Chinese Black Box Shoot Out & Tear Down

Review and tear down of 3 different 165 watt led black box reef light.
Mars Aqua amzn.to/2Dsrh6T
EverGrow amzn.to/2n1e9ys
LighTimeTunnel amzn.to/2DXSxuV
Lightimetunnel www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...
MarsAqua www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...
EverGrow link has expired but was $85.00

[@ryan2577p]

I love your videos buddy!!! You tell it how it is! Plus it’s nice to have some1 review these cheaper lights for reefers on a budget!! Thanks!! Keep up the great work!!!

[@ericpage9914]

Nice video Dave! I have one I bought for just a bit extra from American company who puts their own 2yr warranty on theirs called sbreefs out of Florida. He also explains in great detail his color scheme which includes the ‘violet’ color that I’ve researched is very important. I retro fitted mine into biocube 29, while I took off the lenses and re-did wiring to come out the side so it looked neater. Since I kept my hood and it sits in the canopy, removing the lenses really helped with spread since it sits right at the water. I’ve had some great results even with sps colors and growth. Thanks for defending us Chinese box reefers!

[@Davelembo]

Hey Eric, cool project for sure. That is close to the water. The SBReef is well known and they even offer a light board only upgrade. We Black Boxers have a lot of haters lol,

[@MForcekennels]

Love your videos really easy to watch and listen too

[@madazz01]

Great video, I've used the no-name lights for 3 years no problems at all. The one suggestion I can make if you have a hood and not such a deep tank, is that you get a much better light mix and spread if you remove all the lenses from the LED's. You still get a nice shimmer and you can really dial in a perfect color mix without that focused beam effect these tend to have.

[@SuperYellowtang]

Looking to get new lights for my new build in the new year great review m8 helped a lot 👍

[@Davelembo]

Glad it helped bud. Check with Dr Welsh. He may have one or 2

[@DJ_LittlePea]

Excellent video Dave you went into a lot of detail I had the mars aqua and it was an amazing light that worked really well when I had it over the Side Chick 🤗🤗

[@Davelembo]

It's a great light for the money. Sorry I missed your comment dear

[@haymatr]

great vid bro from MADREEFER liked and subscribed to help you grow its hard getting your name out there but your banging some cracking vids out keep it up bro

[@ReefSpy]

awesome vid bro. i love these teardowns!

[@Davelembo]

Yeah me too. Thanx ReefSpy

[@Leigh33]

Thanks for relieving me of my tension regards to build quality of the Mars Aqua. As you know I was gifted 2 recently so they were obviously second hand and had been used. I have been using one for 2 months and it hasn't caught fire either... Top Man Dave!

[@Leigh33]

PS... Where was my shout out buddy, i watched until the end waiting for it and nothing........ Oh wait, sorry, it says shoot out..... OOPS! hee hee

[@Davelembo]

I can't give you any guarantee but I like them and they have been around a while. If you decide to not use them, give Super Yellow Tang a shout. He is looking for lights for a new build. Thanx Doc

[@Leigh33]

Dave's Nano Tanks I'm using one on the nano and planned in using the other in the fuge of the upgrade. If the plan changes SYT will be 1st to know. Cheers Dave!

[@Davelembo]

Cool. Word of caution. Keep an eye on the fans and keep them clean

[@Leigh33]

Dave's Nano Tanks... Yeah mate, the 1st thing I did was strip them and hoover n wipe the inside almost back to totally dust free. 😉

[@RookieReefer]

It may not light up but you do get cool yellow fans.. I'm in! Great vid Dave, can see you put in a lot of effort 👌 Good work

[@Davelembo]

I bet the Radions don't have yellow fans. Thanx bud

[@TheFishGuy]

Great comparison Dave! Nice work!

[@Davelembo]

Thanx Bud. Just couldn't believe how different [or inconsistent ] these 3 lights are.

