My Chinese 120W LED's Review thread! Lowered the lights, post #192

I also got the same led light kit I order 2 for my 90 gal tank and it looks great. I'm running the led ablout 50 to 60 % for now day by day goiing brighter till i reach 100%

 

from my tracking number mine should be here sat. im super excited.

 

I just ordered two of the dimmable for the 125. I assume they will be in some time next week.

 

What are you guys running for a light cycle?

I'm thinking about 10 hours for blues and 6 for whites.

Mine sit about 4" above the tank (on the lid) and I run my whites at about 30%, blues about 50%.

 

Hello all,

I'm glad many are going with the dimmable versions. I would have had I know and the price been sown enough. I needed lights quick to send my PC's I had just bought for a refund.

With the non dimmable version, I'm running my blues about 10.5 hrs, and the whites 8 hrs. Mine hang 8" off the surface. I have a PBN at about 15" from the light source, and every one of the branches have new growth and are splitting. My other sps nearest my lights are doing well, no signs of bleaching, etc. All growing well, I have alot of other various LPS- all on the bottom, and softies scatrtered around as well.

Currently however, I just put a phosphate DIY reactor with phosguard in it on line, and I'm only using my lights a few hours a day to battle a smalol smount of cyano I have.
My Family room where my DT is gets alot of ambient light as well, so the fish can still see well during the day.
I'll fo this for about 4 days, then back to my light schedule.
The coral will think it was 4 story/dark days in a row!

These LED's, and my SC150 skimmer, both Ebay buys, have really saved me big time $$, while still getting a great product.

 

Thought i'd chime in on this. I've been contemplating these since i ran into them at a LFS well, not quite local but anyway. As many of you have mentioned they looked absolutely amazing and for the price... it's hard to beat. If you're not DIY inclined or the prospect of playing with electricity sends chills through your spine then these are probably the way to go. Really, you can't beat the price; especially if these things hold up over time.

Someone earlier had mentioned doing a rapidled DIY build for roughly the same price and it looked like there was interest in this, the price, ect. If someone posted it, i apologize but i didn't see it so... Since I just started leaning towards this DIY option literally last night, figured i'd share my findings...

First, there is an amazingly good DIY build video on youtube for this. I would highly suggest watching the whole thing if you've never messed with LEDs, soldering, ect. He provides enough detail that even someone that has never touched a soldering iron could probably pull this off without too much trouble.
Here's the link to Part 1
DIY Aquraium CREE LED Fixture (Part 1) - YouTube

Shopping list
Cree XP-G R5 Cool White LED x12 $54.00
Cree XP-E Blue 3w LED x12 $43.20
Mean Well ELN-60P dimmable driver x2 $90.00
Drilled/tapped 6" x 20"Black anodized alum heat sink * x2 $90.00 (currently on sale)
Shipping $7.00
Total $255.20

*Drilled/Tapped will allow for easy repair and reconfiguration if/when needed vs gluing them down.

Ok, so obviously this setup has way fewer LEDs than the Chinese equivalent. That said, imo there are a few pros to this that simply overwhelm the other option. That said, little disclaimer here... I personally don't have the Chinese set though i have seen one, nor have I worked with the Cree LEDs before. If there are any folks out there with real world experience to tell me i'm whacked, please feel free to chime in!

Basically, this is how i'd set this up...

|********** |
|B W B W B W|
|W B W B W B| x2 of course...
|********** |

Pros:
Better quality LEDs =ing comparable brightness (Assumption, please feel free to correct me on this!)
Cheaper
Dimmable driver is compatible with control module which will allow automatic dimming programs to run. Great future upgrade option.
Upgradable! Easily expand this set out, add another set of 12w/12b. Add greens, UVs, reds, moonlights once money allows. Remember, you'll no longer be spending that $$$ on replacement bulbs!
Longevity - no replacement bulbs, and if one does blow out, cheap and easy to fix.
Warranty - dimmers have a 18month warranty which i wouldn't freak out about having to claim... the thought of trying to claim warranty on this 3rd, 4th, 10th party Chinese re-brand would give me nightmares!

Cons
Way pricier if you're going to have 55+ LEDs on it!
May be a bit bulkier...
Not as clean cut with the drivers having to be mounted somewhere.
Some assembly required Though for me and many others that could go under the pro category...
This particular parts list doesn't actually include dimmer pots but those are dirt cheap and easy enough to add...
can't think of any others...

 

oh, as another add on to the above... you'll probably want to purchase some optics for the LEDs to change their spread. this will add about $25-30 but still cheaper...

 

This adds up to 284.20...

And I with the cree's I estimated I'd need 36 of them. My build put me around 350 + shipping and I'd have to put it together (which is not too hard but still).

Also you probably want to end up with a 2:1 blue:white ratio if you do go the DIY option.

The drivers are nice, but I got 2 dimmable fixtures for $310 shipped. Once I figure out how to control these with digi pots maybe they will be better..

 

huh, i was just workin off the shopping cart... maybe i had a quantity mixed up or something. So, I guess the question is... How many Cree LEDs will give off the light of one of these Chinese fixtures? Remember I'm working off of an assumption that the Crees are simply better.

 

I ordered (2) Dimmable Taotronics for $320, shipped.