Testing China LEDS

[cablez]

So I found these china LED, Looks like Red Sea legit just rebrands these guys. They sell for about $150 per LED. So far they are hella bright, and the corals really dig them. I choose to use these over another LED I had for years that was tried and true . The color is easy to adjust on this. The controller is a bit of a pain, but once set, it is done forever. These are the Popbloom RS90..........

 

[Chris A.]

Most LED’s are rebranded or modified from some Chinese manufacturer. The logo and warranty are what bring up the cost. Those definitely look like the red sea ones lol

 

[cablez]

Most LED’s are rebranded or modified from some Chinese manufacturer. The logo and warranty are what bring up the cost. Those definitely look like the red sea ones lol

They are bright as heck. I am only running channel 3 which is the "Coral grow" channel ramps only to like 60% at max....channel 1 is whites so that stays at max 2%, channel 2 is moonlight blues so that ramps to about 50%-ish. And channel 4 is "color cooking" channel, the higher UV channel is looks like....so I max that at 50-60% also. So far the corals are loving it. I had a bunch of half dead pieces, that are really starting to come back and shine bright with these led.

 

[ntskingz]

Where did you get it from?

 

[dz6t]

Popbloom RS 90 is made by Dsunny, a long time led manufacture in China.

First of all, it is not a Redsea RS90 clone, despite Popbloom choose to use a similar look of RedSea led, and named their led RS90, which lead to many confusion. if you google Redsea RS90, popbloom rs90 will show up, on top.
This practice is up to your opinion to decide.

2nd, the led clusters are very different from Popbloom and Redsea, but interestingly, they both show a very similar spectrum, with Popbloom a bit short on the short wavelength side.

3rd, Popbloom has a wired controller

 

[cablez]

Popbloom RS 90 is made by Dsunny, a long time led manufacture in China.

First of all, it is not a Redsea RS90 clone, despite Popbloom choose to use a similar look of RedSea led, and named their led RS90, which lead to many confusion. if you google Redsea RS90, popbloom rs90 will show up, on top.
This practice is up to your opinion to decide.

2nd, the led clusters are very different from Popbloom and Redsea, but interestingly, they both show a very similar spectrum, with Popbloom a bit short on the short wavelength side.

3rd, Popbloom has a wired controller

All this is true.....And i paid $400 less for the LED..........wifi controller isnt worth that to me. Everything else I am testing. I have a friend with same corals on a RS 90 and on a same size tank. So we doing a legit test Cheap vs branded. So far the coloration on corals, and the hue of the tanks is similar. Just mine took more tweaking manually to dial it in.....But now it is basically set in stone

 

[dz6t]

Here are my personal opinions:
1. The slightly less coverage difference in short end of the spectrum may not be significant. Name brand led such as Radion, AI etc does not have such spectrum coverage at that area either, and these are tried and true led design for over a decade.
2. Wireless controller software and hardware cost are significant, on industrial standard, wireless controller will add about $100 to $150 to each led depending on features and implementations.
3. State side customer service add significant cost as well.
4. Name brand led chips add significant cost as well.
So the bottom line is that Popbloom’s price is on par with other named brand led.
Happy reefing.

 

[cablez]

Where did you get it from?

I bought these off Ebay ....And it was a USA seller also......Customer support is hella active on reef2reef also.

 

[FREAKINRICAN69]

They are bright as heck. I am only running channel 3 which is the "Coral grow" channel ramps only to like 60% at max....channel 1 is whites so that stays at max 2%, channel 2 is moonlight blues so that ramps to about 50%-ish. And channel 4 is "color cooking" channel, the higher UV channel is looks like....so I max that at 50-60% also. So far the corals are loving it. I had a bunch of half dead pieces, that are really starting to come back and shine bright with these led.

That’s great to hear chief. I told you so and glad it’s turning out as expected.

 

[Greg Hiller]

I have no idea about this particular brand (discussed in this thread), but I must say that the price of the LED's for the reef industry seems crazy high. Seems like a scam to me. A few years ago I picked up an off brand LED light I've been using on my frag tank. The thing was much cheaper than most, and I believe they once had some problems with the fans, but mine has had no trouble. It was an Ocean Revive Arctic T247, but they seem to be hard to find now. I may be setting up a large tank in the future and the lighting would run into serious cash if I were to use the name brand LED's.

 

[cablez]

So I ran into a thread about these LEDS I am using......they are legit what I claim. They are as powerful par and what not as the red sea. The red sea does have a bit more UV in the light layout to be fair. Not worth the extra $350 per tank in lights imo. Here is par tests Popbloom vs Redsea....sorry its another forum it is what it is. https://humble.fish/community/index.php?threads/telegrahams-lighting-tests.5719/

 

[kgstei]

I like this thread, very informative. For me the real test is how well they hold up over time keep us posted.

 

[Joker]

When i used these black box led I felt over time it was loosing power. I did talk to the ebay seller I got my lights from and became pretty cool with them. He told me for best results I should be swapping them out every year to year and a half. I haven't used black box leds sense then I use reefbreeders. I don't know if they changed this. He never told me why I should be swapping out like this. I wish I took par readings at the beginning of when I used them and at the end.

 

[cablez]

When i used these black box led I felt over time it was loosing power. I did talk to the ebay seller I got my lights from and became pretty cool with them. He told me for best results I should be swapping them out every year to year and a half. I haven't used black box leds sense then I use reefbreeders. I don't know if they changed this. He never told me why I should be swapping out like this. I wish I took par readings at the beginning of when I used them and at the end.

the power supply was likely under rated for the system. Over time cranking the balls out of the lights caused the power supply to crap out. But these LEDS, have a larger supply than the light is rated for. I made sure of it for that reason.

 

[kgstei]

the power supply was likely under rated for the system. Over time cranking the balls out of the lights caused the power supply to crap out. But these LEDS, have a larger supply than the light is rated for. I made sure of it for that reason.

I think the no name ones are the biggest risk. I think with the ones that are trying to establish a brand you have a better chance of getting something that isn't crap.

 

[cablez]

I think the no name ones are the biggest risk. I think with the ones that are trying to establish a brand you have a better chance of getting something that isn't crap.

Popbloom has been around for a long time. They had bad led chips before. But this is a new model, and new chip layout and stuff. These seem to be where Redsea went to get the bulk of the manufacturing done maybe?

 

[dz6t]

Redsea and Popbloom have completely different design in hardware and software, despite the external look.

 

[dz6t]

Back then when rumors saying a then newly launched led shared designs of the latest generation of AI Hydra, I got one of those and took it apart, there was no resemblance inside besides the look.