About

 

This project started with my dissatisfaction with the available lighting options from the big reptile supply and light vendors, for both my dart frog and lizard vivariums. Lights ran too hot, the light emitted didn't look good to my photographers eye, the hoods were clunky, didn't fit well or took up too much space, just to name a few issues.

But my main problem with stock lighting is that the color temp of the light (as measured in degrees Kelvin) is usually too harsh.  Units that grow plants well run at around 6500K and the light tends to be 'blue shifted' which looks harsh to my eye.  Most of us prefer 'soft' light, a color temp for white light that's about 3,000 to 4,000K.

Back around 2014 I started to consider all possible lighting options.  LED strips were becoming more widely available, but I had no idea if they would even grow plants.  I bought some fairly expensive strips from a US based re-seller of Chinese lights and began to experiment.  From the start, I liked how they were working out and I've never stopped testing and tweaking since then.

Once I had contacted several Chinese manufacturers of LED strips, I could custom design the light output to my precise specifications and I would never have to rely upon the limited choices offered by the big light makers again.  That process resulted in custom manufactured LED strips that allow me to create blended light panels optimized for both plant growth and human eyes.

Working with these Chinese companies, I designed both rigid aluminum and flexible strips with black PCBs (so they look cool).  All of them combine different diode colors and white color temps.  The strips contain both 60 and 120 diodes per meter for even more flexibility in distributing the light over the entire top of a vivarium.

Almost every possible diode type has been tested by me from many different vendors.  After a long search I was able to finally find one that produced a lot of lumens without a lot of heat. The power supplies have also been a major hurdle to source.  They're probably always going to be the component most likely to fail, but I have been able to source very reliable drivers at an acceptable cost, as well as getting the industries best driver brand name -- Mean Well (both water proof and non-waterproof).

All of the these components are assembled by me in Edmonds WA, making this a very unique boutique product.  The electronics are all sourced directly from Chinese manufacturers, if there were American companies in this business, I would consider sourcing from them, but that's not an option at this time.  All of the parts and materials are the best that I can find at a price point that will be competitive with other lighting options.

Having bought the cheapest components available on Ebay, I know for a fact that quality makes a huge difference with LED strips, as it does for most products.

Everything has a 30-day money back guarantee.  If you don't like the light, ship it back after contacting me for a refund.  All you pay is the cost of shipping.

The power supplies have a 1 year unconditional warranty from me.  If a dimmer ever fails, I will replace those for free at any time.  If a power supply fails years from now, contact me first before replacing and it and I can definitely get you a better deal than you can probably get elsewhere.