Mars Aqua Chinese LED review (Ebay)

codydemmel4 said:
Thank you, I appreciate it.



Anyone have any suggestions on the strength I should have each channel at and how do you guys measure what is what % besides completely guessing.
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It's an educated guess based upon distance of turn... Mine is hooked up to my apex so it's not a guess anymore, but 50-60% on blue and less but what looks good to you on white. Just be sure to acclimate your new corals to the light.
 
Im setting up a new 90g sps tank that i will be picking up tomorrow. I am trying to decide on my lighting. Either going back to tried and true 250w mh or giving 2 165w led black boxes a try. I hqve had many sps and mixed reef tanks in the past so im not new to this so my bigest decision with this build is my lighting. The low cost over time and the lower cost of these leds has me on the fence. I can pick up 2 Hamilton pendants tomorrow for $90 or wait and save a little more and get the leds but i want to know they are a good light and will grow all sps including acros which will dominate my reef tank.
 
DesertReefT4r said:
Thank, yeah went through it already but still have reservations.
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I love my light, but someone chiming in with good SPS success would be nice. I know that at 60% I burned some cup corals lol... I'm growing Galaxia, frogspawn, hammer, and torch easy but that doesn't help with your SPS... They claim they will grow SPS, and I am inclined to believe it as they have the spectrum and power needed. Any first hand experience that can respond?
 
I have ~5 SPS pieces in my 40B. Only had the light a couple weeks though.

If it's any consolation, this isn't the first time I've used LEDs with no supplement. Before everyone was doing this "full spectrum" LED thing I had a full DIY setup. Grew SPS no problem. Used them for ~18-20 months. Took the whole tank down due to moving. I wanted to upgrade sizes anyway.
 
I think i am going to take the gamble on led and the black box. 2 years ago i woukd have never considered it with the low watts and poor quality of chinw made led lights but now they have come a long way. After considering the cost of the 2 used Hamilton mh pendants $90, new bulbs $45 for ebay bulbs or $150 for Phoenix 14ks and maybe the cost of a replacement ballast since one light takes awhile to fire. After all that im ahead of the game already by buying new black box leds. Plus the heat and power bill savings. I may add some t5 lighting if needed.
 
garygonzales said:
yep will grow just about anything,,,,should go thru this thread and read it there is lots of advise...and info.....
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I have the lights for almost a year now, the acroporas and montiporas are growing fabulous, you get better results with this lights than with MH and you won't have to deal with the heat generated by MH and bulbs every 6mo... If you want a grow schedule you will have to slowly increase the white channel, mine is at 35%-45%and the blue is at 85%, increase the lights for grow slowly, over a long period of time like 6-7 weeks, if you see bleaching crank the white down until coal coral coloration is back to normal and start increasing the whites slower. You can see a video I think on American reef channel I believe. I didn't follow any program, just slowly increased the whites until I got the grow rate I wanted. With blues you can start at 40%. If you go slowly over a few weeks period you will be fine and achieve what you want. The lights will work just fine, it's a bit complicated to hook them to a controller but never the less doable. So if I can grow sps really nice and I am new to the hobby I'm sure you can too...
 
I got my two in the mail today. They were packaged very good. They are very bright and a nicely made fixture. I have a 24 x 24 x 12T tank. I held 1 unit over the tank. The only way I could cover most of the tank was to hold it about two feet high. There was light spillage which I don't want. I then took all the lenses off and tried holding 8-10" high. It covered all the tank but didn't seem to look as "bright". So I put the lenses back on and held two units about 10" high. Great coverage and super bright. I will run both at lower setting.

As for the red and green LEDs. I did not notice those colors while holding it over the tank. But i do not have water, sand or rock in the tank yet. You can dim it to look like a 10k MH or a 20k MH bulb and any where in between.
 
I used these on my 75 build and don't really have any complaints. Everything I had (mostly LPS) had fantastic growth and color. I hooked them up to a couple of outlet timers and, once I got the corals acclimated, didn't have to touch them.

I ran them at about 80% blue and 60% white and they stayed cool. I could hear the fans every once in a while, but only when I was really listening for them. I would by them again.
 
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