I ordered a Dimmable Onyx by Rapid LED this morning. I will be doing a typical unboxing and a blerb about them as well. I was going to wait to write up a full thread, but after talking to them and getting the shipping info, I had to start this early.
RapidLED.com has always had great customer service with me. This has been no exception. They promptly replied to my Twitter comments and to my follow up emails. They show appreciation to their customers and their returning customers, which is something that is hard to find lately. As many know, I am one of the last people to pay new retail prices. However, with the product line I have used through them so far, I will always suggest their product. Yes, they are pricier then I would normally purchase myself and I am aware of other great options out there like AquaStyleOnline.com (whom always falls to the second LED retailer I suggest). Their DIY options are amazing and well worth the few extra pennies for the solderless LEDs.
I ordered directly through their website this morning around 10:00am. I did spend an extra $10 for upgraded shipping. The estimated deliver is Monday! I wish I would have ordered them on Thursday now so that they would have been here already. $10 more shipping for overnight!!! How awesome is that. I also have a short shift on Monday...so hopefully they will be up and running that night.
As for my order...
2x Dimmable Onyx by Rapid LED(Lens Angle: 60 degrees)
1 x Dimmable Onyx to Apex/VDM Wire
1 x Onyx to Onyx Wiring Harness
Subtotal: $628.00
Shipping: $75.47
Grand Retail Total: $703.47 (thank you safety bonus, Christmas in May for me)
2x Dimmable Onyx by Rapid LED
Lens Angle: 60 degrees
1 x Dimmable Onyx to Apex/VDM Wire
1 x Onyx to Onyx Wiring Harness
Estimated Delivery is Mon 6/01/2015 by 5:00 pm...more to come soon
06/06/2015...
2 Onyx fixtures with the Apex cable, the link cable and the "Y" mono headphone adapter.
So that tap and dye set I purchased on sale years ago came in handy last night. At around 10:30pm I had already removed the hood and the T5 fixture before trying to fit the new hanging kit. The nubs did not fit in the runners for my lights. Then the 1/4 bolts that I wanted to thread in the holes of the hanging kit did not fit. (oddly enough I think the holes were tapped metric) Luckily I had that tap kit and redid the threads. The hanging kit is designed to be installed with screws and plugs.
These things looks so small compared to my 6 bulb T5 that was in there before. Now the only problem is that I need to find a place for all the things I used to store onto of the T5. I do not like the fact that there is only the one connections for the channels. I would hope that future models would also have 'link' mono jacks and 'link' power on the other side of the unit to link them instead of using the mono "Y" adapter and second power supply with hanging more wires over to the next unit.
Closing after the initial set up...
I can not speak to growth or anything of the sort at this point. These appear to be well made and would look great above your tank without a hood so long as you do not have to link them together. Hooking them together was easy, and over all the installation was easy and would not typically take long at all. Linking them to my Apex was a breeze. Especially with Fusion using the lighting wizard. I spend all of about 2 minutes to program all 3 channels. They do need to be around 12" above the water to have a proper spread across the sandbed. When closer, the light leaves some large shadow areas and almost appeared to leave the sandbed dark. From the lighting runner to the water line is 21". So these may not work well in a standard hood without other mounting options. I had to rework my hood and move my light runner above my canopy while putting the hanging kit as short as possible to get these high enough above the water.
06/21/2015 ... So far so good. LPS, softies and zoas are all happy. I can even see the difference on the hydro meter as it spins vs my T5
. I love the control through my Apex on all 3 channels. My SPS is doing okay and coming back, but that is my fault for falling behind in maintenance. Hopefully I will get my tank water parameters back in order. They continue to impress with their customer service. I was concerned with the way one of the fixtures were dispersing the lights and thought maybe there were some 60degree lenses installed on accident. They walked me through the light fixture and everything was proper. They have always been quick to reply with an actual message, not just a canned response.
The fans are dead silent. They are heat controlled as well, so only on when and as needed. Great function.
