At $199 Reef Breeders Value Fixtures are the cheapest multicolor fixtures on the market

By Joost de Vries on Aug 06, 2012

Reef Breeders sells the sub standard Chinese OEM Lights we have become so accustomed to, but the unlike its competitors the price is much, much lower. The Reef Breeders Value Fixtures, like many of its competitors, are housed in a black aluminum box, offer two power cord, feature a row of LEDs, and come with a hanging cord. Unlike the competitors the Reef Breeders fixture is priced at $199, which includes shipping. The fixture does not come with dimming options or individual lenses which will cost an additional 100 bucks, but it does rock seven colors. The Reef Breeders Value Fixtures utilizes 55 Bridgelux LEDs run at 3 watts in two kinds of red, blue, green, UV, violet, royal blue, and cool white. What exactly the ratio’s are for these colors is not entirely clear. Each fixture measures 16″ long x 8.5″ wide, x 2.5″ tall and is advertised to support your colorful sticks in an area of around 24”x24”, LPS can be sustained in an area 0f 36″x36″. Advertised par values are 420 at 6 inches underwater, 336 at 12 inches, and 2oo at 20 inches. The fixture is actively cooled by three fans. Additional pictures can be found after the break.

More info on the fixtures can be found on the Reef Breeders website.

Daniel Babcock

You can get the same fixture from Evergrow for just over $170 – am I missing something Joost? We’ve been watching this chinese fixtures closely.
http://twitter.com/ReefBreeders Logan Vanghele

Double post
http://twitter.com/ReefBreeders Logan Vanghele

The Evergrow fixtures are not the same, as the Reef Breeders fixtures have upgraded fans, drivers, and LED bins.
BHazard

Sub standard? These can beat an AI Sol in output anyday, and can be customized.

@Logan, BS. I’ve owned and opened both and they are exactly the same internally. For a no frills light, these are great.
BHazard

580mah vs 630 mah is not a noticeable upgrade. Without knowing which led bins were actually used in both, you can’t say for sure. Upgraded from Greensun’s normal bins, maybe. Fans are a non issue.
http://twitter.com/ReefBreeders Logan Vanghele

@bhazard:disqus , yes they are upgraded. the drivers have a mini heat sink on them, most do not even have a metal plate. The LED bins were also upgraded to brighter, and tighter spectrum LEDs. You may not notice that with the naked eye.
Mike

Those 2 reds and 2 greens almost look like a bit of an afterthought for the whole fixture.
http://twitter.com/ReefBreeders Logan Vanghele

They are also 2 blues, and 2 (now 6) 420nm violets.
Daniel Babcock

Additionally, the website does not list the fixture posted here for $199. What is going on with this article?

The truth is out there people! China has your back!
http://twitter.com/ReefBreeders Logan Vanghele

Yes it does, just check the price right here: http://reefbreeders.com/bridgelux_value.html
Daniel Babcock

No, not really. The pictures show both optics and pot dimmers, which are upgrades onto your base price. I don’t understand your business model when your manufacturer is selling them directly for less money? WELCOME TO WHOLESALE!
http://twitter.com/ReefBreeders Logan Vanghele

Yes, and if your fixture breaks after the 45 days paypal guarantees, and they deny you service, then where do you go? You are paying $30 to have an electrician in the USA covering the warranty. At $50 an hour to hire an electrician, that is well worth it. The dimmers are not an upgrade, read the description, all fixtures come standard with dimming. The optics are only $25, and we also upgrade the fixtures for controller interface, in which case you can add optics for no extra charge. We will not sell a non-dimming fixture unless a customer requests it. That is our business model.
http://twitter.com/ReefBreeders Logan Vanghele

And also, like stated below, we have our manufacturer upgrade components for us, like the drivers, fans, and LED bins. This is just one of our light models, the majority are cheaper from us than buying direct from China.
Daniel Babcock

Thank you for the clarification Logan, you may want to re-work the product page as it’s proved to be confusing to several people asking me about the product. While I assumed the pot dimmers would be standard, all the photos show lenses. Many would couple that with the articles lack of depth and you can see the mess it creates. Are you utilizing the same controller interface as the apollo fixtures?

As far as warranty goes, if you handle all of the BS here in the states and deal with your “supplier” on the back end, kudos to you.

I am absolutely not bashing your product, and I want the consumer to be able to have options to enter the LED arena – but even after re-reading this article several times, it definitely could have been “reported” on better.

Again, thank you for the clarification.
http://twitter.com/ReefBreeders Logan Vanghele

I see what you mean, none of the head on shots with the LEDs on have no lenses. The article came as a surprise to us, and our fixtures were not actually tested by them. As for the Apex hook-up, we use wire leads rather than an ethernet cable, as it is easier to hook the fixtures up to other controllers.

Related posts: