The real Black Box light study

[Manose]

Another note about the testing!!!

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I have been using a cube that will be connected to a larger coral system, because of this Matthew the owner of the shop where this is going on is ordering me one just for this study and it will be here next week. It will be the same tank so no need to worry about any differences in testing as the only change is I will have my very own section of the shop that is cooler than where I was. The place we currently are is really warm due to all the other coral tanks around.
Lets use this short break in testing to talk about what we have done so far and any ideas on what new things can be done down the road. Getting ideas about new testing parameters could help us down the road.
Thanks,
Matt

 

[RobZilla04]

Another note about the testing!!!

​

I have been using a cube that will be connected to a larger coral system, because of this Matthew the owner of the shop where this is going on is ordering me one just for this study and it will be here next week. It will be the same tank so no need to worry about any differences in testing as the only change is I will have my very own section of the shop that is cooler than where I was. The place we currently are is really warm due to all the other coral tanks around.
Lets use this short break in testing to talk about what we have done so far and any ideas on what new things can be done down the road. Getting ideas about new testing parameters could help us down the road.
Thanks,
Matt

Only suggestion I have is to avoid repeatedly answering the same questions regarding the specifics of the test (tank size, reading depth, mounting height, etc.) perhaps consolidating all of the information in the first post of the thread would be helpful. When the thread is found months from now and has 100+ pages, many folks wont want to take the time to read through it all. Just my .02

Great work on this again BTW.

 

[Manose]

Only suggestion I have is to avoid repeatedly answering the same questions regarding the specifics of the test (tank size, reading depth, mounting height, etc.) perhaps consolidating all of the information in the first post of the thread would be helpful. When the thread is found months from now and has 100+ pages, many folks wont want to take the time to read through it all. Just my .02

Great work on this again BTW.

I agree, so it's a good time to make a FAQ section on the front page. I will start on that today.

 

[RobZilla04]

I agree, so it's a good time to make a FAQ section on the front page. I will start on that today.

Let me know if I can do anything to assist. Another idea is to combine the PAR results image with a single image of the fixture. Especially with the futuristic sphere you tested most recently, I'd have no idea what that was by the name alone. I can help with that.

 

[Fish_Sticks]

I agree, so it's a good time to make a FAQ section on the front page. I will start on that today.

Power level/ dimmer settings would be good too.

 

[dantimdad]

What was the material?

It was some kind of plastic photography filter.

To me it looked like you took acrylic and sanded it with 400 grit.

 

[Manose]

posted some tested lights for sale here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lights-360x-ai26hd-black-box.548967/#post-5652665

 

[D.train]

What are the results on the lumini pixie 150?

 

[Manose]

What are the results on the lumini pixie 150?

I will post them when I get my laptop back from the shop as I left it down there :mad:

 

[Why-Me]

Would love to see one of THESE tested as well.
Keep up the good work @Manose

 

[Manose]

Would love to see one of THESE tested as well.
Keep up the good work @Manose

I would love to test those but they are abit pricey ;Greedy I think they are really cool looking tho.

Matt

 

[Diggem]

Some things that I have learned in reef keeping is the expense involved. One of the most important and most expensive things we purchase is our lights, and having many options to consider from such brands as Kessil,Radion,AI,Geisman and a few others.
These are the big boys in the lighting business and they make a good quality product with the downside, "They can get pricey".
As prices increased many hobbyist went the diy route or buying used lights from other people, while fine and a good way to do things,we do have another choice, Chinese made lights that are way cheaper
than the big named brand lights and offer very competitive output and growth.
A bout a year ago a video was done that examined "A" Black box light that produced some underwhelming results. I feel like the results were not good because the light chosen was a bottom of the barrel light and not one of the many respectable Chinese lights out on the market.
Not ALL Black Box lights are created equal...
1. many lights are well wired
2. many use good quality heatsinks
3. many are not a tinderbox waiting to explode or catch your house on fire when you take the family
on a vacation :p
I have chosen to do a study on various black box lights with my own money and time to better help us decide on what are the good and the bad among these particular lights.

***Results So far***

Kessil 360x



Noopsyche K7 ProII

Hydra 26hd

Radion XR15w

Viparspectra

Mars Aqua 165w

Aquarium System Solutions ASML-02

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SPONSORS
We need to be grateful in that we have such an awesome place here at R2R to get such valuable information in one place, so please visit and support these sponsors willing to help us.
@noopsyche has a sub forum you can visit here https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/noopsyche.1066/
Please visit and show your love to Matt at The Coal Reef for supplying the space,tanks and systems we need to make this happen- https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/the-coral-reef.828/




I will be purchasing various lights from China or where ever I can get the best samples from.
The testing equipment will be a Seneye par meter and a 30-60 gallon cube tank.
(I would like to thank Sustainable Aquatics for letting me use the par meter)

There will be a variety of tests conducted by myself along with @Dr. Reef who has done some very informative work with his bacteria in a bottle studies. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacteria-in-a-bottle-myth-or-fact.403226/

This will be a long process just because of the amount of lights and money it takes to get them.
So please be patient on results and updates.
All lights will be sold after the study so as to recoup some of the money spent.
Please feel free to give some suggestions on what kinds of tests would be beneficial to this study.
****REMEMBER****
This is going to be a very polite discussion and testing thread so no bashing of any company please!

The viparspectra does the timer only turn the 2 channels on off or can you set different intensity hour to hour

 

[Manose]

The viparspectra does the timer only turn the 2 channels on off or can you set different intensity hour to hour

You can set the intensity for certain times during the day

 

[Diggem]

You can set the intensity for certain times during the day

So I can set it to gradually get brighter and low as the day goes on, and way down for night to do this with timer

 

[Mrx7899]

The viparspectra do not ramp up and down you can only turn them on and off with the timer.

 

[Diggem]

The viparspectra do not ramp up and down you can only turn them on and off with the timer.

So you can't set an intensity for one hour and different intensity for other hours it's just set one intensity and on and off times

 

[Mrx7899]

So you can't set an intensity for one hour and different intensity for other hours it's just set one intensity and on and off times

That is correct

 

[Diggem]

That is correct

Thank you I see a couple of the wifi wifi one do. Do you have any recommendations was looking at the lightimetunnel wifi have herd anything good or bad about this one

 

[Mrx7899]

No I haven't used any of the wifi black boxes. But I have the viparspectra lights and they are very good light I have no problems growing acros with them.

 

[Diggem]

No I haven't used any of the wifi black boxes. But I have the viparspectra lights and they are very good light I have no problems growing acros with them.

What's your schedule with it