NANOBOX LED LIGHTS BY DAVE FASON

[reef garden]

Dear bros and sisters,

I came across this series of LED lights built by Dave Fason that are very compact and can be customized in a number of colors. There seems to be fave reviews overseas on his lights and I'm wondering if any of you in this forum has seen or tried it before. Some of these lights are:

Nano Box Mini Tide

Nano Box Duo

Nano Box Quad

http://nanoboxreef.com/store.html

Thanks.

[illumnae]

I've read very good reviews over at nano reef forums. However, I believe he's a US retailer so there will be issues with power supply, warranty fulfilment and shipping costs

[jasyu]

He does shipping to Singapore for usd 55. I am considering getting a duo. Still thinking between the nano box duo or 2x Ai prime or wait for maxspect ethereal

[vurbul]

WHat's the waiting time for the nano box? And have you considered AI Hydra 26?

[jasyu]

1-2 weeks. The think about hydra is the mounting only can be done in 1 direction using the arm and it is perpendicular to the tank which will not allow a good spread of the lights.

[illumnae]

Will he provide appropriate power supply and plug?

[jasyu]

Plug no, but his power supply is 230v ready.

Anyways I took the plunge. The light should arrive in 2 weeks.

[vurbul]

Interesting. Update here when it arrives. You using it with bluefish controller?

[jasyu]

Yeah it come default with the bluefish controller now

[jasyu]

Its here finally after 3 weeks.

However it requires 3 plugs and i am missing one, i guess dave missed out when sending it. Went out and get a variable power adaptor since its just a 9v for the fan. Plug everything in then lights came on. Suddenly after 3 mins a pop sound is heard from the main adaptor and the lights went out. Sianz think the main power brick is gone. Quite disappointed in the power adaptor, the lights and the drivers are all solidly made just felt that it could use a more reliable adaptor. Later going to sim lim to get a new one, hopefully its just the adaptor and not the main lights itself.

Ok 3 mins review for the lights, it is very bright but i could not adjust it before it went pop. Will update if the new adaptor works tonight.

[jasyu]

Ok finally got it working, had to run out to sim lim to get a new power adaptor.

After playing around with all the controls and scene i would say it is worth the money spent.

Will post some pictures tomorrow.

[illumnae]

What was wrong with the power adaptor? He included a 110V one?

[jasyu]

Nah probably got a lemon one. But kudos to him he refunded me the amount that it cost me to purchase a new one.

[sherman]

U make a good choice. You buy the finish product . Your Bluefish is mini?

Can share some photo?

I will be DIYing this light soon.

Hope you can share info and pictures

Thank You

[jasyu]

Ok I try to get some pictures up tonight.

[jasyu]

And yup mine is the bluefish mini wireless controller. Damn shiok to control from your phone. When u are outside haha.

[illumnae]

How would you rate this against an AI Hydra 26 or an Ecotech Radion XR15w Pro? I assume you got the Nanobox Duo, which should be comparable with those 2 lights. The Nanobox Duo with shipping would be US$500 or so, which is slightly more expensive than the AI and Ecotech options which come with local warranty. What would you say is the benefit of this light over the other 2?

[jasyu]

How would you rate this against an AI Hydra 26 or an Ecotech Radion XR15w Pro? I assume you got the Nanobox Duo, which should be comparable with those 2 lights. The Nanobox Duo with shipping would be US$500 or so, which is slightly more expensive than the AI and Ecotech options which come with local warranty. What would you say is the benefit of this light over the other 2?

Ok 1st question AI Hydra has a weird mounting system which does not fit my tank, as for Ecotech Radion XR15w Pro it is actually more expensive with the mounting system about $1xxx. The nearest I almost went with is dual AI Prime but I did my sums, the nanobox uses less space for the same price. Nanobox also has a higher PAR value and is much solid with its aluminium body compare to the plastic on prime.

2nd question yes I got the nanobox duo, shipping is 55 USD. depends what option u want. I went for the 4 channel control v3 array plus dual moonlight option total with shipping is about USD$580. Yes I took a risk with the warranty issue, but dave is known for his quality of work and excellent customer service. We discussed almost an entire week how I want my lights to be what color I want, the controls and the special option of dual moonlights over a single moonlight.

Benefits, controls, colors, silent operation and PAR.

Controls are done using bluefish mini wireless controller, google it and you can see the insane customization able to be done with the location replication, clouds and storm scenes. During a storm there is actual lighting simulated. There is also option for lunar cycle, dynamic sunrise and sunset based on location etc..... Too many go download the user guide and take a look. Also this comes free for AI hydra u need to buy additional director etc so the price add up too.

Colors are totally out of this world. Dave dun use optics on his led so it actually looks very bright and the colour reproduction from the lime and cyan led actually make the corals look insane.

I do not have a good camera, so my phone camera pic dun do justice on the lights.