[@YohanM99]

Hay Dave. I really like these tear down light videos. I got 2 of these black boxes

[@Davelembo]

Thanx Yohan. I'm interested in the brand and how the blue channel is populated

[@YohanM99]

sorry for the late reply. both of mine are ICOCO 55x3W 165W with 3 cooling fans channels are channel1 27leds: Blue 460nm 8 leds, Royal Blue 450nm 15 leds, Blue 430nm 4leds; channel2 Light2 28leds: White 14000K 10leds, Neutral White 8000K 6leds Warm White 3200K 6leds, Deep Red 660nm 4leds, Green 520nm 2leds

[@Davelembo]

Thanx Bud. This is helpful info

[@delsreef6970]

Hey Dave i have 3 of these 2 of them have the timers 1 dose not i have 2 over my tank and 1 over my refugium i have only used these lights and have had good luck with them thanks for the video

[@Davelembo]

Thanx for watching Del. The remote and timer board is the same as Ocean Revive. I'm interested on how the LEDs are populated

[@ReeferDave]

Nice review. I have one like it on my new tank. It looks really purple unless the whites are higher than the blues.

[@Davelembo]

Hey Dave. Yes , some are very purple. I think we want more of a blue on the blue channel. All 3 of mine are growing nice coral though

[@herper6]

I fortunately haven’t had any problems either. I can’t afford the fancy lights such as Kessils or Radions since I didn’t find any place to hire me up until when I turn 16 next year so I have been using some black boxes and they’ve worked quite well for everything I’ve thrown at them the past few months :)

[@Davelembo]

Tyler's Reef Thanx for watching. Glad to hear. Sounds like the reef tank is doing well

[@Rroossccoo]

Good stuff. I’ve got the timer light it’s a good feature tho a little testy to operate.

[@Davelembo]

Thanx. I just got an Ocean Revive and like the timer function

[@laminar_flow]

Nice detailed review. I haven't shopped for lights in a few years, but could see myself taking a $99 chance on one of these. My only hesitation would be not having a way to automate the dimmers. I guess you could bypass the dimmer in there with an external one.

[@Davelembo]

Thanx Bud. I haven't touched those dimmers in a while. Set em and forget em. You could relocate the whole power supply/driver and just have low voltage wires running in for fans and lights.

[@ronmann5810]

EXCELLENT!! video!!! I have been experimenting with making my own lights and found this.. PERFECT!!! Has anyone attempted controlling 100w leds with an arduino to brighten and dim???

[@sirtnfol8476]

I have a dimmable 300 and the newer white housing 300 from lightimetunnel for $58 for the pair and i can say they are impressive for price.

[@alienworldsreef3998]

lightimetunnel looks like the best choice to me. I was thinking about getting one of these but I ended up spending the big bucks on the XR15 Gen 4 Radion after all. But I would use that lightimetunnel if it was hidden under a canopy.

[@Davelembo]

Those XR15's are serious lights. Nice purchase bud. Thanx for watching

[@joeydufrene]

Thanks. You should check out the viparspectra leds . They have a built in timers for $120.

[@Davelembo]

Thanx Random Joe. I've seen them. They appear to be the same light with an Ocean Revive type timer. Nice Option

[@karennation3580]

@@Davelembo Is ocean rive a step up or jus the timer and defietly looks nicer! I also hear the vipar spectra is good. You hear alot about mars aqua and I was watching you tubes of them in tanks and even brs said they had a nice look in the tank and shimmer but I dont know that I Like the fact that here is no purple. The purple isnt a true damn cant think of word!

[@prolificbreedaquatics]

Bless you Dave

[@RipVanWinkle_Nature_Discovery]

Thanks for the video Dave. Really appreciate you being willing to tear down your lights like that. Not sure I would have, in your shoes.. I was looking at the Mars Aqua P/S, as you took apart that housing but really couldn't see well enough to gauge the components detail. I'd say that I think the Chinese are very smart and are able to save production costs on their (knocked off) products by skimping where it's not noticed. Might be wrong but I'm relatively sure if we were to tear down that P/S we'd see how they cut corners with a simplified design and cheaper/missing/underrated components, thereby allowing them to produce an inexpensive reef light. For example having at least a Class Y1 rated interference capacitor between pri & sec sides of the board to provide a safe isolation factor, or something like only having a single diode rectifier or no inrush resistor, no snubber network for the primary or even a really cheap/low quality transformer on the board with questionable isolation between the windings. i think these are the kinds of things UL would look at and judge the product by. That being the case, I guess when they are new, they're going to be okay for a while but as the electronics age and parts fail or get close to their tolerances, it might cause problems or even be unsafe. Maybe you're already aware of all that but I just wanted to shoot that out because to the regular consumer it might "look" fine. Plus I like discussing all these things with you guys. See you in the LS, Brother.

