sclark0548
New member
Thinking of moving to LEDs. Is anyone running these lights with sps? I saw these fixtures running at a store in OKC and the colors seemed impressive. Love to ditch the heat / power of my metal halide. I have a 36x18x24 tank.
Is anyone running aqua illuminations sol LEDS?
- Thread starter sclark0548
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FILTERDAQUATICS
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These are now my go to fixtures for new tank installs. I have setup 12 of these now on different tanks and only have good things to say about them. I will tell that for tremendous SPS growth you will need 3 evenly spaced across a 36" tank like yours. Two will keep sps alive but for rapid growth and color that competes with metal halides you will want 3. Also the price is what makes these great. There are only a few units that do what the AI do but the others are all much higher and dont offer anything that AI doesnt have.
FILTERDAQUATICS
New member
Ive installed all of mine so far front to back with great success . Im sure there are times when you may want to run them length ways so you could run 2 side by side for an extremely deep tank front to back like 32" + but I havent found the need to yet plus I like the wires hidden in the back.
sclark0548
New member
Thanks for the info. I was planning on removing the top of my custom built oak canopy and mounting the rails about 12" over the water. Want to keep the all wood look of my tank, but leave the top open for air flow over the lights. How high above the water have you been mounting these? Will mounting them that high give me better coverage? I just do not like the look of the mounting legs and those just seem way too close to the water surface to me.
sclark0548
New member
Also meant to ask, do you think I should wait for the vega to be released? Have you heard anything on it? I have been reading posts on it, but there is not alot of specs, just that they will be wireless. I have pretty much ruled out the ecotech radions. The colors look impressive on the radions, but the 800 price tag per unit seems insane. Couldn't get that purchase past the wifey.
FILTERDAQUATICS
New member
I have used several methods to mount them the best for your tank would be to attach a couple of 1 1/2" wooden runners down both 18" ends of your canopy 2" down from the top of your canopy making a ledge for the ends of your 36" AI rails to sit on. This is nice because there is no way they can fall in the water but you can still slide the whole lighting system foward and backward to allow better access into your tank.
FILTERDAQUATICS
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I saw these at the Iowa MACNA look cool but no personal experience yet.
kent ashbrener
New member
At the risk of getting in trouble again,lol
You might take a look at the reef torch light.
I have 2 on my tank with even light throughout and the par is great
With the 100 watt light I have 150 par everywhere on bottom at 16 inches
And 1inch it ranges from 600 to almost 700 depending on how close to the lights
I was told he has a new set up with cooling fans and differant combination of bulbs.
I have seen a number of tanks with these lights and they look great
I think Jason has them in his 180
You might take a look at the reef torch light.
I have 2 on my tank with even light throughout and the par is great
With the 100 watt light I have 150 par everywhere on bottom at 16 inches
And 1inch it ranges from 600 to almost 700 depending on how close to the lights
I was told he has a new set up with cooling fans and differant combination of bulbs.
I have seen a number of tanks with these lights and they look great
I think Jason has them in his 180
FILTERDAQUATICS
New member
Im not a big fan of those lights Im sure they work but when you consider the price and the fact that they are not controllable the AI is a better way to go. Also when I was showed them in person the fixture was running almost to hot to touch and that will drastically shorten the life of an LED. AI's are just better with more features and a price that is not much higher.
RtReef
New member
Believe it or notI only have one over my 65g Tank. It's been that way for over 5 months now and I have no complaints. I switched all the optics out to 70* which is very simple and cheap $20. I was growing SPS directly under it but I slacked on my water change and my green birds nest no likely. i mainly have LPS, and softies dominated. SPS is just too much work for me. As far as LPS my Acan that is only 4 months old went from 4 heads not to 11 heads, my frogspawn that is 7 months old is forming a second head and same with my hammer which is only 4 months old. Zoa's are growing out of control I had 2 frags with 1 polyp each that are only 3-4 months old, now one has 10 other has 11 polyps. Light is 11" AWL, 85% peak intensities on both colors, and the pic is before I installed 70* optics
Here is a pic to see how I hung it. Very simple Bracket from home depot, framing wires and the metal crimps they sell in the same isle.
Here is a pic to see how I hung it. Very simple Bracket from home depot, framing wires and the metal crimps they sell in the same isle.
FILTERDAQUATICS
New member
Believe it or notI only have one over my 65g Tank. It's been that way for over 5 months now and I have no complaints. I switched all the optics out to 70* which is very simple and cheap $20. I was growing SPS directly under it but I slacked on my water change and my green birds nest no likely. i mainly have LPS, and softies dominated. SPS is just too much work for me. As far as LPS my Acan that is only 4 months old went from 4 heads not to 11 heads, my frogspawn that is 7 months old is forming a second head and same with my hammer which is only 4 months old. Zoa's are growing out of control I had 2 frags with 1 polyp each that are only 3-4 months old, now one has 10 other has 11 polyps. Light is 11" AWL, 85% peak intensities on both colors, and the pic is before I installed 70* optics
Here is a pic to see how I hung it. Very simple Bracket from home depot, framing wires and the metal crimps they sell in the same isle.
I like the way you hung it directly from the mounting rail screw eliminating the need for the rail worked great for your application.
kent ashbrener
New member
I agree on the heat and all his new lights have cooling fans built in
I also like the fact that it hangs from my tank hood only 8 inches above the water so I don't get blinded by the light
He also has a 10 w refug. light
sclark0548
New member
I just watched the video of the new Vega fixture from AI. I am going to hold out for this fixture. From what I read, it is full spectrum and can be mounted lengthwise with 70 degree lenses (so I should only need 2 units for my tank). I also like that it will have a wireless web based controller.
In my personal experience, keep your halide light in the garage or something, as you may decide to go back to it sometime in the future.
mutateddogbone
New member
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