Aqua Illumination, everything you want to know!

[mapleredta]

Well, being as there is a good bit of interest on this awesome light module recently, I figured we could have a dedicated thread for them. There is a few of us here in the club that currently have them as well as a bunch of other members who have TONS of knowledge in the LED department. I will continue posting my settings/results and pictures and hopefully give everybody who may be on the fence about these (*cough* Gnashty *cough*) the push that they need. After discussing some of my settings with Bud, he gave me some pointers/tips and I will definitely be using his advice on the matter.

Currently my lighting schedule is as follows:
T1 12:00 am
W- 0%
B- 5%
R- 5%
ramp- 240 mins

T2 4:01 am
W- 0%
B- 5%
R- 5%
ramp- 240 mins

T3 8:01 am
W- 50%
B- 70%
R- 70%
ramp- 100 mins

T4 9:41 am
W- 60%
B- 80%
R- 80%
ramp- 200 mins

T5 1:01 pm
W- 70%
B- 85%
R- 85%
ramp- 240 mins

T6 5:01 pm
W- 40%
B- 75%
R- 75%
ramp- 120 mins

T7 7:01 pm
W- 0%
B- 50%
R- 60%
ramp- 150 mins

T8 9:31 pm
W- 0%
B- 30%
R- 30%
ramp- 150 mins

One issue he pointed out right off the bat was my lights are on 24 hours a day. I wanted there to be moonlights for the tank but even at 5% for each Blues and Royals, the tank looks like a smurf village. I'll be dropping them down to probably 1% or so. Secondly Bud informed me of the ramp times. I was mistaken about this. He pointed out that I can completely disregard setting number two. I was under the impression that if I didn't have a setting, my lights would turn off. This falls into because I failed to read my owners manual. There are a lot of guys on here, so I am sure we can all relate. I'll be adjusting that tonight as well as my peak lighting schedule. He pointed out to me that my highest lighting period is around 3-4pm. I'm trying to duplicate our lighting schedule to what we experience daily. If you see anything that you would suggest, like information on, or see specific pictures, please don't be hesitant to ask.

 

[budsreef]

Cool, thanks for starting this! I'll add some of my information as well. It seems a lot of people have bleached their corals with these lights even when coming from bright MHs so I am starting off slowly.

I've got mine mounted about 12" above the tanks which puts them about 14" above the water surface. I've started off with a simple timing program using the AI controller.

Initially I have mine set for:

8:30AM W5, B20, RB20, Ramp 30min
11:00AM W25, B30, RB30, Ramp 30min
3:00PM W5, B20, RB30, Ramp 30min
6PM W0, B0, RB0, Ramp 30min

The first night I had the blue and royal blue at 1% all night for moonlights but turned them back off. I plan to keep this lower lighting schedule in place for at least two weeks and will then start increasing the percentages once I'm sure my corals can handle the lights.

 

[mapleredta]

Whoops I forgot some of the most vital information. The tank this module is over is a 45 gallon Tech tank. It's roughly 12" off the water and it's suspended from an Elos light tree. The tank is 24x 18.5 if I am not mistaken.

 

[budsreef]

Here is how the units look over my two 40B frag tanks. I still need to clean up the wiring with wire ties but it's hard to do anything around the tank other than stare at the corals.
<fieldset class="gc-fieldset">
<legend> Attached files </legend>

>

class="gc-images" title="Frag Tank_DSC00534_AI_Lighting_110223.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a>

>

class="gc-images" title="Frag Tank_DSC00536_AI_Lighting_110223.jpg[/IMG] style="max-width:300px" /></a> </fieldset>

 

[mapleredta]

After doing some discussions, I am going to use these settings:
T1 8:00 AM
W- 10%
B- 20%
R- 25%
ramp- 60 mins

T2 9:00 am
W- 35%
B- 55%
R- 60%
ramp- 120 mins

T3 1:00 pm
W- 75%
B- 85%
R- 95%
ramp- 60 mins

T4 2:45 pm
W- 35%
B- 55%
R- 60%
ramp- 60 mins

T5 6:45 pm
W- 15%
B- 35%
R- 40%
ramp- 60 mins

T6 8:00 pm
W- 0%
B- 2%
R- 2%
ramp- 60 mins Moon Phase on...

 

[acroholic]

Chris,
Is the knob on your controller kinda tempermental? When I had mine and tried to adjust percentages (60, 61, 62, 63, etc), it would sometimes not move the number on the screen, or start going in the opposite direction numerically. Never so bad that I hated it, but more inconvenient that anything else. I'm curious if that is just a characterisitic of the controller, or if it was an issue they have solved?

