Mars Aqua Chinese LED review (Ebay)
- Thread starter Atomic081
- Start date
Dr. Bogger
Member
Need some advice...I've been using CFL bulbs for the last few years and recently purchased the 165w MarsAqua LED to hang over my 10 gallon tank. I know it's overkill for a tank that size, but I figured why not as I could always use it if I upgrade my tank in the future.
That being said, I've never really been sure how I should set the light. The dials aren't marked and I have no idea what balance I should have between full spectrum and blues. The light is mounted 12 inches above the water and it's a standard 10 gallon tank.
Any suggestions on light intensity? I have various coral in the tank and here is how everything is currently acting:
Monti - mounted high, pink in color, white edges (seems fine)
Galaxea - mounted middle, does OK, not fully open, no sweeper tentacles
Kenya Tree - mounted middle, opens a little but nowhere near full
Frogspawn - on bottom, opens but not fully
Sunny D polyps - these are weird. On the sand. They open but they have SHRUNK considerably in the last few months. They are miniature.
Green mushrooms - these do fine and are open even with the lights off, lol
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
That being said, I've never really been sure how I should set the light. The dials aren't marked and I have no idea what balance I should have between full spectrum and blues. The light is mounted 12 inches above the water and it's a standard 10 gallon tank.
Any suggestions on light intensity? I have various coral in the tank and here is how everything is currently acting:
Monti - mounted high, pink in color, white edges (seems fine)
Galaxea - mounted middle, does OK, not fully open, no sweeper tentacles
Kenya Tree - mounted middle, opens a little but nowhere near full
Frogspawn - on bottom, opens but not fully
Sunny D polyps - these are weird. On the sand. They open but they have SHRUNK considerably in the last few months. They are miniature.
Green mushrooms - these do fine and are open even with the lights off, lol
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
I just installed 3 Marsaqua 165watt fixtures over my tank. They cover it pretty good. I took the dimming knobs off and wired them to my apex variable speed ports so I can auto dim them up and down via my apex. It was actually really easy to do. I mounted them on some TV mounts I got from Walmart.com for $12 each. I even used the bracket that mounts on to the tv. I just went to Home Depot and got some 1" nylon spacers to give the fans room to breathe. I also wired them to 3.5mm jacks so I can plug them in and unplug them easy.
Yes, I'm using that wire to dim. I bought an apex light dimming cable from Marine Depot. On the dimming knob connector, I soldered the positive and negative wires together, ran the positive wire to the black (positive) wire on the apex light dimming cable and the same for the negative. I hooked all three lights blue channel to one side and all lights white channels to the second side. It doesn't dim under 10% but that's the only issue. They ramp up and down fine using apex fusion.
Question about dimmers
Question about dimmers
I got my 165 W light a week ago. I can't seem to dim either channel fully. The lowest seems to be 20%-30%. My experience with LED's is with AI Sol's which I can dim to all the way to 1%.
Is this how these lights are made or is there something wrong with my unit.
thanks in advance
Question about dimmers
I got my 165 W light a week ago. I can't seem to dim either channel fully. The lowest seems to be 20%-30%. My experience with LED's is with AI Sol's which I can dim to all the way to 1%.
Is this how these lights are made or is there something wrong with my unit.
thanks in advance
Dr. Bogger
Member
I have been told by a support tech at Digital Aquatics (Reef Keeper), that there is a adjustment inside the ballast that will allow you to adjust how far it will dim.
I posted pictures above of my unit, including 3 adjustment pots inside the ballast. I haven't messed with them yet, so I'm just going by what I was told by Digital Aquatics.
If anyone tests it out, be sure to let me know if it works.
I posted pictures above of my unit, including 3 adjustment pots inside the ballast. I haven't messed with them yet, so I'm just going by what I was told by Digital Aquatics.
If anyone tests it out, be sure to let me know if it works.
That's interesting! I may give it a try this weekend.
Dr. Bogger
Member
Let me know how it works. I'm still waiting on my reef keeper so I can't try it yet myself.
Thanks. Mine seems to be a lot more than 10% but it is hard to know. Can anyone with the unit post a picture of the unit at minimum brightness?
Thanks in advance
Dr. Bogger
Member
I don't think a picture will do much, as every camera will focus differently with the light. Cameras will automatically dim down the light.
Did you try adjusting the potentiometer inside the ballast? Look at the pictures of my unit I posted above. You can see the adjustment area inside the ballast.
Did you try adjusting the potentiometer inside the ballast? Look at the pictures of my unit I posted above. You can see the adjustment area inside the ballast.
No, I have not yet. I was in contact with the MarsAqua and they told me they would be sending me two dimmers. I will try your suggestion as well. Thanks a bunch
Dr. Bogger
Member
Let me know if my suggestion helps, I don't have my reef keeper yet, so I can't test it myself.
Dr. Bogger
Member
Okay, so I just got my fixture mounted on my tank, and it blew me away. The difference compared to my old light is huge!
I do have one question... I cannot tell the difference between the blue and the royal blue.
Is there a way I can tell which leds are blue, and which are royal blue?
I do have one question... I cannot tell the difference between the blue and the royal blue.
Is there a way I can tell which leds are blue, and which are royal blue?
Yea it was super easy. I decided to use 3.5mm jacks.. That was time consuming but still easy. If I did it over, id just use 2 pin molex connectors. I was skeptical about daisy chaining them but when I got the apex light dimming cable, the wire is super thin so I figured it just needed to be enough to carry a simple signal and it ended up working.
