Mars Aqua Chinese LED review (Ebay)
- Thread starter Atomic081
- Start date
Haha. Hmm. Sent him a message about coming in person to pick up the item since I'm in NY. I'll let you know what he says
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
lol... He has it set up so you can only buy one per person every 10 days. I'm all the way at the other end of the state or I'd do the same.
iced98lx
New member
The light has two major "pieces" - the PCB with the LED's on it which has two cables running to the drivers. The drivers/switches/plugs/powerdistribution/fans units are attached to the back "Cover". You could easily pull them them apart and re-mount if needed. The 8ish screws that hold the cases together are very easy to take apart.
So I'm in the middle of swapping out my Mars Aqua boards for SB Reef Lights retrofit boards and decided to do some back to back PAR measurements
Again, these are Mars Aqua boxes vs the same boxes/powersupplies etc retro fitted with SB Retrofit boards, not SB fixtures they sell.
How much of a difference do you think exists in the PAR readings of the SB Reef retrofit and the actual SB Reef 16" model? I ask because there's a youtube video from fishofhex who measured his SB Reef PAR numbers, and they're vastly different from your retrofit measurements. Curious on your take as to why. Thanks for providing actual data.
I ordered some New UV LEDs to replace the yellows and I am going to attempt this. Your video starts with the old LED already detached. How did you de-solder it?
nevermind. I see you do that later in the video.
Yes there is, see my easy to build tank or table mount thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2622878
iced98lx
New member
No idea on the difference between the retro fit boards and the actual fixtures. I know a lot of fans of their diode selection (I prefer them over the mars aqua myself).
lots of factors measuring PAR, biggest things that likely had an impact:
- Height over the tank (I measured with the fixtures 13-14 inches over the water, higher than most people will run them)
- Water clarity (I don't run carbon)
- Lens selection (in combination with height over the tank) - SB has more 120* optics iirc to help color mixing vs the mostly 90* I think the Mars Aqua's have? If so, that would explain the fall off deeper down.
Realistically if SBReef is running a large number of wider angle lenses the results should be exactly as expected % difference to the Mars Aqua's.
Worth noting, I was growing coral when the Mars Aqua's were supplemental/fill for my LED cannons, and I'm growing coral now that the SB retro fitted boxes are the primary source with T5's providing fill/supplemental so PAR of course never tells the whole story.
Hope that helps a little.
iced98lx
New member
Yes there is, see my easy to build tank or table mount thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2622878
This is a very slick mounting setup, nice work!
fishofhex is also running 3 retrofit boards with t5 supp in the same configuration you are, and his numbers in his video are pushing 3 times the PAR numbers you collected.
I completely understand there are many variables as to why this may be, but I figured there must be something more to it if there variance can be over 200%. I would link you to the video, but I've had problems with this forum not allowing such things. If you're interested, search for "fishofhex sb reefs par". Thanks.
I'm running an SB Reefs fixture myself and am planning to supplement with t5, that is why I have an interest in your findings.
I completely understand there are many variables as to why this may be, but I figured there must be something more to it if there variance can be over 200%. I would link you to the video, but I've had problems with this forum not allowing such things. If you're interested, search for "fishofhex sb reefs par". Thanks.
I'm running an SB Reefs fixture myself and am planning to supplement with t5, that is why I have an interest in your findings.
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iced98lx
New member
None of my measurements were with multiple fixtures running or with T5's on. Even just having all 3 boxes on at once would drastically change the PAR numbers: that's why I focused on % difference vs the MA fixtures, not on the par numbers themselves. I have no problem hitting the par numbers I want with the boxes + T5's. His testing was up to 34 inches deep, mine was 38 inches, so that is a difference.
In the end, these boxes (with or without the SB retros) + T5 appears to be a great setup in my initial testing.