 

[thanh386]

Me likey.

 

[mapleredta]

Acroholic;618204 wrote: Chris,
Is the knob on your controller kinda tempermental? When I had mine and tried to adjust percentages (60, 61, 62, 63, etc), it would sometimes not move the number on the screen, or start going in the opposite direction numerically. Never so bad that I hated it, but more inconvenient that anything else. I'm curious if that is just a characterisitic of the controller, or if it was an issue they have solved?

dave, yes, it is probably the only thing I can gripe about. It's very sensitive to the touch.

Any advice on this problem? something is still wrong with the light. Its in timer 6 right now where the blues should be at 2% each. Well it's showing whites at 15% and blues at 2%. When I view the timer, its shows the correct settings and if I go in to edit them, the lights go to the appropriate settings until after I save them.

 

[acroholic]

I talked with the guy that owns AI about it, and if I remember correctly, he said something about the percentages not working really well at odd number settings. Try basing it on multiples of 5 and see how it goes, like 5%, 10% and up.

 

[mapleredta]

Acroholic;618312 wrote: I talked with the guy that owns AI about it, and if I remember correctly, he said something about the percentages not working really well at odd number settings. Try basing it on multiples of 5 and see how it goes, like 5%, 10% and up.

hmm... timer 6 is the only one that has a percentage that's not in a 5% increment.

 

[acroholic]

It has been months since I sold mine Chris...I may be totally off on that post. If you really have issue, call the guy that owns AI...he is very friendly. You may have found a glitch that needs an update.

 

[mapleredta]

Acroholic;618320 wrote: It has been months since I sold mine Chris...I may be totally off on that post. If you really have issue, call the guy that owns AI...he is very friendly. You may have found a glitch that needs an update.

curious, why did you sell yours? That would be my luck to have found a glitch. I'm going to reinstall the firmware tomorrow and see what happens. I will call joe and ask him for his advice on the matter.

 

[acroholic]

mapleredta;618322 wrote: curious, why did you sell yours? That would be my luck to have found a glitch. I'm going to reinstall the firmware tomorrow and see what happens. I will call joe and ask him for his advice on the matter.

I bought the first new release......the one with two white CREE and one blue per module....way too white for my taste. Made my corals look like crud. If I had known they were going to release the Sol Blue several months later I'd have waited. I hated the rendition of the 2 white/1 blue setup.

 

[budsreef]

Did you check the data cable to make sure it is seated well? Mine acted flakey when I first connected it and I think that was my problem. You could also try plugging the data cable into the other connection since you only run one unit. Did this happen only after you got the new board installed?

I'd definitely redo the firmware since you replaced the board.

 

[mapleredta]

Budsreef;618370 wrote: Did you check the data cable to make sure it is seated well? Mine acted flakey when I first connected it and I think that was my problem. You could also try plugging the data cable into the other connection since you only run one unit. Did this happen only after you got the new board installed?

I'd definitely redo the firmware since you replaced the board.

Bud, the settings would not take because the board had to be replaced so I could use the sol blue settings. So this really is the first time noticing. I'm about to do the firmware file again. I'm still going to call them and ask them if they may have heard about this. I didn't try the other data port because I was aggravated and tired last night. I'm starting to get annoyed. :doh:

 

[mapleredta]

Well, great news! I did a factory reset on the controller and re-flashed the controller to the new firmware. All is well once again! Man I love this light fixture.

 

[budsreef]

mapleredta;619256 wrote: Well, great news! I did a factory reset on the controller and re-flashed the controller to the new firmware. All is well once again! Man I love this light fixture.

That is great news, glad to hear it!

 

[mapleredta]

Budsreef;619263 wrote: That is great news, glad to hear it!

Thanks for all the help and information, Bud.

 

[seth the wine guy]

Tagging along. I hope to have mine running soon and borrow a PAR meter to share readings. I'm trying two units over a 120g to start but think I'll end up needing a third. THe guys at AI swear two will cover a 24x24 area but we'll see.

 

[budsreef]

Seth The Wine Guy;619270 wrote: Tagging along. I hope to have mine running soon and borrow a PAR meter to share readings. I'm trying two units over a 120g to start but think I'll end up needing a third. THe guys at AI swear two will cover a 24x24 area but we'll see.

Seth, if it is a standard 120G, 4'x2'x2', then it will depend a lot on how your rock structures are, but I think two is a good way to start and add a third later if you want. If you do two, you will probably want to mount them parallel to the length of the tank and a little towards the front.

What kind of mounting/hanging method are you planning on using?