Trying to narrow down LED choices--help!

I was all set to get some boost LEDs for my 65g tank (4 par30s with reef clamps). The more research and products I look at, the harder the decision becomes. I saw an Evolution LED fixture that was manually dimmable and had 2 power cords for white and blue. Cost would be about $300-400.

I stumbled upon Sunbrite's Slimline fixtures and thought about two of those. The thing I like about those is the the programmable fixture that will turn on individual LEDs (however the unit's control is pre-set so options are limited). Problem with this fixture is that they use 80 degree optics and I have a 24 inch tank, so I really need something to penetrate the water.

Is the Evolution fixture worth considering over Boost par 30 lamps?

For me, the idea of dimmable is very appealing because I know I will be very picky on the color I want the tank to be.

Too many choices! Help--what are your experiences or what advice do you have?

 

I'd wait till the AI Pheonix comes out. That should be some fixture.

 

IMO the Boost PARs are a better buy than the EVO for the simple reason that the EVO still uses the case as a heat sink like an import fixture. Being able to dim a fixture is really fun...at first, but it's not something you will most likely want to use after awhile.

 

Keep in mind PAR bulbs are expensive watt for watt though. An AI sol for example is $400. To get 70W from PAR30s you'd need 7, which would be around $525. Of course, as you are free to arrange the par bulbs as desired, you can get much better spread and tailor them better to your setup, so, they may actually be cheaper. However, if your comparing LEDs, to LEDs, especially when they are all CREEs (or all the same brand whatever that is), the total light output is mostly just a function of the wattage. How you disperse that light is a function of the spacing, height and optics.

Also, keep in mind:

4 PAR 30s would only be 40 watts though, that really isn't much at all for a 65g, you may be able to get away with it if you only keep light demanding corals where they are pointing though.

The Evolution has no optics, so it isn't going to punch down to the bottom of your tank well, as it's tall and narrow.

I'm not familiar with Sunbrite's Slimline fixtures, but 80 degrees is much more focused than 120 degrees (i.e. Evo).

2 SOLs would cover it real well

Personally with PAR bulbs I'd go with 6x60deg (maybe even 7x40 deg) on a 36x24" tank if SPS dominated.

 

The evolution LEDs are pretty bad IMO. I've seen stuff grown under then and they did not look good at all. Now granted, it could have been poor tank care that brought down the looks of stuff, but they didn't even look aesthetically pleasing.

 

Check the Apollo Reef led fixture. better made than boost/evo. imho

 

They don't make the evolutions anymore, they now make EVOLeds. They now use 2W bridgelux, so, should look like any other fixture with 2W bridgelux leds. The point about the heatsinks is good though, although the Refkoi guy on another forum posted that they did have heatsinks now. I don't know, you get what you pay for though and they are inexpensive, so they must cut costs somewhere.

 

Yes, we know, you post that in every thread on the internet where this comes up.... I still haven't met anyone who has used them, so, I can't comment on their build quality. Have you? they may very well be good, I certainly have no idea though. I know in their PAR measurements they advertise are from a PAR test, where they tested the center unit on a tank with three units. So, they are getting overlap from the other led units which is increasing the PAR. As they are advertising that PAR as the PAR from a single unit, that is misleading and a bit negative in my book. Why should I trust their claim that they are built well, when I can't even trust their PAR numbers?

 

Word. LOL I didn't realize there was even a new unit out. I definitely was not on board with the last ones. My guess is that they have small heatsinks/cheap+inferior wiring/crap drivers/loud cheap fans to do the heat removal.

I haven't seen the guts though obviously, but based on my past views of them, it would definitely follow suit.

 

The Orphek PR-25s look nice too and are dimmable but I don't think you can control the blue and whites separately.