We finally tested the Black Box LED... Compare notes? | BRStv Investigates

[madweazl]

Galaxyhydro has different leds and 120 degree lenses..... SB totally different again. Mars is bottom of the barrel, probably it was picked for testing.

But the quality is still poor at best and I think that is what was being illustrated in that regard. Nobody denies they grow corals.

One of the two SBReef 16" BBs that I used to run. It wasn't pretty but it worked.

 

[Jl330]

Should I take the lenses off my mars?

 

[madweazl]

Should I take the lenses off my mars?

It made a huge difference in regard to color blending for me but I was only able to mount the lights about 10" above the water. If you can mount the lights considerably higher (e.i. 16+ inches), leave them on.

 

[Jl330]

It made a huge difference in regard to color blending for me but I was only able to mount the lights about 10" above the water. If you can mount the lights considerably higher (e.i. 16+ inches), leave them on.

I won't have that much room. I'll be at 8-12 after my canopy gets put together.

 

[madweazl]

I won't have that much room. I'll be at 8-12 after my canopy gets put together.

Yea, will look/blend a little better with the lenses removed then.

 

[Matthew Frost]

First, I want to thank Ryan, Randy and the rest of the staff at BRS for this video. It was exceptionally informative, we'll made and I believe done in good conscience so as to be a tool that reefers can use to make informed intelligent decisions. I for one love BRSTV and have spent many an hour lost in videos from this site and credit them to a large degree for inspiring me to get into the hobby.

I hope this isn't viewed as me casting aspersions on BRS, what they are doing or any of the staff. This is an incredibly expensive hobby, so much so in fact that the door is closed on it to a lot of people who simply cannot DIY large portions of a project or do not have Bill Gates' budget. Let's be honest, the BRS 160 is a gorgeous aquarium but if duplicated in my home would likely be more expensive than the car I currently drive. (And I drive a pretty nice car)

The flip side of that coin is if people weren't buying products from Ecotech they simply wouldn't be in business, so there's that. I think, (and I am making a huge assumption) what the staff at BRS is trying to illustrate with videos like this is there is a market for both ends of the spectrum. I dream of one day having a set up that is as nice as some of the build threads I see on this website and the ones I look at on sites like BRS, it just isn't in the cards for me right now. I also will never buy a product for my aquarium that isn't safe, thank you BRS for pointing out some things like the UL listing issue. To me things like that are HUGE, no amount of money saved justifys that kind of risk.

My hope is that there is something or someone out there that is bridging the gap between Bill Gates' set up and mine. I would love to put some quality LED's on the tank I am building that are safe and affordable and am open to suggestions.

 

[DansReef.co.uk]

This was a fantastic video guys, really enjoyed it and really hit those key points home!

 

[Brad Vaughn]

I have upgrade my 3 Mars Aquas as picture shows. I still feel that white channel is too white for my eyes if more than 30%.
Would you change maybe 3 x12000k for Royal Blues? Or 3500k?
I'd change them to a 425nm blue and if change the green ones too

Do you have some tool on which i could see how my spectrum slope looks like?

I'd change them to 425nm blue and I change the green ones too

 

[reeferfoxx]

I just changed all of mine out. Running this now. I keep my white channel at 17% from on.

This is recent so may not be perfect.

 

[Brad Vaughn]

The only high dollar light I can compare my black box to is my sons light. He wanted to change out his rapid led build that he wasn't happy with that he had over his 120 gallon to something else. I was trying to talk him into Ocean revives 24/7's but he is a you get what you pay for kinda guy, so he bought Kessil 360's. I must say that the shimmer is unreal and the light spread he gets out of that tiny point of light is incredible. His corals have great polyp extension and growth. But I gave him a large frag of the blue rim and some other frags as well. And they are all doing good except the blue rim it turned back to the brown color it was when I first bought it. I can only guess that it is the spectrum of the 360's compared to the black box.

Pros;
They are cheap.
They grow coral all corals.
The color of the corals is great.

Cons;
They grow hair algae really good, but some of that might be my fault.
Because of the nature of led's there is a lot of shading.

I only have one 16 inch long black box mounted about 16 inches high over the 40 gallon breeder so the edges of the tank are lacking in light. I think if I added one more light and angled them towards each other it might help with the shading problem.
I am also after reading this thread considering 32 inches SB reef light I had not heard of them until now.

