LED light recommendation

[hajtaler]

Hi
I just set up my first planted tank, I chose already substrate, now I want to find light, I read and watch plant YouTube about light.
I pick up 3 light:

NICREW SkyLED RGB+W 21W 1050Lumens x2​

Amazon product ASIN B08BHXZ7PW

CHIHIROS WRGB II LED​

Amazon product ASIN B09CQ89H78

Chihiros RGB Vivid Mini​

Amazon product ASIN B099Z2HWB3
My tan will be 600Lx460Wx450H. I want plenty of plants, start from easy, finish to medium and hard. I plan to use co2 later on.
Which of these lamps is best suited for this purpose.
Is the first lamp NICREW suitable for such an aquarium? I plan to buy 2 of them, if no, which will be better from CHIHIROS.
Thanks for any help

 

[arcturus]

Hi
I just set up my first planted tank, I chose already substrate, now I want to find light, I read and watch plant YouTube about light.
I pick up 3 light:

NICREW SkyLED RGB+W 21W 1050Lumens x2​

Amazon product ASIN B08BHXZ7PW

CHIHIROS WRGB II LED​

Amazon product ASIN B09CQ89H78

Chihiros RGB Vivid Mini​

Amazon product ASIN B099Z2HWB3
My tan will be 600Lx460Wx450H. I want plenty of plants, start from easy, finish to medium and hard. I plan to use co2 later on.
Which of these lamps is best suited for this purpose.
Is the first lamp NICREW suitable for such an aquarium? I plan to buy 2 of them, if no, which will be better from CHIHIROS.
Thanks for any help

The Chihiros WRGB II Pro in 60cm (the new Pro model was just released) delivers enough output for "hard" plants in a tank with CO2 injection. The same applies to the Chihiros Vivid II (not the Vivid Mini). The Vivid Mini can be too small for a 60cm tank if you decide to hang it on the rear glass. The Nicrew is out of the question if you want medium or hard plants. The Chihiros also has a very good app to control the lights. There are plenty of other options on the market, but the WRGB II is a solid choice. If you have the chance, it would be good to see in person a tank with WRGB II or Vivid II. You might love the type of colour rendering of these lamps or hate it...

 

[erwin123]

My tank is 600x450x450mm, similar to yours

I am using 2 x Chihiros WRGB2 because I feel that there is better back to front coverage. With one light, there were too many shaded spots and also some plants at the back started growing towards the light in the middle. 😅

As I ended up with 12cm of substrate in my tank, the distance from surface to substrate is only 33cm. I'm running both at about 80% each but each tank is different, just start low and increase till you hit a sweet spot. I am tempted to try a WRGB2 Pro.

 

[hajtaler]

The Chihiros WRGB II Pro in 60cm (the new Pro model was just released) delivers enough output for "hard" plants in a tank with CO2 injection. The same applies to the Chihiros Vivid II (not the Vivid Mini). The Vivid Mini can be too small for a 60cm tank if you decide to hang it on the rear glass. The Nicrew is out of the question if you want medium or hard plants. The Chihiros also has a very good app to control the lights. There are plenty of other options on the market, but the WRGB II is a solid choice. If you have the chance, it would be good to see in person a tank with WRGB II or Vivid II. You might love the type of colour rendering of these lamps or hate it...

Thanks for info, my budged for light is £200, I plan to hung on the Vivid Mini, because arm are too short. If I do, that will be ok? Or still better choice will be Chihiros WRGB II

 

[pat1cp]

I have both the WRGB II and the Vivid mini (on a 60cm tank) The vivid mini is a powerful light and I run neither at anywhere near 100%.

 

[arcturus]

I have both the WRGB II and the Vivid mini (on a 60cm tank) The vivid mini is a powerful light and I run neither at anywhere near 100%.

The issue is not the output of the lamp but the holder/foot of the lamp. Chihiros recommends hanging the Vivid Mini for 60cm tanks and using the holder for smaller tanks.

