New LED Lights

[jets17]

I just purchased a new set of Lumini Astra 120r1 LED lights for my 75g tank. I'm wondering if anybody else has any experience with these lights? I also ordered the wireless master controller with the two lights.

Previously, I had 2 evergrow LED's from ebay on the tank, but after two years and a couple of days, the white LED's went out on one of the lights. then, the next day - no kidding - the white LED's went out on the second light. So, I haven't had white lights on the tank for about a month now, while I researched tons of different LED options on the web. when the previous LED's were working, everything in my tank seemed to be really happy. all of my corals really took off growing and my RBTA became 4 RBTA's - so I'm hoping that the new LED's will be better than the previous lights...

the lights are supposed to ship this coming weekend, I will post pictures once they arrive.

if anybody has any suggestions on how to mount these new lights over my 75g tank - please let me know - I haven't made a final decision on the mounting method as of yet...

 

[sonic]

Where did you order the lights from? Saw them on alibaba, might want to try one out if the price is right.

 

[TEKWRX]

Looks like a knock-off Kessil, but has all the controller functions built in. Interesting. I'm curious to see how their LEDs stack up against Kessil's multi-chip array.

Price seems kinda high, same as Kessil $399. I see them for sale here: http://www.luminiaqua-usa.com/shop/asta-120r1-2/

 

[jets17]

Where did you order the lights from? Saw them on alibaba, might want to try one out if the price is right.

I saw them on alibaba also and I contacted the company directly. the price going direct was a bit better than the price on the website. they should be here in just over two weeks - i'll let you know when I have them running...

if you are interested, I have an email address of the girl who helped me out - they were very quick to respond and very helpful.

 

[jets17]

Looks like a knock-off Kessil, but has all the controller functions built in. Interesting. I'm curious to see how their LEDs stack up against Kessil's multi-chip array.

Price seems kinda high, same as Kessil $399. I see them for sale here: http://www.luminiaqua-usa.com/shop/asta-120r1-2/

the price was a bit better on alibaba and it was even better going direct to them and talking to them. with shipping, I paid just a little more than the original price for one light and I ordered 2 lights and the wireless controller which runs about $100. they were very nice and very helpful.

I was told that they would ship this coming weekend because they did an upgrade and the newer lights look more elegant than the ones on the website. so I was happy to wait for one week. now, I'm hoping that they work really well.

I was mainly looking for an led system that had moonlights and could do the sunrise and sunset effect. the bonus is that these lights also come with the weather/lightning options and are very programmable - plus they could be controlled from my tablet or iphone. so they sound really good, hopefully they are as good as they sound.

 

[sonic]

PM your contact, thanks.

 

[knukles55]

hang one single strand of wire from the roof with a clip and youll be done...... goose necks like the kessils come in handy to but take away from the clean look in my opinion.

 

[tonyyloww]

hang one single strand of wire from the roof with a clip and youll be done...... Goose necks like the kessils come in handy to but take away from the clean look in my opinion.

x2:idea::thumbsup:

 

[jets17]

hang one single strand of wire from the roof with a clip and youll be done...... goose necks like the kessils come in handy to but take away from the clean look in my opinion.

I agree with your idea, but I forgot to mention the spot that we have our tank, the ceilings are about 25 feet high. The tank is right next to our stairway going to the second floor.

I thought about doing a floating type shelf, but I don't trust everything to stay up and I definitely don't want the lights falling into the water.

thanks for the input!

 

[jets17]

Ok, update to the lights. There was a problem with a supplier for parts for the Astas 120R1's, so the Lumini company rep let me know, and she offered to upgrade my order to the Gemis120R1 lights. My corals needed the lights, so I took them up on their offer. the lights left Hong Kong on Sunday and they arrived here on Tuesday.

I'm working on getting them setup properly, so I will post updates and pictures as soon as I can.

The lights look really nice. They have a thicker plexi cover over the LED's than the evergrow lights had. The body has a really nice brushed stainless/aluminum look to them. Very good workmanship. I really liked the canister look of the Astas120R1's, but I'm kinda liking these lights more and more.

Setup was a little confusing to start with, but again, they were very helpful and quick with email replies - just minutes... once, they answered a couple of questions - setup turned out to be pretty simple. right now, I have the lights sitting on top of a couple of white egg crate plastic sheets that you can get from home depot.

I have to say, I can't say enough good things about Lumini's customer service. All along, I've been working with Darleen and she has been the best. She has answered every question from sales to setup, usually within minutes. There's a 12 hour time difference, and I've received email replies after midnight, her time.

I love the colors that you get as the day goes by. The lights simulate a full day, from early morning thru a full night. they also simulate the moon cycle - so the moon lights will change as the month goes on. the colors are awesome so far - I'm just wondering if I need to dim down the brightness a bit during peak sunlight time in the middle of the day. my corals have all started opening again - especially the rbta's and the duncans - it's been more than a month since they've seen white lights...

I haven't tried out the storm mode as of yet, but i'll try it later today. I also plan to work on the mounting setup later this week, hopefully.

so far tho, I have to say that these lights are very impressive.

more updates to follow...

 

[jets17]

more quick pictures from my iphone...

 

[jets17]

more pictures...

 

[jets17]

more pictures...