I opened to check the lenses and did find something I was not expecting, it is a led chip board, not individual leds.
RapidLED.com has always had great customer service with me. This has been no exception. They promptly replied to my Twitter comments and to my follow up emails. They show appreciation to their customers and their returning customers, which is something that is hard to find lately. As many know, I am one of the last people to pay new retail prices. However, with the product line I have used through them so far, I will always suggest their product. Yes, they are pricier then I would normally purchase myself and I am aware of other great options out there like AquaStyleOnline.com (whom always falls to the second LED retailer I suggest). Their DIY options are amazing and well worth the few extra pennies for the solderless LEDs.
I ordered directly through their website this morning around 10:00am. I did spend an extra $10 for upgraded shipping. The estimated deliver is Monday! I wish I would have ordered them on Thursday now so that they would have been here already. $10 more shipping for overnight!!! How awesome is that. I also have a short shift on Monday...so hopefully they will be up and running that night.
As for my order...
2x Dimmable Onyx by Rapid LED(Lens Angle: 60 degrees)
1 x Dimmable Onyx to Apex/VDM Wire
1 x Onyx to Onyx Wiring Harness
Subtotal: $628.00
Shipping: $75.47
Grand Retail Total: $703.47 (thank you safety bonus, Christmas in May for me)
2x Dimmable Onyx by Rapid LED
Lens Angle: 60 degrees
1 x Dimmable Onyx to Apex/VDM Wire
1 x Onyx to Onyx Wiring Harness
Estimated Delivery is Mon 6/01/2015 by 5:00 pm...more to come soon
06/06/2015...
2 Onyx fixtures with the Apex cable, the link cable and the "Y" mono headphone adapter.
So that tap and dye set I purchased on sale years ago came in handy last night. At around 10:30pm I had already removed the hood and the T5 fixture before trying to fit the new hanging kit. The nubs did not fit in the runners for my lights. Then the 1/4 bolts that I wanted to thread in the holes of the hanging kit did not fit. (oddly enough I think the holes were tapped metric) Luckily I had that tap kit and redid the threads. The hanging kit is designed to be installed with screws and plugs.
These things looks so small compared to my 6 bulb T5 that was in there before. Now the only problem is that I need to find a place for all the things I used to store onto of the T5. I do not like the fact that there is only the one connections for the channels. I would hope that future models would also have 'link' mono jacks and 'link' power on the other side of the unit to link them instead of using the mono "Y" adapter and second power supply with hanging more wires over to the next unit.
Closing after the initial set up...
I can not speak to growth or anything of the sort at this point. These appear to be well made and would look great above your tank without a hood so long as you do not have to link them together. Hooking them together was easy, and over all the installation was easy and would not typically take long at all. Linking them to my Apex was a breeze. Especially with Fusion using the lighting wizard. I spend all of about 2 minutes to program all 3 channels. They do need to be around 12" above the water to have a proper spread across the sandbed. When closer, the light leaves some large shadow areas and almost appeared to leave the sandbed dark. From the lighting runner to the water line is 21". So these may not work well in a standard hood without other mounting options. I had to rework my hood and move my light runner above my canopy while putting the hanging kit as short as possible to get these high enough above the water.
06/21/2015 ... So far so good. LPS, softies and zoas are all happy. I can even see the difference on the hydro meter as it spins vs my T5
. I love the control through my Apex on all 3 channels. My SPS is doing okay and coming back, but that is my fault for falling behind in maintenance. Hopefully I will get my tank water parameters back in order. They continue to impress with their customer service. I was concerned with the way one of the fixtures were dispersing the lights and thought maybe there were some 60degree lenses installed on accident. They walked me through the light fixture and everything was proper. They have always been quick to reply with an actual message, not just a canned response.The fans are dead silent. They are heat controlled as well, so only on when and as needed. Great function.
I opened to check the lenses and did find something I was not expecting, it is a led chip board, not individual leds.
Last edited:
