Tag Archives: Aquarium

Must Read Aquarium Information Websites

Posted on by fishservice

This is certainly not a complete list of aquarium help/information, but these are ones I CAN vouch for their sources.
Admittedly two websites (Aquarium Article Digest and Aquarium Supplies & Resources) have cited/interviewed me among others as their source of information.
This does not take away their credibility, as I know one website in particular (Aquarium Article Digest) uses dozens of resources and even guest authors (whom I do not know).

The other websites I recommend are based on what I view as simple yet good information.

I should also note that I started this website only recently to counter all the misinformation I find via customers who make me aware there-of.
I am far from an expert in websites (as the amateur quality of the website design shows), and in fact I am rare online. Much of my time online is ONLY after I have a client tell me about the “lasted thing they read online”, for which I investigate.
For this reason I am not always aware of all the good websites either, only the “bad” ones I am made aware of by my clients.

Since this blog over all often has a negative tone based on the reasons I get online in the first place (to explore strange advice my clients repeat to me that they found online), I felt having a positive post about websites I can recommend was long overdue.


Aquarium Article Digest

This article is especially excellent for its articles on lighting, such as “LED Aquarium Lights, Lighting Information“.

 


Aquarium Supplies & Resources

This article has a great listing itself of many top notch articles in this article: “Unique Aquarium Articles”

 


Sponge Filter; Information

While not a flashy website, I found the articles simple and “spot on”

 


Aquarium Medications

Great accurate article about the use of aquarium medications and treatments, as well as where to get them.
Again I found this website spot on with the article about Furan 2 interesting since this is a product I often find useful.

 


Fish Beginner

A client stumbled upon this neat little gem and told me about it.
I especially like this article from this website:
Aquarium UV Sterilizer Use; Choosing & Maintenance– This article includes simple but accurate information about choosing a replacement UV bulb

Stark Aquarium LED Review (E Shine)

Posted on by fishservice

Revised 7-25-12

Stark LED, EShine LED Lighting over Aquarium, 60 wattThe Stark LED is a nice compact LED that has been making the rounds, especially in So. Cal Aquarium service circles.

It looks nice, and its performance is reasonable, albeit a few years (3 generations) behind the leaders of the pack.

However the way it is marketed, one would think this was the latest and best technology, and it is not.
I also read on a forum (based on a customer citing this) whereby the moderator made a obscene remark about the FACT these are simply E.Shine LEDs, implying that the E.Shine LED is not what it is

60 watt StarkLED, E.Shine Aquarium LED LightWhat is the importance of this you might ask?
Well E.Shine is a large Chinese manufacturer of lighting, including these LED lights that are manufactured for branding by any company willing to purchase them; in this case the Stark LED such as the 60 watt model.
The FACTS are E.Shine does not have patent rights to the Cree emitters with the highest PUR output (please note I said PUR, not PAR and this is what REALLY matters and why so many resellers of inferior LEDs will always note their high PAR, but never note PUR).

I will note before I seem to be “roasting” EShine, I am not stating these are junk LEDs, if you want junk try out the Sky LED sold on Amazon, TruAqua, etc which is for fish only and is far from acceptable for reef or planted aquariums (I will provide further reviews of this product at a later time). Back to the Stark/ E.Shine, these can be used for a basic reef aquarium, just not a an advanced reef systems, despite marketing to the contray (which is really my main “beef” with these LEDs)

For those note convinced, here are some facts from E.Shines own literature (the 60 watt panel). I obtained this from a friend who had this sent to him by EShine.

• 60 watt using CREE series 10 3watt XP-G R5 Cool White 8000~10000k white and 10
3watt XP-E D3 455nm royal blue
• High PAR value. 200 PAR reading for each LED from 5″ distance
• Two dimmers for white and blue each, fan with thermal control switch
• Corrosion-proof casing by special painted
• 80 degree view angle with convex lens, mixing white and blue for
better grow effect
• Pure 450~460nm spectrums, No UV radiation harm
• Less heat, no chiller unit required, 20-30 ºC on water surface
• One fan on back runs against heat
• External power supply, detachable power cord
• Hanging kits included
• Three-Year warranty

As the reader can see, EShine does not even publish an exact Kelvin output for their daylight emitters, as they cannot with these older generation XPG emitters and XP-E blue emitters as well.
In fact these out of patent XP emitters have an output of around 250 lumens when driven at their maximum current.
The most recent Cree emitters produce 390 lumens when driven at the same current

Here is a quote from the article referenced below:
“Can you compare the technology in an Intel processor from 1998 to one made in 2011?”
Please reference this article for more:
E.Shine, Stark LED Review.

The point is company whether it is an electronics company, drug company, etc have to recover development costs and to do this they will get contracts from the highest bidder so as to recover these development costs; for this reason and while EShine (StarkLED) may put out a decent product, this Chinese company simply does not have the access to the newest emitters any more than you as a consumer are going to be able to buy a HP or other computer with Intel’s latest processor at Walmart for $300.

Also Reference:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/LEDManufF.htm
Purchase LED Aquarium Lights; What to Know

Finally, I will add that while these it is obvious that the referenced articles have the same product for aquarium LED lighting, that does not change the facts of the information provided therein (despite a few lame forum posts I have read).
Facts are Facts regardless if a certain product may appear to be pushed.