# Chihiros Vivid 2. Where to buy UK?



## CJayT (13 Apr 2021)

Looking to buy the Chihiros Vivid 2 (with Shades)
to replace my underpowered 90cm wrgb. Any idea of where to get them in the UK? Or does anyone know Wang second hand ones going anywhere?









						Chihiros VIVID II RGB 18" (Built-in Bluetooth)
					

The Chihiros VIVID II RGB serves the complete color spectrum of aquatic plants with its optimized design of Red, Green, & Blue colored LEDs. It is suitable for very densely planted aquariums that need intense lighting over a large spread. The Vivid II's utilizes red, green, & blue LEDs on one...




					fzaqua.com
				



is coming out the cheapest so far...


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## Tom Delattre (13 Apr 2021)

CJayT said:


> Looking to buy the Chihiros Vivid 2 (with Shades)
> to replace my underpowered 90cm wrgb. Any idea of where to get them in the UK? Or does anyone know Wang second hand ones going anywhere?
> 
> 
> ...


Hi, can't really help with your core question but I'm in a similar mood (replacing my Wrgb2 60cm by a 90cm or a Vivid 2) and I'm surprised you call the Wrgb "underpowered". I looked at Chihiros PAR graphics to help with my own decision and the wrgb2 90 cm and the vivid2 are almost identical ("on par"? ). The wrgb2 even throws more lumens.

Btw, maybe I can actually help: Chihiros has an online shop with reasonable prices where you can buy the lights. I access it from the "My Chihiros" app. The delivery is slow and I'm not entirely sure about the warranty. But the shades I bought arrived in good shape.

Envoyé de mon KB2003 en utilisant Tapatalk


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## Courtneybst (13 Apr 2021)

CJayT said:


> Looking to buy the Chihiros Vivid 2 (with Shades)
> to replace my underpowered 90cm wrgb. Any idea of where to get them in the UK? Or does anyone know Wang second hand ones going anywhere?
> 
> 
> ...


Hey CJay, 

Yeah as far as I know Fzone studios are the only place really selling it in the UK. It's a good price and free shipping but just note it doesn't include customs or VAT charges you will incur. 

I have a suspicion Fzone are gearing up to sell the Chihiros lineup on Amazon UK as in the last week they've started selling the C2 RGB with Prime delivery. This is only speculation though.


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## CJayT (13 Apr 2021)

Courtneybst said:


> Hey CJay,
> 
> Yeah as far as I know Fzone studios are the only place really selling it in the UK. It's a good price and free shipping but just note it doesn't include customs or VAT charges you will incur.
> 
> I have a suspicion Fzone are gearing up to sell the Chihiros lineup on Amazon UK as in the last week they've started selling the C2 RGB with Prime delivery. This is only speculation though.


I have a sneaking suspicion you might be right... Don't know if I should wait until they drop on Amazon or if the deal they have going now will go.


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## CJayT (13 Apr 2021)

Tom Delattre said:


> Hi, can't really help with your core question but I'm in a similar mood (replacing my Wrgb2 60cm by a 90cm or a Vivid 2) and I'm surprised you call the Wrgb "underpowered". I looked at Chihiros PAR graphics to help with my own decision and the wrgb2 90 cm and the vivid2 are almost identical ("on par"? ). The wrgb2 even throws more lumens.
> 
> Btw, maybe I can actually help: Chihiros has an online shop with reasonable prices where you can buy the lights. I access it from the "My Chihiros" app. The delivery is slow and I'm not entirely sure about the warranty. But the shades I bought arrived in good shape.
> 
> Envoyé de mon KB2003 en utilisant Tapatalk


Have the first gen wrgb 90. It's a performer Don't get me wrong, just not quite getting that par. I'd rather get 2 vivid 2s over 1 wrgb2 90s only for the flexibility of really cranking up the par for harder challaging plants and larger tanks in the future. Upgrading all my kit so it's vivid 2s or Ada solar and the ADA price makes me shudder...They don't have the flexibility either (dimming, timer, adjustable spectrum etc)


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## Courtneybst (13 Apr 2021)

Post in thread 'Brad's 40cm Cube'
Brad's 40cm Cube

Brad got a Chihiros A series from AliExpress with only taxes which I presume is VAT. For the price of the Vivid 2 I'm almost certain it'll incur customs but maybe it's worth a shot? I've never actually had to pay anything extra from AliExpress but I've only ever bought low value items.


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## shangman (13 Apr 2021)

I've been planning on buying one of the Chihiros lights via AliExpress (can't remember if it was the vivid or 90cm WRGB), I worked out the duties and it would be an extra £80(ish, maybe £100) or so of VAT and duty on the light - because they're expensive and also big - there is a ££ and dimensions limit when if an item is small customs don't bother, but the lights goes over that threshold so they probably will take it. I think you would get the same fees whenever you bought it from tbh, so will probably be a bit cheaper directly from the source.

Out of curiousity, is 1 Vivid big enough for a 90cm tank, or are you getting two?


