New Chinese lights (Scosi)

[bhazard451]

My hope was to have the T5/LED combo since everyone always raves about the color and growth rates under T5s. And because all commenrcially available T5/LED combos are well over a $1000, this weemed like a great deal.

Are you saying it will not be possible to replicate the reefbreeders color layout (approximately) or is the concern more for the power ad output of the fixture inteslf since unknown manufacturer?

thanks, Im still just getting the hang of LEDs and colors and all that :eek1:

With the T5s on, the look can change greatly color wise.

Not all leds are created equal either. They could possibly be a lower or higher quality BIN of led compared to what reefbreeders uses, so even if you use the same exact kind of leds, it could still look very different than the reefbreeders layout color and output wise. LEDs aren't plug and play like MH and T5, and almost no commercial led fixture has an optimal blend of leds yet. This is why many people aren't getting as good of results compared to MH and T5 setups. If you buy a $1,000+ fixture, you damn well expect it to perform and look as good as MH and T5. In most cases, they don't. It took me over 7 layout changes over the course of a year to find the best looking/growing combo for my leds. Its easy to swap leds on the reefbreeders light with some solder. It may not be possible on these.

Unless you want to experiment and possibly get a completely different colored fixture than you expect by going with custom leds, its better to stick with something like reefbreeders that has been optimized to look right.

 

[cmantis]

I won't use Cree, because no violets are available for it.

We know why you really want these (quote from another supplier):
"uv light can sterilize water,so it could not become green or smells bad."

 

[STHILL]

What do you think of this layout with no green and the 10000k instead of the 18k
Or should i leave the 18k and use 2 t5 10k

 

[lnevo]

Wow, looks like a great fixture driver/#led/price-wise...

Hard to justify diy with everything this comes with. The only thing its lacking for me would be external control so i can hook it to my RA. Keep me posted if you hear about anyone hacking these for that

 

[bhazard451]

Wow, looks like a great fixture driver/#led/price-wise...

Hard to justify diy with everything this comes with. The only thing its lacking for me would be external control so i can hook it to my RA. Keep me posted if you hear about anyone hacking these for that

Sometimes these fixtures come with 0-10v or PWM drivers inside. Depending on how they are wired, you can bypass the internal controller and run the drivers straight to the RA or Apex. I've done it before for a fixture over my old cube.

I know these used to come with 0-10v drivers inside. Still might.
http://www.ajmreefled.com/#!bridgeluxdimmable/c12hd

 

[cmantis]

You know they have drivers that are both and I kept telling evergrow to use them and even gave them a contact but not sure they ever listened.

 

[bhazard451]

This Sosci company is unknown, but has more color channels (4) and a different way of programming/dimming compared to my current lights, so I'd like to try them and see. They could be great, they could be crap. If other people used them previously and posted experiences with it, I wouldn't need to try these myself blindly. There's a bunch of coral I can purchase for $400 instead of making a possible $400 mistake on lighting.

I did the same thing trying the evergrow/reefbreeders lights starting about a year ago, because there wasn't really any info on them back then either. Everyone was still using cool white and royal blue at the time, and people started playing with full spectrum layouts for better growth/color. I was one of them. Now they've exploded in popularity because of people posting experiences, and people are no longer weary of making a blind purchase. Major companies now coincidentally offer full spectrum fixtures that didn't before.

I tried the Razors and liked them, but I missed not having the 660nm reds visually. I tried the Radion Pros, and I was not impressed with the fact I had to hook a laptop via USB to my lights just to check what intensity they were running at. For $900 + $50 hanging kit, that light should have been the end all, be all of lighting, and cooked me dinner at night. Not worth the expense to me at all.

The more info/experiences out there helps everyone.

 

[beastium]

Im also contemplating
http://houyilight.en.alibaba.com/pr...&edm_cta=read_msg&edm_time=realtime&edm_ver=e
This one.

It has B Rb V and W.
Does warm white benefit reefs?
Each bulb is customizable.

It has digital timer, sunrise sunset, and remote for $361!!

The seller told me 50,000 hours lifespan, about 5.7 yrs (cut in half due to day/night cycle yielding 10 yrs) but ive also been told by an LED manufacturer that they may dim quickly.

A warranty of 2 years is described.

Anyone had an alibaba led for more than a year?

I love alibaba and ioffer.com. u can get really nice fake sh*t LOL

 

[bhazard451]

Houyi themselves seemed kinda shady when I looked into getting one of those lights as well. Fake Crees without a BIN, high price, ugly LCD. I think $361 is for the 48 led, not the longer one. That was like $600.

 

[lnevo]

Bhazard...when are you supposed to receive your unit? Any plans to crack it open and see what the electronics look like, or is there an RC thread with people doing so? I'm quite interested if we can drive them directly from a controller. At $375 it's cheaper than anything I could DIY.

 

[bhazard451]

Bhazard...when are you supposed to receive your unit? Any plans to crack it open and see what the electronics look like, or is there an RC thread with people doing so? I'm quite interested if we can drive them directly from a controller. At $375 it's cheaper than anything I could DIY.

Probably within 3 weeks. A new pcb had to be made to put the violets, reds, blues, and whites on separate channels. I wouldn't expect it to be able to be hooked into a reef controller easily, if at all, but I'll pop it open and see.

 

[lnevo]

Of course, nothing is easy how were they to work with? Do you think they'd sell a unit without the controller?

 

[albano]

Thread cleaned up...please keep on topic

 

[bhazard451]

They replied timely, were cordial. Tried their best to get a layout that I could use with their current pcb, but couldn't (needed around 2:1 ratio of blue to white). So far so good.

Quality and customer service after sale are the unknowns. These are huge unknowns. I know how to wire up drivers and replace leds so I could fix most issues on my own, but if drivers or the controller fails, that support is crucial in getting replacements. If that support isn't there, its not worth it. There's plenty of companies at a slightly higher price that provide that.

 

[jr973]

I ordered a t5/led combo light fixture last week expect it to be here in 2 weeks will update this thread with pics once I do get it

 

[pbjelly]

I ordered a t5/led combo light fixture last week expect it to be here in 2 weeks will update this thread with pics once I do get it

Did you customize at all? What led combo are you getting?

 

[bhazard451]

I ordered a t5/led combo light fixture last week expect it to be here in 2 weeks will update this thread with pics once I do get it

Awesome, please do. They caught my eye as well, but I don't want to go back to bulb changes. A T5/LED combo could be the best of both worlds though.

 

[bhazard451]

My light will be shipping end of the month. Interested to see if they are any good.

 

[pbjelly]

Is anybody looking to use these with the frame mount instead of hanging them? I'm thinking about putting these on a 30 gallon rimless tank, but they weigh a lot.

 

[bhazard451]

Is anybody looking to use these with the frame mount instead of hanging them? I'm thinking about putting these on a 30 gallon rimless tank, but they weigh a lot.

That was another thing that interested me. They come with tank mounts that normally cost $50 separate for other fixtures (aside from a Razor). I'll probably try the tank mount out first.