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    Thread: Reef Radiance LED

    1. #1
      HumanMachine is offline Registered User
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      Reef Radiance LED

      So a few months ago. I came across a company run by a gentleman named Rick, called Reef Radiance. I had grown annoyed at my current LED lighting setup for my tank and was looking for other alternatives within my price range.

      I've been successfully running the Chinese LED's for about a year now with no loss but not very explosive growth. My current LED is a non-dimmable 120W led 50/50 blue white. It wasn't the best of lights, but it replaced a Finnex Ray 2 which wasn't nearly strong enough for just about anything I had in my tank.

      I managed to get in on the tailend of a group buy and picked up the Reef Radiance DM 155e lights. It comes standard with 90* optics for a majority of the lights and 120* optics for the Reds, Cyans, yellow/orange lights.

      I finally got it hung properly over my tank today. The quality of the light seems about on par with the standard chinese 120w led's. The body of the light is a matte black as opposed to a shiny black.

      Reef2Reef, another forum I post at, has several people who seem very happy with this light, and for how much I paid, I have to say that I'm impressed with it so far. I'll definitely have to watch how things go for the next few weeks.

      So far everything seems happy, and it didn't take me long to get it hung perfectly.

      http://reefradiance.com/dm-155e.html

      Pictures below.







      Here's an older picture with me working out the intensities. (20% white 30% blue)



      Here's my final Intensity settings (30% White 50% blue)



      Everything is open and it's business as usual for my clowns. So... Yay new light. Mind the Diatom outbreak. I recently changed my substrate for something much finer, and it's got a few growing pains on it that are slowly going away

    2. #2
      Carter o51 is offline Registered User
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      I'm glad to hear you like it. I ordered the dm 155e last week and am waiting for it to arrive. Keep us posted!

    3. #3
      HumanMachine is offline Registered User
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      Quote Originally Posted by Carter o51 View Post
      I'm glad to hear you like it. I ordered the dm 155e last week and am waiting for it to arrive. Keep us posted!
      As with all things. The proof is going to be in whether anything lives/grows. I'm enthusiastic. It's "sunset" time right now for my tank and the blue/violet combo is gorgeous.

    4. #4
      Carter o51 is offline Registered User
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      How long did it take to arrive once you ordered it?

    5. #5
      HumanMachine is offline Registered User
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      About a month and 3 days. Yes that exceeds the 3 week period that they claim.

      Because I believe Evergrow manufactures their lights to Reef Radiance's specs, it usually takes anywhere from 1 to 3+ weeks to get the lights from China. So yes, you are having to deal with the Chinese despite the local operating dealer. The advantage is that warranty is handled domestically, and they tend to handle any of the communication with overseas should your light need to be replaced.

      They were good with me after they went over the 3 week period and I tend to be patient when it comes to these things. It's an annoyance to be sure, but I'm satisfied with what I got for what I paid.

    6. #6
      Carter o51 is offline Registered User
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      That's good to know. Thanks

    7. #7
      Carter o51 is offline Registered User
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      It may be a bit soon, but update on this?

    8. #8
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      specvjeff is offline SDMAS President/SDR Mod
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      Thread moved to appropriate section.
      Jeff
      SDMAS President
      SDReefs Moderator

      www.macna2016.org


    9. #9
      HumanMachine is offline Registered User
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      I must be blind, thank you Jeff.

    10. #10
      MSgt_of_Marines is offline Registered User
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      How is the light so far? Great price so I am looking to order one today!

    11. #11
      HumanMachine is offline Registered User
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      Quote Originally Posted by MSgt_of_Marines View Post
      How is the light so far? Great price so I am looking to order one today!
      I still have it over the tank. First off I should probably give a followup so here it comes.

      Tank:
      40B (70 system volume)
      Light suspended 12 inches off of the water in the center (edges of the tank are a little darker than I'd like but I'm going to be picking up another light in a few months to deal with this.
      ULNS biopellets and fuge for microfauna.

      Bear in mind, the light that I have? Has been through another iteration and is now called the DM 165x (where x is whatever features Rick has on the light) It's a little bigger, casts light a little bit wider, but uses the same Chinese bulbs.

      So after a few months of dealing with the light, I actually run it at 100% blues, 60%Whites and I'm able to keep SPS under it even the pickier Hyper-Shortcake I had which browned out has found some pretty nice coloring. Someone on Reef 2 Reef put together a Par layout and the light is not nearly as "strong" as the brightness indicates. IME, you have to run this light pretty high in order to keep things happy past a few inches below the surface.

      A lot of the complaints about this value style fixture is the overall coloration of the coral. I'm not going to say that this light isn't able to keep things alive. But I'm inclined to believe that light, spectrum, LED quality, on top of nutrient management and nutrition all have a part to play in how good corals look and how willing they are to color up. My emphasis on the LED's is generally from viewing the results of people with these style lights vs other manufacturers.. This light is very clearly a value fixture, and it shows at times. That said, don't let that deter you from picking this up. Things still look great in my tank and things still pop. Don't buy the light if you really want something else that'll be better in the long run, buy it because you're on a budget like I am, and are willing to make budget choices on the things you get for your tank.

      Here you can see the light reflecting off the water at the bottom

      This was taken on my Nexus 4 so... That gives you an idea.


    12. #12
      acbaldwin's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by HumanMachine View Post
      I still have it over the tank. First off I should probably give a followup so here it comes.

      Tank:
      40B (70 system volume)
      Light suspended 12 inches off of the water in the center (edges of the tank are a little darker than I'd like but I'm going to be picking up another light in a few months to deal with this.
      ULNS biopellets and fuge for microfauna.

      Bear in mind, the light that I have? Has been through another iteration and is now called the DM 165x (where x is whatever features Rick has on the light) It's a little bigger, casts light a little bit wider, but uses the same Chinese bulbs.

      So after a few months of dealing with the light, I actually run it at 100% blues, 60%Whites and I'm able to keep SPS under it even the pickier Hyper-Shortcake I had which browned out has found some pretty nice coloring. Someone on Reef 2 Reef put together a Par layout and the light is not nearly as "strong" as the brightness indicates. IME, you have to run this light pretty high in order to keep things happy past a few inches below the surface.

      A lot of the complaints about this value style fixture is the overall coloration of the coral. I'm not going to say that this light isn't able to keep things alive. But I'm inclined to believe that light, spectrum, LED quality, on top of nutrient management and nutrition all have a part to play in how good corals look and how willing they are to color up. My emphasis on the LED's is generally from viewing the results of people with these style lights vs other manufacturers.. This light is very clearly a value fixture, and it shows at times. That said, don't let that deter you from picking this up. Things still look great in my tank and things still pop. Don't buy the light if you really want something else that'll be better in the long run, buy it because you're on a budget like I am, and are willing to make budget choices on the things you get for your tank.

      Here you can see the light reflecting off the water at the bottom

      This was taken on my Nexus 4 so... That gives you an idea.

      I also have a 40b and just went from the 30/70 white/blue chinese LEDs to the dimmable full spectrum LEDs similar to yours, similar optics. I was really bummed out about the narrow light spread (coming from my other LEDs with no optics) and was resigned to selling the new unit, when I realized you could just remove the optics from the LEDs. On mine they're just glued on, pretty sure with super glue. Just pull off, and enjoy the new light spread.
      This shows a lot darker shadows than I really have. The light spread is pretty much identical to my old LEDs.

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