[@Davelembo]

Sorry I haven't replied to this sooner. I somewhat agree but the fact is, when you put electronics in the reef environment, then add user error, even the well built more expensive units will see a failure rate.

[@hustlecoralvlogs7675]

the mars aqua has those weird plugs on the back so you can daisy chain them together ! Nice video Dave !

[@Davelembo]

Yes you're right and it is a universal socket that can accept any plug from any country. Thanx for watching

[@rashidmahmood24]

At first i was not sure about these chinese lights after waching the BRS review. but after watching this i went and got one but its the viparspectra 165w. Its been really good so far.

[@Davelembo]

Yes they get great results. Thanks for watching buddy

[@NaiMinDrive]

@@Davelembo rip

[@setharchon1195]

Those two extra plugs on the Mars Aqua, that you mentioned as European style plugs at 3.26. To me they looks like universal plugs, meant to be an option for daisy chaining two or more Mars Aqua box lights?

[@The.MrFish]

Those two plugs you mentioned were european style are actually international sockets, it allows you to daisy chain them, so you can plug the second light in o the first one using those sockets.

[@Davelembo]

Thanx Derek. I have since realized that. You know how good the instructions are with these products lol

[@oksanakamensky7993]

Very good video

[@Davelembo]

Thank you for watching

[@BillyPipes]

I ordered 2 aqua mars yesterday 👍👍

[@Davelembo]

You know they aren't T5's right Billy? LOL.

[@williamsolem7351]

Thats awesome, i just watched there video before this 1. Ive been looking at the Lighttime tunnel on Amazon.

[@Mumpowerpc]

I just bought these. They are a pain to setup but afterwards they work great.

[@Emanna81]

VERY GOOD VIDEO!! Thanks for showing the different light patterns. I originally bought one light time tunnel for my 30 gallon nano. After about 3 months the fan started making a loud noise. I bought a fan from amazon for around $10 fixed it myself n its been running about a year now. Even though the fan went it was such a good light for the $ I decided to buy 3 more which are over my 220 gallon now to replace my kessel a150's . its been about 8 months. So far so good! I have a bubble tip on the bottom and hasn't moved since I put em there. He is as happy as can be! Plus my other corals have grown. I agree with you best bang for the money! Check out my videos with my lights on if you want!

[@Davelembo]

Hey thanx bud and sorry about the late response. Just found a bunch in the "Likely Spam folder". I hate that. The fans are definitely the weak spot and should be checked often. Glad you fixed it. I'm gonna add some T5s to these on the new build. I'll be sure to stop by and sub ya back. Thanx for watching

[@CescaTheDarkHorse]

Nice video Dave and great review :)

[@Davelembo]

Thanx Cesca. Glad you enjoyed it

[@LJsReef]

Great video, I've been debating weather or not to get these or the Dsunny kind.

[@Davelembo]

They will both grow coral. K-Town Reef uses the Dsunny and he likes them. Thanx for watching

[@rafaelcasero2822]

Don't get Dsunny, i had them and lasted about 1 year before it started to blink

[@moereefer]

I fix them for people it started from a local reef shop and the problem is most that are burning up is from salt creep killling fans then the drivers overheat and pop

[@Davelembo]

Thanx Mo. I've thought about relocating the dimmer and driver out of the case. Then just run the fan and light powers in. I'll keep and eye on my fans. Thanx for the heads up

[@michaelorlando6107]

Mo you do repairs? Got an email or number.

[@b.sathurshan3090]

My black box led blue colour dimmer is not working how to repair . How to find tha correct dimmer and buy online Please tell your opinion

[@karennation3580]

The second light has more red which I like but I heard it cause algae and looks way better when all are on! Man I hate that white though, but If I put in a canopy that we may build no one would see it! I hope I can pump up the blues and keep others on as well. that what I do with my current. I have all colors working but higher blues. Is that possible with any of the lights? You should have reviewed a spectra, that is a popular black box. I also hate that they only mount with a daisy chain unless you make a dyi stand or put inside canopy!

[@sahiralam924]

What is the nanometre of blue led?

[@moereefer]

I can fix any black box , for example dimmer custom leds change, upgrade drivers added heatsink , fans etc....

[@jumperog5349]

Mo Reefer how can i upgrade mine?

