Mars Aqua Chinese LED review (Ebay)

[ariffle11]

hey all...

im looking to replace my halides over my 210g with some black box LEDs... my question is how many of these units would be sufficient over my tank? dimensions are 72x24x30deep... mixed reef, LPS dominant... I will probably suppliment with t5s as well, because i like my tank BLUE.

thanks in advance for any help!

 

[fishbox]

I probably have $40 max invested in upgrades for the 300W model, including new fans and a few LEDs. The apex mod is free/nearly free. You're not doing anything but hardwiring a couple wires to the circuit board. Buying the ALC, or whatever lighting controller module you need, would be necessary no matter what LED light fixture you purchase, therefore, should not be included as an "upgrade" cost vs another fixture.

Yeah I'm not taking into consideration the ALC. I'm only looking at cost of LEDs and fans. And the only reason I'm taking the fence into consideration it's because this tank is in my bedroom and of brothers got to sleep if you know what I mean.

 

[maddmaxx]

hey all...

im looking to replace my halides over my 210g with some black box LEDs... my question is how many of these units would be sufficient over my tank? dimensions are 72x24x30deep... mixed reef, LPS dominant... I will probably suppliment with t5s as well, because i like my tank BLUE.

thanks in advance for any help!

3x 165w fixtures would work fine, and that's without adding the T5s...

 

[ariffle11]

Maddmaxx... would they have to be ran maxed out to penetrate to the sand bed in my tank? What is the recommended break in regimen to ramp up from halides to these?

 

[90tanknj]

Marsaqua buy from e-bay Marshydro

Marsaqua buy from e-bay Marshydro

Got the lights yesterday. 2 165 w I built a wood frame to hold them. Attached is how they turned. I set them at 25% white and like 50% blue. Don't like the way they are currently looking. The color pop more on my PC bulbs. So will play with them tomorrow and see.
Attached is a picture.

 

[OllieNZ]

That's exactly what the walkthrough I posted up shows to do and that's exactly what I did. The ReefKeeper/ALC is able to turn the fixture on/off, but no dimming.

It shouldn't be able to turn it on and off (unless you have the ac plugged into a controlled outlet)
Are you sure you have it correctly wired?

The way the dimming on the driver works is the VDM+ pin produces around 9.5v and this is grounded to the VDM- pin the amount of voltage allowed to ground controls the brightness. If the dimming pins are open circuit (no voltage allowed to ground) then you get max brightness and if they are closed circuit with all the voltage being allowed to ground you get minimum brightness. The driver is not capable of being dimmed to zero. I need to recheck my figures (it will have to wait till I'm back at work next week) but max output to the leds was around 93v and min was around 45v.
Not plugged into anything the 0-10v circuit on the alc should not be producing any voltage just varying resistance but depending on how they do it may make it difficult to measure and possibly polarity sensitive. This is why I need to work out exactly how the alc works.

 

[OllieNZ]

Okay further digging done.
The alc produces a 0-10v signal this will not work directly with the dimming circuit in our case as we require resistive dimming. Some of the more expensive drivers are capable of utilising any of the 3 main types of dimming (resistive, 0-10v and pwm) but this is not the case here. There should be a way of adapting this but it's going to take a little more work.

 

[Swope2bc]

See post 230 on page 12 of this thread for a walk through.

 

[OllieNZ]

See post 230 on page 12 of this thread for a walk through.

Unfortunately this is not applicable to the current issue. I'm trying to work out a way to control a resistive type dimming circuit with an analogue signal. It's fairly easy to do with a digital signal by feeding the vdm+ signal through a pwm controlled transistor or a digital pot. Coming up with a simple inexpensive way that any one with basic soldering skills can replicate to do this with an analogue signal is proving more difficult.

 

[Swope2bc]

Unfortunately this is not applicable to the current issue. I'm trying to work out a way to control a resistive type dimming circuit with an analogue signal. It's fairly easy to do with a digital signal by feeding the vdm+ signal through a pwm controlled transistor or a digital pot. Coming up with a simple inexpensive way that any one with basic soldering skills can replicate to do this with an analogue signal is proving more difficult.

