Cree, EPI Star and Bridgelux

[amirfield]

Anyone can tell which one is better in cost performance among EPISTAR, CREE-XPE and Bridgelux ? I know Cree is quite good in quality but cost is more expensive, Can EPIStar and Bridgelux be a good choice for LED aquarium reef tank light? Which one is better?

[glarior]

I have Cree 110 3w Led for my reef and its doing awesome. My friend has bridgelux and his are way bright. I think the corals will grow great under them once his values are back to normal.

I am going to try the chinese 3w leds (660nm) for another algae scrubber build I am working on. They are 2$ vs 5$. Worth a try in my book but Cree is one of the best and if they made 660nm I would buy cree.

[amirfield]

Thanks a lot for reply. Could you please tell any differences between Cree and Bridgelux in stimulating coral growing?

[glarior]

I do not have conclusive evidence of either doing better than the other.

With that said… My reef setup with cree lights have been thriving/growing way more than the bridgelux setup.

There are a lot of other factors that contribute to that but overall the cree’s have done a lot better. The only thing is I can’t back that claim up with data… only what I have seen.

[dbosman]

The binning (Sorting to specific standards) of the LED emitters matter more than the name on the star. If you get the same specs on the emitter, it won't matter if it's Cree or Bridgelux or Epistar.

[labnjab]

I used a DIY cree fixture for a while on a 10 gallon last year and have been using fixtures with bridgelux since last September on both our 75 gallon and 20 long frag tank. Both are great leds and I got/ get great growth with both of them, and I really can't tell much of a difference between the 2 as far as which is better.

I also used the cheap ones from china on the 10 gallon for a while and they sucked. The color looked horrible and although the coral stayed alive, they never thrived or grew. The bulbs also burnt out in a few months and some actually melted. So in the world of led you really do get what you pay for

[amirfield]

Thanks for all replys, they are really helpful!

[albylee]

I have had bridelux epistar and I have used cree althou cree have out standing name bridelux are whey up there with them ulta bright as for growing coral coulor temprature with LED chips dont have to be high eg

10k

Good growth, better colour.


14k

Marginal growth, much better colour.


20k

Even less growth, but great colour
plus also it depends on the chip wether you purchase warm white, cool white,or crisp white
I find the warm white too yellow for my liking but if but if you use a 2:1 ratio of blue and white with high optic lense it gives you a deep sea look and lights up every thing lovely shimmer and makes coral sand beutifull white