[@williamhigh3305]

Mo Reefer: you say you can fix any black box. My Viaspectra 165 blue channel just stopped working. I'm still waiting for a reply from Viaspectra (they're still under warranty) but it would be nice if there was a quick fix I can do myself. I've tried everything to get these blues to come on but they won't. From one minute to the next they just stopped working. White channel works like it should. Any suggestions???

[@moereefer]

@@williamhigh3305 always the blues are the ones to go first because that’s what we most.. I would start by opening it up take and switch the white power supply to the blue to see if it’s a driver.....then if they still don’t turn on then your going to have to take all blue lens off or just all them which ever you prefer. It’s very easy to put back on important look at the Blue LEDs and see if you can find one that is very dark and cooked like a eggshell broken/ you will know when you see it it’s probably a UV 420nm.... you could test each one with two AA and some wires. Put if you got a video or pics I can help when I see or email me we can I talk U threw it?

[@moereefer]

@@jumperog5349 need to solder

[@ArcadeJason]

i am a electrical engineer those ARE switch mode power supplies thanks for the video

[@iqma1404]

Hey dave, did china black box still work on 2019?

[@Davelembo]

The light Time Tunnel light keeps blowing 1 LED. The Mars aqua and the other lights all work fine

[@ImadeItTillMidnight]

How are these still running?

[@nat-kingreef3955]

Hey Dave, what time your lights come on and goes off?? What % you run your blues and whites??

[@Davelembo]

Hey Bud, Blues @ 100% for 11 hours, White @30% for 8 hours. Thanx for watching

[@nat-kingreef3955]

Np bro, what’s the time??? On and off during the day??

[@Davelembo]

Nat - King starts at 1030 am off at 930 pm so i can enjoy it after work

[@nat-kingreef3955]

Oh okay, by us having this light, does it affect the growth being that it don’t have sunrise to sunset effect like from low to high lighting??

[@Davelembo]

I don't think so. They start and end their day with an hour of blue only. I feel as long as they get a long enough light period, they are fine. But I am interested in playing with moon cycles. Ahhhh, another video idea

[@dcwil1966]

Hi I’m new too the saltwater game I’m looking for a good inexpensive light do these run on wifi with an app

[@califishliving1437]

Great video, I run 3 galaxy hydro china boxes , on my 120 reef. And true nobody runs then 100 percent and they do grow coral

[@Davelembo]

Thanx Cali. I like em. I think you may get better results with a better light. But this is all you need to have a reef tank

[@fathergratwick]

So I have 5 of these chinese black boxs.. 3 mars aqua and 2 that replaced 2 of them as the rheostats and drivers failed. salt creep took them out. I also replaced many burned led and lenses over the years changing the led color layout. on mine the mars aqua has a much heavier aluminum heat sink on the led pcb than the other style with is like your 2 non mars aqua style. About 4 months ago one of the lights went up in smoke literally from salt creep shorting things out I am currently researching my options for led lights with remotely mounted power supplies for this reason. I have an open back canopy and the lights are mounted about 10 inches from the water. one of my lights literally snapped the metal wires holding it up and fell into the tank when I was adjusting the light dimmer and I instinctively pulled it out of the tank while getting juiced with 120v until my girlfriend hit the powerbar switch it was horrible and foolish of me to grab it but in an instant your not thinking clearly. Ive since invested in a GFCI power adapter for the lights. (btw I bought my mar aquas around 2012 and the replacements I bought 2.5 years ago are rusted badly and not holding up as well as the remaining single M-aqua) They sell replacement led pcb boards on amazon for these now.

[@ryan.maccallum8213]

Respect earned, is respect given: I'd rather be told to be quiet and listen , then be told to leave , I have learned so much from everyone in all the streams, thank you " long week and too many dilly dillys lol!!! , I have much to learn and I am one to respect the ones that come before me , so I say thank you , and I will be back ," a clear head is a clear mind " or something like that see you next weekend "my first stream (jumping the gun) " listen, learn, and respect" Sorry again new to the whole you tube thing!!!!

[@Davelembo]

Don't give it another thought bud. We all get excited to talk to other hobbyist. It gets hard to keep it flowing with ten different personalities all in one room.

