Opinions on this fixture?

[Macscale]

Hey everyone,
so I was reading through an old thread that I was in, and remembered this light being recommended by several users. With the normal Ebay panels rising in price (Blue/white led's costing $115 now)

Do you think these would do well for my 20g High?
I know aqua traders has had a bad rep, but they have stepped up their game recently.

Clip On LED Aquarium Lighting 6x 3W LED $34.95

 

[Sniperhank]

At 3 watts per LED diode it would probably grow coral quite well. That's how many watts the taotronics and most other LEDs we hang over our tanks.

 

[Macscale]

Right, that's why I kept looking into it.

The only concern I have is the blue:white ratio.
1:1.5
Blue being 1. That seems a little low? Or is it ok?

 

[Macscale]

I mean, I could always add some accent lighting; if it won't affect the corals growth wise, and it's just for appeal.

 

[mr_X]

This is not going to come close to the power that the Tao fixtures put out, and like you said, I don't think you are going to like the lack of blue. Those prices come up and down every so often. I would just wait until you see a cheap tao or similar offered. I just bought mine in Feb for under $100.00 shipped.
The blue is not for appeal. It's definitely delivering PAR. Lack of blue will make a difference IME.

 

[Macscale]

The thing with the Tao's, is that the number of blue/white fixtures has gone down too, is that why we have a rise in price? Disregard the price on this one though, it's on sale for $65 somewhere else. That's kind of suspicious though.

 

[Sniperhank]

If it is lacking blue, like X stated it'll make things 'meh'. And if that was the case, I'd want to put that little extra bang for your buck into the taotronics since they are much more proven out of their coral growing potency.

 

[Macscale]

Alright, good thing I came here for advice first! I'll have to watch the Tao prices then.

 

[mr_X]

The thing with the Tao's, is that the number of blue/white fixtures has gone down too, that's why we have a rise in price. Disregard the price on this one though, it's on sale for $65 somewhere else. That's kind of suspicious though.

No, that's not why. They go up and down every so often. It's already happened once before I bought mine. I think the guy is just trying to catch someone "asleep at the wheel" and make a home run sale. They will come back down.

 

[Macscale]

How long do you think it's gonna take for them to come back down?

 

[Macscale]

Hmm... The $110 ones say they are 180watt instead of 120. New version or just a lie for a sale?

 

[mr_X]

I'm not sure about that. When I was looking, it was just after the auction ended on the expensive ones. In other words, the price changed at the end of each auction, up or down. Let's see what happens this time.
I emailed the guy I just got mine from. I'll let you know what he says. How many do you need?

 

[Macscale]

Just one. Thanks so much though!

 

[Gregcoyote]

I use to import that same type fixtures. What varies the price is his shipping. The fewer units he ships from China, the more expensive they get. Right now he probably is keeping his stock down because of all the improvements the LED manufactures are doing to their panels every six months. You don't want to be caught with a shipping container full of these panels and then read about the improved version that costs less. Similar panels that didn't dim were twice as much not over a year ago.

 

[Macscale]

I use to import that same type fixtures. What varies the price is his shipping. The fewer units he ships from China, the more expensive they get. Right now he probably is keeping his stock down because of all the improvements the LED manufactures are doing to their panels every six months. You don't want to be caught with a shipping container full of these panels and then read about the improved version that costs less.

Makes a lot of sense...
Do you think the "new" version will be any better? At least a significant amount?

 

[Gregcoyote]

They are always making improvements. I think these panels have evolved a long way in the five years I have dealt with them. I would get the newest version you can get.

 

[Macscale]

So, their evolution process is like small steps?

 

[mr_X]

I use to import that same type fixtures. What varies the price is his shipping. The fewer units he ships from China, the more expensive they get. Right now he probably is keeping his stock down because of all the improvements the LED manufactures are doing to their panels every six months. You don't want to be caught with a shipping container full of these panels and then read about the improved version that costs less. Similar panels that didn't dim were twice as much not over a year ago.

But every time I see the straight blue and white units being auctioned, it says over 100 sold or something like that...I mean, this guy is not holding on to these things, so why not keep them coming? Why would he care about tech advances...why not offer the cheap ones AND the more expensive better ones?

 

[Gregcoyote]

Both the LED emitter manufacturers as well as the fixture manufacturer are always making changes. For LEDs it's efficiency and color, for the fixtures it's the casing and the drivers. The first Chinese drivers were junk. I had about a 20% failure rate early on. Now it's rare to have a failure.

 

[Gregcoyote]

But every time I see the straight blue and white units being auctioned, it says over 100 sold or something like that...I mean, this guy is not holding on to these things, so why not keep them coming? Why would he care about tech advances...why not offer the cheap ones AND the more expensive better ones?

For the same reason Mercedes dealers don't sell Kias. Would you want to explain to every customer why each panel, rated similarly and looking much alike, is superior to the other one you carry?

When your making 10% on each panel, the advances cause you to be careful in how many panels you stock, frankly on EBay he could have said he has 1000 of them. Makes you look like a big player, which he may be.

Do the math, to sell a panel with free shipping at $100, it works out like this:

Cost of shipment to customer: $6
Cost of shipment from China per panel: $10 (minimum)
eBay seller fee; $5
That leaves $79
If he makes $10, then the panel has to cost him $69. That's if you ship in volume, too much and your shipping tanks your margin. He's tweeking his pricing based on demand and shipping costs.