Opinions on Onyx

Spartanman22

Spartanman22

Well-known member
My halide/T5 fixture is having issues and I'm considering this a good opportunity to finally upgrade to LED's. I was looking at the dim able onyx fixture. Does anyone have any opinions on it? I have a 18"x18x20 cube that is a mixed reef. Ideally I'd go with the Radion pro but that's a little out of my price range at the moment.
 
Couple questions:

Do you want manual dimming or programmable dimming?

Do you have a controller? If so, which one?

I initially thought about getting the onyx, but only because I have an apex that I would use to control it.

IMO, if the radion is more than you are able to spend, the next best light for a cube is a kessil. The a350 as Tinman suggested is a great light, but if you have a controller, go with the a360. You can plug them into various controllers and program them however you want.
 
I think a Par38 would cover a 18"x18" cube but I'm not sure what the penetration is at different depths.
 
I do have a reef keeper elite so I would be looking at the dimmable one. I have looked at the Kessil and have heard great things about it. The only reason I am looking at dimmable onyx is because I found a pretty good deal on one (less than $280).

I have used a par38 on a 5 gallon nano and liked it but would not be happy with it on a 20" deep tank. I had some zoas stretching on the bottom of the tank (maybe 16" from light). My halide ballast died and instead of replacing the halide ballast I'd like to give LEDs a try.

Ultimately if you suggest against the Onyx I'll likely just replace the ballast. The only reason I'm really considering the onyx is because of the price tag I found one it at.

I'm not so concerned with all the fancy bells and whistles I'm just looking for a solid light that will grow coral. I place all my SPS in the upper half and softies and zoas on the bottom. I was looking at the par charts for the dimmable onyx and they look pretty good with 500-650 in the center 24" high.
 
Ok so the mention of the CC-120s has got me looking at them some more and has led me to a couple questions. First,

The CC120 uses bridgelux as opposed to the Crees in the onyx. Is the difference significance?

Does the greater quantity of LEDs in the CC compensate for any inefficiencies between bridgelux and Cree?

If I go CC120 route I would want the fully programmable one as opposed to the manual dimming which is more expensive, but it looks like that can be controlled by the light itself and would require an ALC module like the onyx would.

So I think I've settled between either the Rapidled dimmable onyx or the CC120p. Which would you choose. I can get the onyx for about $35 cheaper but I would eventually want the ALC module to control dimming which is an additional $75 making the onyx $40 more expensive in the long run.
 
Spartanman22 said:
Ok so the mention of the CC-120s has got me looking at them some more and has led me to a couple questions. First,

The CC120 uses bridgelux as opposed to the Crees in the onyx. Is the difference significance?

i would say visually you wouldnt see the difference. Crees are better cause they can be run at higher wattage and would put out higher par. your next question the number would compensate for this .. i might be wrong and if so some one would correct me ;)

Does the greater quantity of LEDs in the CC compensate for any inefficiencies between bridgelux and Cree?

above
If I go CC120 route I would want the fully programmable one as opposed to the manual dimming which is more expensive, but it looks like that can be controlled by the light itself and would require an ALC module like the onyx would.
CC programmable ones do no need a controller or alc module
So I think I've settled between either the Rapidled dimmable onyx or the CC120p. Which would you choose. I can get the onyx for about $35 cheaper but I would eventually want the ALC module to control dimming which is an additional $75 making the onyx $40 more expensive in the long run.

if you are comparing only between these two its totally upto you .. but CC is a local company and comes with 3 year waranty and Jimmy is a stand up guy, very honest.
Click to expand...

Answered your questions above.. in BOLD ..

whats your budget if we may ask and why not look into some preowned kessils or Razors ( just giving you options) both would be wonderful for the dimensions you mentioned '
 
I'd like to stay around the $300 price range so I'd be interested in anything really as long as it's a quality light. I will say that I have seen the CC120 lights in person and was impressed with them and jimmy is a great guy to deal with so if there's not much improvement I figured might as well give him my business!

My only issue with Kessil is that I've read from others that there are some slight complaints of shadowing on SPS since the Kessils are a single point source light and I figured a fixture such as onyx or Radion or CC would be better at avoiding that from happening.
 
I use the cc-120 and have for over about a year now. I absolutely love the light, and the growth is wonderful. I used one on my biocube 29 and had to constantly frag coral. I have since upgraded to 40b and the 1 light would have been sufficient but I like over kill so I run 2. Love them and Jimmy.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk now Free
 
Alright so this is a bit overwhelming there is just too many options! I'm looking at either a Kessil a350, CC120p, or a dimmable onyx. All are wishing my current budget just don't know which is best so would love some opinions. Which would you pick and why?

From what it seems the Kessil seems to be the favorite of the three I'm just a little nervous about shadowing due to a single point source as opposed to a fixture with multiple LEDs like the onyx and CC120p and that the Kessil a350 can't be ramped up and down by my RKE but has to be manually adjusted.
 
IMO, since you have a controller, you may as well use it to control your light.

The a350 is not able to be controlled by your controller. The cc120p does have control capabilities, but not by your controller itself.

At this point, it seems your decision would be between the onyx and the cc120p. I'm a controller person, so any fixture that allows me to have complete control of it, I would lean towards. The cc120p is a great light, and if you don't mind the unit vs your controller doing the controlling that may be a good choice as well.
 
I'm very confident I would have been happy with any one of the three, but I have actually settled on a Kessil a350. I got it for a good price ($300 and only 2 months old still under warranty). It may be a slight hindrance to not be able to run it through my controller, but I don't think it will bother me. I wasn't ever able to ramp up and down my halides. I will hopefully have it in a week or so.
 
I wasn't considering the Radion because I wouldn't have been able to get one for 300 and I was a bit hung up on having the UV LEDs in whichever fixture I went with.
 
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