PAR value are one of the highest for its size up to 550 PAR due to the use of 4 violet leds.

Silent operation, I hear literally nothing.

Also as promised I have attached some pictures but quality of the pic are not so good.

Now to the Cons as no product is perfect. I didn't really like the mounting as it is a bit flimsy and its support seems to be inadequate at the back of my tank. It is fasten to the back with 2 screws and I am worried the glass cant take the weight as it is actually quite heavy. Also the power adaptor that was shipped to me broke down after 5 mins, I had to run out to sim lim to get a replacement but kudos to dave he refunded me the amount I spent on a replacement. lastly this light require 3 power point, 1 for the bluefish wireless controller, 1 for the fan and 1 for the lights so u need to make sure u have enough power sockets. The good thing about this is u can let lights take a break at night without have to power off your controller. Also during the night mode u can off your fans to prolong its life.

So that's about it the cons are not a dealbreaker for me and I am a satisfied customer. Dave also has a huge group of satisfied customer in the US where u can read the reviews on nanoreef forum, his lights has also been featured on their TOTM quite a few time.

[illumnae]

Thanks for the detailed writeup jasyu! Reason I am asking is that I'm currently using a Hydra 26 over my 50x30x30 cm office nano tank, but my wife wants to upgrade her 322 tank lighting to 2x Hydra 26. I'm thinking of whether to just buy the 2 Hydra 26s for her, or buy 1 Hydra 26 and use my current Hydra 26 for her tank, and perhaps buy a Nano Box for my office nano. Mounting wise I'm using the stainless steel mounting bar sold by Madpetz, which allows me to hang my Hydra 26 parallel to the front of the tank. I also already have a controller.

Based on the above, it seems like getting a Nano Box would be a much more expensive option for me and the only positive difference it makes for me is the additional cyan led (Hydra 26 comes with green).

For the Radion, I haven't checked on the price yet, but I thought the S$1XXX price is for the XR30w not the XR15w.

Once again, thanks for your feedback!

[jasyu]

Oh maybe that price is for the XR30W, but for me i was looking at the XR30W as i feel that the spread for XR15W is not good enough unless u use the 120degree optics but that PAR is reduced for that.

As for your case since you already have a hydra 26 then u should just buy another and add on more economical. I almost went with the Hydra 26 but decided otherwise as the nanobox mounting is much neater and also i do not need to purchase other additional equipment just to run it. PAR values according to their website is also lower as compared to nanobox. The light spread is also more circular compare to the rectangularish for the nanobox which will suit my tank.

Ultimately i read all the review between those 2 and decided that i shall take a risk on Nanobox as both of them will work up to about the same price for me.

[sherman]

Dave personally do a compare and say

Medium :

The Kessil is my direct competition in this category. The DUO really is an amazing light for most nano/medium size tanks. The DUOs 12" body allows for a evenly dispersed light over a medium sized aquarium. Minimizing shadows almost completely. The small size has an amazing output that really makes it shine. The DUO also comes standard with the same style gooseneck tank mount that is on the Mini in a 9" or 13" length. Coming in over 90 custom colors for the same price. Equipped with the wireless Bluefish controller for the same price as before the DUO is priced very conservatively which the rich features it has.

Hydra 26 and Radion XR15w are not even mention

[sherman]

This is the thread.

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/361300-nano-box-comparison-chart-stacking-against-the-competitors/

[vurbul]

He comparing his own lights with others?

[illumnae]

I've read that thread too when doing research on the Nanobox. He doesn't mention Hydra26 and XR15W as he is only picking 1 competitor in each category to comment on - what he feels is his biggest competition. However, if you look at the table he created, he listed the Hydra26 in the Medium category and the XR15W in the Nano category (which is a weird categorization if you ask me, since the XR15W is more than double the wattage of the Nanobox Mini and is comparable to the Hydra26), showing that they are more than viable competitors to the Nanobox series.

In my opinion, the competitor he chooses to highlight in each category is not his "biggest competition" as he states, but the one he is able to find the most things to say good things about his light vs the other one. For example, why is he picking the Kessil in the Medium category when, for example, the Hydra 26 is cheaper even with the controller option and has 7 controllable channels vs his 2-4 channels?

I'm not saying that the Nanobox is not a good light - I do believe that it is, and its loyal following proves this point. However, I feel that it is not accurate to use that comparison post that is created by the Nanobox owner. It is natural that he would rate his own light as the best. Especially here in Singapore where we have to import the Nanobox plus run the risk of warranty issues - not saying Dave won't honour warranty, but sending parts back and forth is time consuming and costly - we have to admit that the other options we have here with direct distributor support are at least equal if not better options relatively speaking.

[ReDDeviLs]

going with the XR15 maybe a better choice if spread is a concern. the 120Degree lens do reduce par but users will be able to increase the intensity to compensate the par lost.