Mars Aqua Chinese LED review (Ebay)

[rgulrich]

In this instance, yes, that us how I labeled them. I've had them come in labeled 1-4, A-D, and (as in this case originally) with no labels, so I provided them when I replaced some of the LEDs to keep things straight. And that's with only four of these 300W fixtures...so there's no guarantee how (or if) the drivers will be labeled. At least the wiring is consistent and the performance fine so far.

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[zelie_dad]

i used two different brands and they worked fine for me...

Could you elaborate? I installed a 2 led RapidLED moonlight kit inside the fixture, and those are Cree's, although they are on their own controller. I personally have had mixed results ordering items through ebay that come direct from China, so that is why I'm hesitant.

 

[garygonzales]

i ordered some bridgelux led and some other ones and they were the 3 watts..they worked good for me and no problems just took forever to get cause they came from china

 

[garygonzales]

@garygonzales -
Thanks!
I used the 405-410nm and 420-425nm LEDs to reproduce the lower end spike for photosynthesis (I posted the graph somewhere up forum - let me know if you'd like a copy I can send to you).

did you notice at all the 405-410 color...are these more of a purple or are they still on the blueish spectrum..thanks.....

 

[rgulrich]

They appear purple to me. And don't be fooled by the apparent lack of intensity - our eyesight doesn't register that lower portion of the spectrum very well.
At the price they're offered at you could pick up a few of each and try them out side by side on the board and see what they look like.

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[garygonzales]

thanks for the info...i did try the 420nm violets and they were blue not purple ..so i will try the 395-400...maybe going down in nm will help...thanks again....

 

[rgulrich]

The actinic/420nm range does have a blue appearance to it. Below that it begins to kean more toward what we call violet I'd wager.
Let me know how if turns out.

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[EGS25]

@Ray
A faithful companion is a must for any project:thumbsup: Thanks for those pics that sounds perfect for what i'm looking for! Nice work on moving the AC plug, I initially was pretty confused when i first saw it, nothing more fun than taking something and modifying it!

Best,
Eric

 

[thaveteran]

Does anyone have the layout for the 300 watt Mars Aqua with (30) 460nm and (20) 450nm?

 

[rgulrich]

@thaveteran -
Here's a copy of the stock layout I posted a bunch o'pages ago in this thread. I think it's pretty accurate:hmm2:...at least it's what I came up with and used for my swapping out LEDs.
Hope it helps. Not sure where you'd find a layout of 30 460nm and 20 450nm LEDs, though.

Cheers,
Ray

 

[jam583]

I need to put 4 of these over a large frag tank. I planned to run all the white spectrum cords into a surge protector (4 total plugs) and that one plug into my apex. Same with blue spectrum, 4 plugs into surge protector, that one into apex. So, on apex, I'm only taking up 2 slots and can program each outlet easily. Any thoughts on this? It looks like 1.3 amps per unit? Is that correct? So I would draw a total of 5.2 Amps if they were all on?

Figured I would answer my question for anyone curious .. Each draws 0.3 AMPS while on at MAX. So, my 4 will only draw 1.2AMPS roughly. I have 2 outlets on the APex setup. Each light goes into a surge protector (4 plugs for whites into one and 4 plugs for blues into another) and surge protector goes to one outlet on Apex, totaling 2 on the Eb8.

 

[CL8869]

Would you guys rather use these Mars Aqua lights in this thread, or do you think the current usa orbit marine lights are better? I have a FOwLr and will be adding reef lighting to it to grow better algae etc.

 

[sepulvd]

am curious how people are mounting the lights if not being hung from a ceiling I don't feel like drilling holes in my ceiling.

 

[mapleredta]

am curious how people are mounting the lights if not being hung from a ceiling I don't feel like drilling holes in my ceiling.

Right now, I have mine suspended inside of the canopy with aviation safety wire. But, it's WAY too close to the water. I am going to redo my canopy and probably cut two holes in the top of it and place them up there.

 

[EGS25]

Right now, I have mine suspended inside of the canopy with aviation safety wire. But, it's WAY too close to the water. I am going to redo my canopy and probably cut two holes in the top of it and place them up there.

how close is yours to the water?

 

[fishbox]

There's a whole thread on how people mount their Chinese Boxs. I'll try to find it for you later

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[EGS25]

This a form about mainly Reef Breeders but the idea's are amendable to mars aqua

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2270673

 

[Isaacs55]

I just want to thank Isaacs55 for his visuals and videos on his mods on pages 11-13. I have had another brand Black Box for a few months now as my frag tank lights. they were ok but I never turned the white channel up very far because the red, green, and warm white (yellow) were both unappealing an algae growing magnets. I switched out all the red and green leds for blue and changed the warm white to all 20k. The finished results are so much more like my display tank colors. I am hoping that the corals will transition better from one tank to the other now. also I am able to raise the White channel up to a higher percentage and will maybe get more growth. Either way the tutorials were easy to follow and the links on the LEDs were also reliable and easy to buy from. Thanks again.

No worries everyone! Thanks for the shout outs! I have an updated version of this mod that shows a little bit better. I haven't posted it yet because I figured enough people were getting something out of it. You guys encouraged me to finish so I'll finish editing the video and try and get it posted up on here sometime this week. Thanks again everyone and I'm glad I've been able to help some people!

 

[colodano]

After reading through this thread, decided to try this out for myself, as my 20" fixture from my old tank was not going to cut it on a 55.

Ordered Tuesday, shipped Wednesday, and evidently they tried to deliver to me Thursday. Went and picked it up today, expecting a package from the in-laws, not my light already!

Just going to try a single 300W over the 55 for now, if I pull the optics and still have too much shadowing on the edges, I will add something else. I wanted a light with a sunrise and sunset feature, but for this price, I am ok not having that.

 

[Nic33]

Mars Aqua Chinese LED review (Ebay)

Does anyone know if I wire these units in series so I only have two plugs going to an apex, can I still dim and control with the modification already detailed on this thread?


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