[@philkyle8919]

i got 2 large heat sinks on my mars aqua

[@Davelembo]

Nice mod. Heat is their downfall

[@MARINETV]

hi , it's Nadi here I'm using mars aqua for 5 months, I'm very active on FB , almost in 50 groups but never heard that this box caught fire

[@Davelembo]

Thanx Bud. I feel the cheap electronics could fail at some point but a fan failure is the cause of death for these lights. Not always a case of "Where there's smoke, there's fire"

[@MARINETV]

Dave's Nano Tanks what do you think ? are they strong enough to keep sps alive or thrive or anything ?

[@Davelembo]

I think so and I'm doing it

[@polarspirit]

@@MARINETV Does it matter if it catches fire? You have a whole tank of water ready to put it out lol

[@axmarr8132]

That BRS episode was such BS. Then again, they are a business so they will "pitch" you on the stuff they sell, those over priced fancy "Chinese" LED lights. I've seen so many awesome looking tanks with healthy, thriving corals using Chinese black boxes. I also see them in every LFS in my area. I own an SB Reef 160 for my nano 20 and my corals love it. Great video. Thanks

[@Davelembo]

You wouldn't ask a Cadillac salesman about a Hyundai. A lot of people think they are the reefing bible. I have met Ryan and he is very knowledgeable about the hobby but if they don't sell it, why ask. Thanx for watching bud

[@WHY70122]

I wonder how much Radion or any other high end led companies paid BRS to make that full of BS episode:)

[@bigbowlowrong4694]

I mean, I’m the BRS video he clearly says these lights will grow corals, and provided the data to prove it. For many of us - including BRS - the risk that comes with the bargain basement components and often complete disregard for safety outweighs the benefit of the fact they work. I’ll pay the extra money for piece ofmind, but that’s just me.

[@wellerweller1499]

Your "European" plug type is a common multi plug, it should take the US connector, It is built for linking them and only using one switch.

[@TNF-INC]

wish one is the best out of all 3 ?

[@Davelembo]

They are all a copy of the Mars Aqua. It is the best one in my opinion

[@TNF-INC]

reefer madness is using mars aqua as well and he said the same thing ... I think im going to invest in em .. they are on sale right now for 185 for 2 ..www.ebay.com/itm/370858771177

[@TNF-INC]

thats pretty cheap just wanted to get a second opinion on these black boxes .. good stuff .. also great informative videos by the way .. thank you

[@danmason6116]

Love the lights but i hate when the blues go out or the whites go out

[@patterdalezipsuzilil]

Got to make sure you get dedicated reef lights and not weed lights

[@serenabowman2214]

I totally agree with this buddy I'll say it brs on that video was 💩 lol comparing it to radions really! Aqua mars should never be ran on full power there to powerfull for that but great video buddy

[@Davelembo]

Thanx. Great light with lots of bang for your buck

[@danielsalt363]

This was really interesting, you dont happen to know where SBreeflight would fit? Atleast around here, SB are considered "much better/upgraded shitbox", but I have no idea of the reality :)

[@Davelembo]

Daniel Salt Thanx. I had asked Travis from Fishofhex about the color. He said it was very blue. I'm hoping this mars aqua is close to that upgrade. Maybe he can chime in with some info

[@karennation3580]

The bulbs they use look so cheap, the diffused look and the others and I hate the white back ground. Its a shame ther really is no inbetween. Its like ardios or kessil then these. Current I suppose is in between and I have one on a 10 gallon that I lucked out and got for 40 bucks! Its an 18 inch but I need 2 for a 75 gallon and no open box returns so that is about 400 bucks new on amazon! I am considering mars aqua being I have never heard of these other brands and also viper spectra. Is there a way to pump up the blue channel along with the whites and others. Like maybe 75 % blue to 25 % of others? Or be able to have each color spectrum at whatever percent you want? I can do that with current. I will say I love the current loop but not sure if its strong enough for a 22 inch deep and 17 inch front o back. I know I would need 2 but not sure even with 2. Sure wish I could win a set of radions. LOL I did win a 800.00 shopping spree by Unigue Corals today!

[@lifehasproductions4618]

Let's support each other

[@sondercichlidaquariums4951]

They can’t be used in Europe as well as usa as you run on 110 and we run on double that.

[@danmatherlee136]

They have a multi-voltage input 85-240v and 50hz or 60hz.

[@BillyPipes]

8/8/19

[@sim12384]

Do you really think BRS want people buying these lights rather than the more expensive ones they stock???? I'd take that video with a pinch of salt.

[@moereefer]

I repair black box for cheap

[@mostlyreefs710]

Missing you man😥