Apollo Reef LED SolarBlast Dimable Review

[jwoyshnar]

Hey Guys,

I picked up a dimmable UV5000 a couple of weeks ago. It's going over what has been a dark gap in my tank between 2 400w Radiums.

I am turning the intensity up slowly to not cause any damage. At the moment I am up to 60% Blue and 35% White and the output color is quite red.

How big of a difference should there be between the blue and white channel to get the 20k look ?

Thanks

Dave B

It depends, which dimmable do you have? Controller or knobs? I know it sounds kinda wierd but there is a difference between the two. The controller version doesn't change much intensity wise after about 55%. The way tey have the LEDs seperated on the dimmable driver is three strings which each string is using 400 ma. The manual drivers have the power to change intensity all of the way up to 100%. Controller I would be around 15-20% white to 55-60% blue. The manual dimmer one I feel is much better for the bluer look.

 

[milonedp]

I'm messing around with these now and I can't get them to dim below 10% is that right? I saw some comments saying 5% but when I have the Apex start the intensity at 8:00 am at 5% I get nothing until about 8:09am but if I start at 10% it kicks on right at 8:00 am.

I was thinking about going with the following (unless I can get it to start lower). See any issues, should I ramp longer? Basically 2 hours to ramp up, 2 hours to ramp down and 8 hours at peek 70/50 which I'll play around with once I get some corals in the tank.

Outlets:
If Time 08:00 to 18:00 Then RUB (Ramp up Blue)
If Time 18:00 to 20:00 Then RDB (Ramp down Blue)
(same settings for white but RUW and RDW)

Profiles:
RUB
Ramp 120
Start 10
End 70

RDB
Ramp 120
Start 70
End 10

RUW
Ramp 120
Start 10
End 50

RDW
Ramp 120
Start 50
End 10

 

[jwoyshnar]

I'm messing around with these now and I can't get them to dim below 10% is that right? I saw some comments saying 5% but when I have the Apex start the intensity at 8:00 am at 5% I get nothing until about 8:09am but if I start at 10% it kicks on right at 8:00 am.

I was thinking about going with the following (unless I can get it to start lower). See any issues, should I ramp longer? Basically 2 hours to ramp up, 2 hours to ramp down and 8 hours at peek 70/50 which I'll play around with once I get some corals in the tank.

Outlets:
If Time 08:00 to 18:00 Then RUB (Ramp up Blue)
If Time 18:00 to 20:00 Then RDB (Ramp down Blue)
(same settings for white but RUW and RDW)

Profiles:
RUB
Ramp 120
Start 10
End 70

RDB
Ramp 120
Start 70
End 10

RUW
Ramp 120
Start 10
End 50

RDW
Ramp 120
Start 50
End 10

They won't. Mean well driver won't dim below 10%

 

[Dustin1300]

I'd say to fairly access whether those values are good to start with knowing the depth of the tank and type of coral could help too!

 

[jwoyshnar]

Between 55-100% there is no change on the blue channel in intensity. They are being so under driven that once they get to 55% there isn't enough current to make them brighter. This is one of the downfalls with these fixtures. I like a little bluer look but with this issue I can't achieve it without really turning down the white channel.

 

[Dustin1300]

I'd say to fairly assess whether those values are good to start with knowing the depth of the tank and type of coral could help too!

Really need edit feature for longer

 

[milonedp]

sorry dustin, 96 by 36 by 30, lights hung at 44 inches off the tank bottom, mix of soft, hammer and a SPS, but nothing is in there yet, I'm just trying to find my "starting point", I do have one of the apollos over the holding tank but its at an odd angle so its not really comparable...

jwoyshnar where are you getting that info? I swear when I was just playing with things last night I could see the blue changing when I was flipping between 80 and 70, could have just been my expectations running away with me but I'll have to check again tonight... I wasn't messing with the white channel at the same time so that wouldn't be it.

 

[milonedp]

I took a look tonight and had the wife just watch the tank without telling her what I was doing and she could see differences in blue from 70 to 100 and going back. Is that something from one of the older models? I have the UV5000.

