dimmer or color control. Make a "20k" light that covers 24, 36, 48 and 60 inches that is on/off - make it in three intensities, softie, mixed and SPS wattages. This could appeal to the people who are not on the running LEDs at 100% train (which looks as legit of an answer as anything)... and also the folks who feel that the color bar sliders are a detriment. Channels only are for on/off and dimming turns off some diodes and leaves the others on still at 100%. Basically, no dimming, PWM or color changes... just plug and play goodness (but you have to make it good). There are probably not a ton of these people, but they are moving to different types of lights right now.

 

[mcarroll]

Something else I'd suggest, although not direct advice, is to watch the movie Waffle Street.

 

[Reefrookie220]

Picking orphek to model after blows your 750$ price point out of the water. Lol.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are some other things I’d like to try & develop. Not just a great light.

One idea: A macro-algae/chaeto reactor that uses standard size NSF food grade buckets (5 gal., 2 gal., available in most home improvement stores) as the main housing, and develop a watertight lid that contains high quality lighting & some nifty plumbing arrangement that would keep the flow/algae rotating around the cylinder/light. It would provide huge gains in reactor capacity and would be significantly cheaper than most available options.

Another thing, there’s a whole world of untapped potential with high quality 3D printed reefing products.

On top of all the other concerns with getting your light off the ground, this will kill your business for sure. You really should focus on one and only one product or product line to start with. If you have the might of EcoTech, Marineland, Tunze, or other huge aquarium mega-vendors, you can afford to form project teams and work on multiple product lines at once. But, if you don't know if you have the money to even get your light idea off the ground, you really can't afford to be working on multiple products at once.

 

[icejam]

There are studies published out there on how the light intensity and wavelength affect coral growth and survival rate. different corals have different requirements. however you decide to model your spectrum - more blues, reds, or whatever it will take months if not years of various coral growth under your new light to prove if the lights are superior than any other ones.
That will be both time consuming and expensive.

 

[6lilfish]

So basically you want to do what SB reef is doing?

 

[ReefInskeep]

So basically you want to do what SB reef is doing?

Well, I think SB Reef Lights is a great little company. Their new T5-esque LED light that’s being debuted at MACNA looks really promising. If they do it right, then I’d just buy that. lol But, it’s not exactly what I had in mind.

 

[ReefInskeep]

The vast majority of the comments here have been very useful or thoughtful. This went from an undeveloped idea in my head to a more carefully thought out thing. I appreciate it!

If I do decide to setup a little lab & build a prototype, I’d probably just use it myself and show everybody the results over time. If any of it is patentable, I’ll try to patent it. If enough people are interested in buying it, I’ll make a few more and see what they think. If demand increases, then go from there. The idea of starting a company in this market is far too daunting & crazy, for me right now. lol

The macro-algae reactor bucket-lid would be significantly easier to R&D, build and sell. So when I set up my next tank I’ll probably start with that & see how it goes.