Thanks for info, my budged for light is £200, I plan to hung on the Vivid Mini, because arm are too short. If I do, that will be ok? Or still better choice will be Chihiros WRGB II

The Vivid 35cm and the WRGB II 60cm have similar output (~5000 lumen; the new WRGB Pro has ~6500 lumen). This is more than sufficient for a 60cm tank. You can also consider the WRGB II Slim, but this delivers 2400 lumen. Note that the Vivid and Vivid Mini use a fan for cooling. The WRGB II uses passive cooling. Because of the budget, maybe the WRGB II 60cm is a better option - check the prices.

 

[plantnoobdude]

The issue is not the output of the lamp but the holder/foot of the lamp. Chihiros recommends hanging the Vivid Mini for 60cm tanks and using the holder for smaller tanks.

yeah, the wrgb would need to be hung pretty high for even coverage over a 45cm wide tank. the vivid would be a better choice i think

 

[arcturus]

... I am tempted to try a WRGB2 Pro.

Do you think it is worth it? The new Pro version is certainly the better choice if you do not have a WRGB2 already. Otherwise, it is the same lamp as the previous model but with higher lumen. But it could be a good option if one WRGB2 Pro lamp hanging over the tank is able to replace your two WRGB2...

 

[erwin123]

Do you think it is worth it? The new Pro version is certainly the better choice if you do not have a WRGB2 already. Otherwise, it is the same lamp as the previous model but with higher lumen. But it could be a good option if one WRGB2 Pro lamp hanging over the tank is able to replace your two WRGB2...

I'm waiting for more info such as where the White channel for the WRBG2 Pro comes from. Did they add separate W LEDs or were all the LEDs changed to RGB-W.

Some comments in a separate thread suggest that RGB-W LEDs look ugly and washed out compared to traditional RGB. I haven't seen with my own eyes the difference between RGB and RGB-W LEDs so I'm waiting for more info and hopefully an LFS will have one on a display tank for me to evaluate.

I'll probably still use 2 lights even if I get the WRGB2 Pro for better back to front coverage and more light in general.

 

[Garuf]

I asked this of Dennis Wong recently for my new tank of similar dimensions and was pointed towards the week aqua over the chihiros but they are a nightmare to find info/get a hold of in Europe.

 

[arcturus]

I'm waiting for more info such as where the White channel for the WRBG2 Pro comes from. Did they add separate W LEDs or were all the LEDs changed to RGB-W.

I think the W comes from the marketing department 🙂 The WRGB is a 3 channel RGB light, and the Pro seems to use three channels like the previous model. Check the screenshots below of each of the three RGB channels taken from this review. No independent W channel.

Some comments in a separate thread suggest that RGB-W LEDs look ugly and washed out compared to traditional RGB. I haven't seen with my own eyes the difference between RGB and RGB-W LEDs so I'm waiting for more info and hopefully an LFS will have one on a display tank for me to evaluate.

From the review above the colour rendering seems quite similar to the WRGB2 that you own. The WRGB2 has a CRI of ~57, which is quite low.

I'll probably still use 2 lights even if I get the WRGB2 Pro for better back to front coverage and more light in general.

According to specs, two WRGB2 pro 60cm would pack ~13.000 lm. Should be enough for a 60P 😉

 

[erwin123]

I think the W comes from the marketing department 🙂 The WRGB is a 3 channel RGB light, and the Pro seems to use three channels like the previous model. Check the screenshots below of each of the three RGB channels taken from this review. No independent W channel.

MJ says there is a new White channel in his youtube review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fYjR_8E6hU





The linked review mentions how the white channel warms up the colour... interesting. So if I get the WRGB2, I could retain the existing settings, and add a bit of white channel to boost the colour rendition (i.e. fill in the gaps between the RGB peaks?) Anyway, only an actual viewing will show whether the Pro has better colours than the original...

 

[arcturus]

MJ says there is a new White channel in his youtube review.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fYjR_8E6hU

The white channel is indeed in the app. But there are clearly no dedicated white leds in the lamp. Chihiros should be using integrated RGB+W leds, similar to those in the Vivid and WRGB2. From what I understand, the White channel is just a new element in the latest versions of app's UI. In previous versions the app showed just three RGB channels. See below.

The linked review mentions how the white channel warms up the colour... interesting. So if I get the WRGB2, I could retain the existing settings, and add a bit of white channel to boost the colour rendition (i.e. fill in the gaps between the RGB peaks?) Anyway, only an actual viewing will show whether the Pro has better colours than the original...

Notice in that video how changing the white setting also changes the RGB settings. This can be due to power limitations in the circuitry or just because the white component is mapped to the intensity of the RGB leds. We will need to wait for proper reviews and measurements.

 

[Wookii]

The white channel is indeed in the app. But there are clearly no dedicated white leds in the lamp. Chihiros should be using integrated RGB+W leds, similar to those in the Vivid and WRGB2. From what I understand, the White channel is just a new element in the latest versions of app's UI. In previous versions the app showed just three RGB channels. See below.
View attachment 182807View attachment 182806

Notice in that video how changing the white setting also changes the RGB settings. This can be due to power limitations in the circuitry or just because the white component is mapped to the intensity of the RGB leds. We will need to wait for proper reviews and measurements.

The Vivid II and WGRB II use 3 channel R+G+B LED's. I suspect the new WRGB II Pro will be using a 4 channel R+G+B+W LED, hence the increase in power output, and the dedicated white channel. I need to see this in person to pass fair judgement, but looking a the videos, the white channel appears to wash out the high level of colour rendition that the original WRGB and Vivid achieved, which is a bit of a step backwards in my opinion.

 

[arcturus]

The Vivid II and WGRB II use 3 channel R+G+B LED's. I suspect the new WRGB II Pro will be using a 4 channel R+G+B+W LED, hence the increase in power output, and the dedicated white channel. I need to see this in person to pass fair judgement, but looking a the videos, the white channel appears to wash out the high level of colour rendition that the original WRGB and Vivid achieved, which is a bit of a step backwards in my opinion.

I do not have a Chihiros light but have seen a few tanks in person using these lights. I guess once you board the Chihiros WRGB/Vivid train you will have a hard time leaving. Objectively, these lights have a low colour rendition index (~57, compared to +80 from other lights). Maybe the colours are not that accurate, maybe they are too saturated. But, at least for me, they do look amazing 🙂

 

[plantnoobdude]

yeah, no idea why they added a white channel. im pretty sure if i saw one in person it'd just look bland. perhaps they were going for more evened out spectrum that you can get from a multibulb t5 fixture? oh well.
on a not very related note, i have noticed a lot ATI T5 fixtures for sale on facebook and ebay. they are fixtures that cost well over 300 pounds new, but can be found at as little as 50-80 pounds! these are dimmable and cooled by the way. so if someone is looking for a super nice t5 fixture....

 

[arcturus]

yeah, no idea why they added a white channel. (...)

Higher-end lights tend to use one or more white channels along with independent RGB channels.

 

[Wookii]

I do not have a Chihiros light but have seen a few tanks in person using these lights. I guess once you board the Chihiros WRGB/Vivid train you will have a hard time leaving. Objectively, these lights have a low colour rendition index (~57, compared to +80 from other lights). Maybe the colours are not that accurate, maybe they are too saturated. But, at least for me, they do look amazing 🙂

I think CRI measures can be misleading, you could put a white LED with a high CRI over a tank to compare with the RGB based lights (which have a lower CRI as you say because of their 'peaky' spectral response) and they don't look as good.

It's a tricky one, they're far from perfect, and I can see visually where there may be some gaps in the spectrum, and some colour can definitely oversaturate, but then you compare it to any other white LED based light, and they just look washed out. We still seems to be someway off with LED's from the type of colour rendition many people used to achieve with mixed fluorescent tubes.

 

[Wookii]

Higher-end lights tend to use one or more white channels along with independent RGB channels.

They do that because white LED have a lot higher output, and high output single colour LED's are very expensive, so they have to add in white LED's to get the total output high enough.

It's a shame, because if they could use high output single colour LED's using a variety of peak frequencies, you'd get broader colour rendition than the Chihiros/Solar RGB type lights.

Hopefully if full sunlight spectrum LED's like the Toshibe Sunlike LED's discussed in this thread: FUN high CRI LED strips become more widely available, they'll offer better performance and colour rendition.