 

[Phixer]

There is a lot to be said of quality customer service now days. Many places it's non-existent. Apollo Reef has great customer support. I had a lot of questions before ordering Joe answered all of them and has always been quick to reply. The lights are on the way and Im sure they will work great, if not Im sure the company will rectify the issue quickly.

Healty debate over new products like this is a good thing, you learn a lot and they are often entertaining.

 

[Sazerac81]

Seems like people really like this fixture. The extra programming through the different controllers makes it more versatile, but a little daunting for the less tech savvy.

 

[milonedp]

I'm still tinkering with settings now that I have corals in the tank (just about a month), how are people liking and more importantly what % mixes are folks using.

 

[o2manyfish]

I have had my Solar Reef UV for about 5 months. The corals under it are growing well. I was brave enough a couple of weeks ago to place a wild Austrailian Ice Fire Echinata directly under it.

Corals look good, growth seems good. But being as I have 400w radiums on either side of it the color is very red/pinkish and the colors do not pop as much as under the halide.

I have tried multiple combinations of light to try to get a more Blue/White spectrum, but haven't found any combination. At the moment I believe I am at 100 Blue and 75 white.

Dave B

 

[Rambomessiah]

How are these fixtures working for you all? What duration and intensity are you using and how is the growth?

 

[Tank2379]

Here is August of 2012

And
May2013

Enough said.. Everyone raves about all these fixtures but apollos does the exact same as all of them... If I had the money I would try others but Apollos over my Main display and I have my Razor over my Frag Tank...

 

[milonedp]

7am to 9am moonlights then a 2 hour ramp to
80 blue
30 white
Till 7pm then 2 hour ramp to 10 (and the blue and whites power off at 9)
Moonlights till 11

The moonlights actually overlap the ramp up and down a bit but i can't remember how much.
Overall the acros are doing great but some zoas seem to be bleaching and I've taken montgs to acclimate to these levels.

I think I'd like a little more blue so i may slowly play with that mix or even do some t5 supplementation but i have a big tank so others many not have those issues

Overall i like them but still haven't "nailed it" just yet, but I'm going very slow making changes

 

[mr. pluto]

[
Enough said.. Everyone raves about all these fixtures but apollos does the exact same as all of them... If I had the money I would try others but Apollos over my Main display and I have my Razor over my Frag Tank...[/QUOTE]

nice colors you have there.
DO you have just 1 fixture over your cube?

 

[milonedp]

Enough said.. Everyone raves about all these fixtures but apollos does the exact same as all of them... If I had the money I would try others but Apollos over my Main display and I have my Razor over my Frag Tank...

What do your dimming options look like? I'd be interested in seeing how you are running them.

 

[Tank2379]

[
Enough said.. Everyone raves about all these fixtures but apollos does the exact same as all of them... If I had the money I would try others but Apollos over my Main display and I have my Razor over my Frag Tank...

nice colors you have there.
DO you have just 1 fixture over your cube?[/QUOTE]

Yes 1 Fixture over my Cube

 

[Tank2379]

What do your dimming options look like? I'd be interested in seeing how you are running them.

Sunrise B 5 to 90
Sunset B 90-5
MiddayB 100-100

SunriseW 5- 70
Sunset W 70-5
Midday W 80-80

Times
8:00 to 12:00 Sunrise W- ramp 240
12:00 to 17:00 Midday W- ramp 0
17:00 to 19.00 Sunset W ramp 120

6:00 to 12:00 Sunrise B- ramp 240
12:00 to 18:00 Midday B - ramp 0
18:00 to 20:00 Sunset B- ramp 120

I also have a storm mode programed on this one. The model I have also was a believe a Limited addition Artic Red Solar Blast.

 

[blossej]

I have had 2 of the dimmable 5k's over my 120, they are only about 8 inches above the water, I too have not found that sweet spot yet. I am thinkig about raising the lights, I am only running at about 50% white and 80 blue and I still have some Zoa's in the shade because they were bleaching.