If you read through that thread you will see that I knew nothing of 0-10v vs PWM to begin with, my first attempt failed and was followed by a simple fix using a converter to change from the apex 0-10v to the u it's PWM signal. It does require an extra purchase but it was inexpensive and simple to install.

 

[OllieNZ]

If you read through that thread you will see that I knew nothing of 0-10v vs PWM to begin with, my first attempt failed and was followed by a simple fix using a converter to change from the apex 0-10v to the u it's PWM signal. It does require an extra purchase but it was inexpensive and simple to install.

I have read (been following it for some time) the thread and unfortunately I can't find an off the shelf solution. This is not much of an issue for me as I'm planning on using an arduino for my controller. However I have access to some clever people when it comes to electronics so it'd be nice to come up with a solution to help others who like to use these lights and already have a reef controller.

 

[Swope2bc]

I have read (been following it for some time) the thread and unfortunately I can't find an off the shelf solution. This is not much of an issue for me as I'm planning on using an arduino for my controller. However I have access to some clever people when it comes to electronics so it'd be nice to come up with a solution to help others who like to use these lights and already have a reef controller.

I'm not sure what part is missing but I know I had to jump through some hoops to figure out how to make mine work. Let me know how it goes.

 

[jedimasterben]

Since there doesn't seem to be a single quality pic of a tank under this light, here is one. Tank is a 40 breeder. Optics removed, added a thin diffuser sheet to the splash shield, and swapped the red and green LEDs for violet. Using a Bluefish for control, set to 85% white and 45% blue in the photo and video.

 

[maddmaxx]

Since there doesn't seem to be a single quality pic of a tank under this light, here is one. Tank is a 40 breeder. Optics removed, added a thin diffuser sheet to the splash shield, and swapped the red and green LEDs for violet. Using a Bluefish for control, set to 85% white and 45% blue in the photo and video.

what fixture are you running? you should also add it to your sig. you have everything else but the lighting lol...thumbs up on the tank. looks healthy

 

[jedimasterben]

what fixture are you running? you should also add it to your sig. you have everything else but the lighting lol...thumbs up on the tank. looks healthy

This thread is about the MarsAqua panels...

 

[rekab]

Since there doesn't seem to be a single quality pic of a tank under this light, here is one. Tank is a 40 breeder. Optics removed, added a thin diffuser sheet to the splash shield, and swapped the red and green LEDs for violet. Using a Bluefish for control, set to 85% white and 45% blue in the photo and video.

Did you find the diffuser helps blend colors better or is there another reason for it?

 

[maddmaxx]

This thread is about the MarsAqua panels...

obviously lol, but I was wondering what fixture was being used. the 165w or the 300w version.. clearly its a nice healthy tank. so in his sig you see all the other equipment. you would think the light above that tank would make this sig also? no?

 

[reefan4ever]

Great thread. After reading all of it, I will be purchasing these LEDs. Still debating whether to go with 3 x 165w or 2 x 300w for my 125g (72" long to be mounted inside canopy). Thoughts?

 

[jedimasterben]

Did you find the diffuser helps blend colors better or is there another reason for it?

The splash shield is realistically too close for it to have a drastic effect, but it does knock banding down by a good bit, I would definitely recommend it. It is the 'sand' model and dirt cheap: http://www.berlinwallpaper.com/dcfix/Transparent.htm

obviously lol, but I was wondering what fixture was being used. the 165w or the 300w version.. clearly its a nice healthy tank. so in his sig you see all the other equipment. you would think the light above that tank would make this sig also? no?

OH! I gotcha now, we're on the same page

It is the 165w model. I have not updated my signature recently to reflect the changes, I only got the light around two weeks ago

 

[firebirdude]

The splash shield is realistically too close for it to have a drastic effect, but it does knock banding down by a good bit, I would definitely recommend it. It is the 'sand' model and dirt cheap: http://www.berlinwallpaper.com/dcfix/Transparent.htm


OH! I gotcha now, we're on the same page

It is the 165w model. I have not updated my signature recently to reflect the changes, I only got the light around two weeks ago

The flow in that tank is incredible...