I switched from kessil to SB Reef lights. My kessils began to burn out after about 2 years and when I contacted the company they said it would be more expensive to replace the LEDs than it would to replace the light. My SBs are 2 1/2 years old now. I will say the need to be mounted lower on the tanks then people are posting here to get good par measurements. I'm rebuilding my canopy to put them down to 8 to 10 inches off of water.

 

[Brad Vaughn]

I just changed all of mine out. Running this now. I keep my white channel at 17% from on.

This is recent so may not be perfect.

Nice how do you like them?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Nice how do you like them?

I think im acclimating more than my corals lol. Actually all my corals were happy with the new diodes. However, the visual appeal more or less is slightly on the violet side though coral color is popping nicely. I mighy play with the white channel intensity in the near future.

 

[Brad Vaughn]

I think im acclimating more than my corals lol. Actually all my corals were happy with the new diodes. However, the visual appeal more or less is slightly on the violet side though coral color is popping nicely. I mighy play with the white channel intensity in the near future.

When I tested PAR my whites were way down. I wanted to get more out of it but when I turn up whites I lose PUR. I'm changing out half my whites so I can boost that channel. My corals look good but I can get better color and growth upping the PAR a bit. Also I had made my canopy really high so it was easier to work in. Redoing that.

 

[reeferfoxx]

When I tested PAR my whites were way down. I wanted to get more out of it but when I turn up whites I lose PUR. I'm changing out half my whites so I can boost that channel. My corals look good but I can get better color and growth upping the PAR a bit. Also I had made my canopy really high so it was easier to work in. Redoing that.

If you're calculating PUR via Seneye, it might be off. Not to mention the par meter cant get accurate readings of UV. By the way, have you changed out the 390nm on your SB? They dont last long.

 

[Brad Vaughn]

If you're calculating PUR via Seneye, it might be off. Not to mention the par meter cant get accurate readings of UV. By the way, have you changed out the 390nm on your SB? They dont last long.

No mine are still going.

 

[teller]

I still use my mars aqua but changed almost all the LEDs in phases.
Now I have 8x UVA(385nm), 8x Violets(410-420) in the white channel.
Only 8x cool white.
White channel at > 50%. But no lenses at all.
About 7 inch above water level.
Will change 4x cool whites to warm whites in near future.

 

[James Frank]

I was looking for best led grow lights, and I searched alot on Google about led grow lights review and I found some sites of review of grow light
https://budsoflife.org/
It has good number of grow light.

 

[cleaner72]

your tank looks great....what led's did you end up with? I am starting a 120 gallon reef tank and am interested in led lights, but don't want to pay 800 bucks.. thanks in advance.

I have been using mine since July 2015 and have so far not had any issues. I do not believe that they all use the same spectrum or the same heat sinks or drivers. There seems to be 3 groups of black box quality out there with the ones you reviewed in the bottom tier.
I started out with a middle tier box and got good growth and then switched the light board out to what I believe to be a top tier spectrum. the difference was immediate to both my eyes and my corals response. I ultimately purchased 2 more of the top tier lights and run 2 of the 16" over my 65 gallon.

Here is my tank before I had to break it up to move. 100% grown from frags and by black box only.

Here she is now. Been growing since March and is getting there.

I personally see no reason to be on a quest to find alternative lights and am happy to have found lighting that is affordable and what I believe to be effective. The lights are also covered by a 2 year USA warranty so if I ever have any issues (which are not unheard of) I am confident I will be able to easily repair or replace.

Thank you for taking the time to do your review of black boxes! You guys really do great work for the hobby.

 

[happyhourhero]

your tank looks great....what led's did you end up with? I am starting a 120 gallon reef tank and am interested in led lights, but don't want to pay 800 bucks.. thanks in advance.

Still using SB reef lights. I have 3 16" basics over my 100 gallon now.

 

[Mauricio M. Jr.]

A few years ago I used one of the first black led box (led bridgelux)with 2 T5 Guiesman Super Actinic. I used it for more than 3 years with good results. My reef started with fragments. I have always strictly maintained basic maintenance and used vodka as a source of carbon and amino acids when needed. I am from Brazil and here are very expensive equipment and products for aquarium reef.
Images is from LG G2 without effects.