New LEDs

[Russter]

Anyone have any experience with either of these lights:

BoostLED Mu Series

SWC Xtreme Cree LED 60 Watt

I am looking at purchasing one of these for my 20 gal mixed reef. Can't decide.

 

[Skimmy]

the SWC fixture has cree brand LED's, and it has a seperate dimmer for both blue and white , which will be very benificial for acclimation,
as well as having passive and active cooling(heat sink and fan), to me it's mutch better quality than the boostLED brand.

 

[Russter]

Thanks Skimmy, I just purchased the SWC fixture. Should be here in a couple of days.

 

[10gnano]

Russter, do you know how large of an area the SWC fixture will light? Not a whole lot of information on the TB Aquatics site.

 

[Russter]

Apparently 24" x 20" when hung at 8-10" above water

 

[10gnano]

I would like to see some pics/ your review when you get it up and running

 

[10gnano]

after doing a few hours of searching around for reviews on the swc 60w led fixture i came across this website,Dimmable CREE 3W LED Aquarium Lighting System for 180 gallon reef tank products, buy Dimmable CREE 3W LED Aquarium Lighting System for 180 gallon reef tank products from alibaba.com. So it looks like these are generic Chinese manufactured led fixtures that many other companies are selling. They do seem to use adequate parts though (cree led's), so i feel like this still might be an alright fixture. Another thing that amazed me about this fixture was the mark up, retailers can purchase these for $149-$199 and then resell them for $399 and up. a 100% plus markup, insane.

 

[Russter]

Check out my review of the light in my tank thread.

 

[dtd87]

after doing a few hours of searching around for reviews on the swc 60w led fixture i came across this website,Dimmable CREE 3W LED Aquarium Lighting System for 180 gallon reef tank products, buy Dimmable CREE 3W LED Aquarium Lighting System for 180 gallon reef tank products from alibaba.com. So it looks like these are generic Chinese manufactured led fixtures that many other companies are selling. They do seem to use adequate parts though (cree led's), so i feel like this still might be an alright fixture. Another thing that amazed me about this fixture was the mark up, retailers can purchase these for $149-$199 and then resell them for $399 and up. a 100% plus markup, insane.

So whats the difference from the cree you found and the swc fixture? The boxes looks completely the same..

 

[10gnano]

that's what i'm saying, they are exactly the same. SWC along with other companies purchase these fixtures and then slap their own logos on them. What i'm getting at is that they are massed produced Chinese made lights and i'm unsure/curious of the quality and longevity of the fixtures.

 

[dtd87]

Interesting... I wonder how they'd do because I'd rather just pay the 199.99 if they were good.

 

[Russter]

You are correct, they are the exact same light, just rebranded as SWC. 1 year warranty from SWC and 5 years total warranty from manufacturer. Fixture is solidly built so time will tell if it holds up.

 

[Russter]

Russter, do you know how large of an area the SWC fixture will light? Not a whole lot of information on the TB Aquatics site.

The light totally covers the 24" x 12" 20 gal tank with the fixture hung at 8.5" above water level with no appreaciable darker areas in the tank.

 

[dtd87]

yeah I'm going to have my 50b set up soon and it's 36 inches wide, I may end up using 2. and it still being cheaper than a t5 six bulb set up

 

[Russter]

Here are the par values that are listed in the instructions that came with the light as well as the technical specifications:

 

[Skimmy]

yup....
there are a few companies selling this light...
and yes, like just about everything, it's made in china.
but its still a great fixture at even $349, epecially considering you get 300 par at 24"(60cm),
3 watt cree bulbs, a large heatsink AND fan, the ability to dim the blue and white channels seperately,
as well as control the on and off of the blue and white LED's seperately through simple timers or controller,
and a 3 year warranty through the manufacturer/1 year warranty through SWC. not shabby at all for $349
besides, that $199 wholesale price directly from china, they want you to order many pieces,
apparantly allowing you one trial transaction of one or two pieces to try out the product.

 

[10gnano]

I've been emailing the wholesaler to see what the prices would be for these units, $185 plus $75 shipping and you have to pay any transaction fees their bank and your bank have for an overseas purchase (currency exchange fees and such). They don't tell you what these fees will be either, so $260 including shipping + any crazy hidden fees, don't think it would be worth it to order form them. It was like skimmy pointed out, they give you one trial transaction and then want you to purchase large quantities of the units.

 

[fishoutofwater]

I am going to be ordering the ecoray 60d qty 3 units. These have separate cords for blue and white and the par is insane. Check out there website Ecoray.com

 

[Russter]

I am going to be ordering the ecoray 60d qty 3 units. These have separate cords for blue and white and the par is insane. Check out there website Ecoray.com

That looks like a decent fixture as well. It is nice to see that the price of LED fixtures are coming down to a point where they are actually affordable.

 

[fishoutofwater]

That looks like a decent fixture as well. It is nice to see that the price of LED fixtures are coming down to a point where they are actually affordable.

No kidding right? I should be ordering in the next couple weeks so we will start a thread on it once up and running.