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## Wookii (13 Apr 2021)

Tom Delattre said:


> Hi, can't really help with your core question but I'm in a similar mood (replacing my Wrgb2 60cm by a 90cm or a Vivid 2) and I'm surprised you call the Wrgb "underpowered". I looked at Chihiros PAR graphics to help with my own decision and the wrgb2 90 cm and the vivid2 are almost identical ("on par"? ). The wrgb2 even throws more lumens.
> 
> Btw, maybe I can actually help: Chihiros has an online shop with reasonable prices where you can buy the lights. I access it from the "My Chihiros" app. The delivery is slow and I'm not entirely sure about the warranty. But the shades I bought arrived in good shape.
> 
> Envoyé de mon KB2003 en utilisant Tapatalk



I'd be inclined to agree, the WRGB II is in no way underpowered unless you have a very deep tank. That said, the WRGB II is no where near as powerful as the Vivid II though.  I'm not sure where you are seeing the PAR similarity - the Vivid II par graph shows a peak of 280 PAR, where as the WRGB 2 peaks at 120 PAR - less than half. That is probably because it is packing in 160 LED's in a 455mm chassis, whereas the WRGB II 90 includes 90 LED's over a 900mm chassis.

The WRGB II 90 does have more lumens than the Vivid II though, which I can only assume is the result of the difference in size, and more lightspill from the individual LED's being reflected back into the tank - in a similar way reflectors achieve the same on tubes.


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## Tom Delattre (13 Apr 2021)

Wookii said:


> I'd be inclined to agree, the WRGB II is in no way underpowered unless you have a very deep tank. That said, the WRGB II is no where near as powerful as the Vivid II though. I'm not sure where you are seeing the PAR similarity - the Vivid II par graph shows a peak of 280 PAR, where as the WRGB 2 peaks at 120 PAR - less than half. That is probably because it is packing in 160 LED's in a 455mm chassis, whereas the WRGB II 90 includes 90 LED's over a 900mm chassis.
> 
> The WRGB II 90 does have more lumens than the Vivid II though, which I can only assume is the result of the difference in size, and more lightspill from the individual LED's being reflected back into the tank - in a similar way reflectors achieve the same on tubes.


I've got to admit I didn't read the peak par. I was more interested in the spread myself so I looked at the values in the corners only . (And those are similar) Also I didn't realize that CjayT was considering not just one but a pair of vivid2s against 1 wrgb90, which solves the spread "problem" of the vivid2.


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## Jonnywylie (13 Apr 2021)

I bought WRGB2 90CM on AliExpress and got stumped with a £65 import tax. Didn't bother me that much but it took a lifetime to arrive though 😭 lol


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## dsandson (13 Apr 2021)

I recently bought a WRGB2 from the app. It arrived in less than a week, with tracking with FedEx. I was genuinely impressed with the speed. It was only a 30cm model but no taxes to pay. I received a letter today confirming the import certificate as well, so all above board. That was confirmed shipping from within China.

The unit came with a UK three pin plug too. 

I'd certainly use them again.


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## Tom Delattre (14 Apr 2021)

dsandson said:


> I recently bought a WRGB2 from the app. It arrived in less than a week, with tracking with FedEx. I was genuinely impressed with the speed. It was only a 30cm model but no taxes to pay. I received a letter today confirming the import certificate as well, so all above board. That was confirmed shipping from within China.
> 
> The unit came with a UK three pin plug too.
> 
> I'd certainly use them again.


Interesting about the speed. My slow experience maybe have been due to the small price or package (they were shades), or maybe just anecdotal. 
About the taxes, I'd imagine they are included or anticipated because the price is basically the same as what you find in european stores.

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## Cd2021 (14 Apr 2021)

Hi All, 

Could i ask what settings your run your Chihiros WRGB 2's on please? 

Thanks
Chris


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## Tom Delattre (14 Apr 2021)

I run the settings in the picture attached (basically, 4500k at "100%" intensity). With a wrgb2 60 on a 80cm tank (second picture). Can't get the H'ra to go red but that's probably my ferts routine.




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## Wookii (14 Apr 2021)

Cd2021 said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Could i ask what settings your run your Chihiros WRGB 2's on please?
> 
> ...



I run both my Chihiros RGB based lights (WRGB II and Vivid II) on the same settings which are red and blue the same percentage, and green 10% or so lower.


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## Cd2021 (19 Apr 2021)

Wow, a lot higher than I'm able to without algae issues. Working through them first, was just curious. 

I have the 90cm, highest consistently can run is about 50% (10%lower on green and blue too), tried high for a couple of weeks and was a mess. But highlighted by currently issues.

Thanks Chris


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## Wookii (19 Apr 2021)

Wookii said:


> I run both my Chihiros RGB based lights (WRGB II and Vivid II) on the same settings which are red and blue the same percentage, and green 10% or so lower.





Cd2021 said:


> Wow, a lot higher than I'm able to without algae issues. Working through them first, was just curious.
> 
> I have the 90cm, highest consistently can run is about 50% (10%lower on green and blue too), tried high for a couple of weeks and was a mess. But highlighted by currently issues.
> 
> Thanks Chris



I probably should have clarified, my WRGB II is at 70% on Red and blue (green at 60%), and my Vivid II is on 60% for red and blue (50% for green).


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## Cd2021 (21 Apr 2021)

Ah that makes sense.
This is my first high tech full attempt of a planted tank. Learning all the way.

very impressed with the like though.

Thanks
Chris


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