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Man... Grant want soooo bad.
I just cant stomach paying for 6 of these right now.
I just cant stomach paying for 6 of these right now.
Aqua Illumination, everything you want to know!
- Thread starter mapleredta
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Yeah, that up front cost is very, very tough to swallow especially when needing that many modules. I can assure you that they are well worth it though.
seth the wine guy
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I look at lights the same way I do financing/money. To use anything but LED is like financing something at a high interest rate instead of buying it with cash. MH and T5's will forever eat at your wallet. How much you spend on bulbs a year? Heat generated in the tank/house and cooling costs for both those things? The list goes on.
How do you like your band-aide taken off? Slowly pulled feeling each and every hair it plucks, or quickly ripped off in one simple motion? I'm a ripper personally.
Lol I like that!
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Trust me... If I could shell out $3K for lighting... I would. There isnt a method on this planet to convince my better half that its a good idea RIGHT NOW. Its a done deal for the future (IE... next year), but I know I couldnt push it up.
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Hope you dont mind me jumping in. AI led looks like the way to go.I would like to get some day. I have a ? about the AI flare tube or strip. I have a ATI sunpower 4 bulb fixture over a 90 gal, would like to add some led for more light and par. These flare strips are new to the market, Dose anyone know who i could talk to about them. thanks
AI has amazing customer service. I'd give them a ring and see if you can't get all the questions you need answered directly from the horses mouth.
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I ordered 2 AI Sol Blue modulars, controller, 48" mounting rails, and hanging kit today for my new build!
I switch out several weeks ago and am very happy thus far. I am controlling mine via my Apex and love the versatility. I always have only had MH lights with no other supplementation because I don't have a canopy and couldn't think of a way to retro them and still have a clean look. The AI fixtures are like having halides and actinic supplementation all in one. I love the late night glow of my tank when the whites cut off. I have 2 over a 30x30x24 cube. I have the 70 optics, but have not switched them out yet, not sure I will...
I have both blues at 55% and the whites at 50%. I have slowly increases to this level over the last few weeks. So far zero bleaching has occurred.
I have both blues at 55% and the whites at 50%. I have slowly increases to this level over the last few weeks. So far zero bleaching has occurred.
Bump for our newest member, Jef4y.
haha.. just had to dig this thread out and re-read it! I swapped out the 40 deg optics for 70's last night due to my tank setup and rock structure. Reading through the manual now to see if I can understand a few tidbits.
Excited to see this puppy over the tank.
Excited to see this puppy over the tank.
Went home at lunch and programmed up the controller. To start, I don't want to peak out above 35% until I see how everything is going to react as I have some SPS up HIGH in the tank and don't want to fry it. I also wanted somewhat of a natural sunrise & sunset and varying intensity. So here's what I came up with:
7:00AM W-10, B-17, R-17, ramp=60
10:00AM W-20, B-35, R-35, ramp=120
3:00PM W-17, B-30, R-30, ramp=120
6:00PM W-10, B-17, R-17, ramp=60
8:00pm W-0, B-2, R-2, ramp=60
So in this, at:
7:00am I'll have a 'sunrise' for 60 minutes which will hold from 8-10am
10:00am-Noon the lights will ramp to maximum intensity
Noon-3:00pm the lights remain at maximum intensity
3:00pm - 5:00pm the lights dim slightly in intensity and hold steady from 5-6
6-7pm the lights dim a bit more and hold steady in a 'dusk' for another hour
8:00pm the lights begin dimming to complete night mode which is at 9:00pm.
9pm - 7am = night lights
Still have to see how this looks and how the intensities & durations are. Any suggestions are welcomed!
7:00AM W-10, B-17, R-17, ramp=60
10:00AM W-20, B-35, R-35, ramp=120
3:00PM W-17, B-30, R-30, ramp=120
6:00PM W-10, B-17, R-17, ramp=60
8:00pm W-0, B-2, R-2, ramp=60
So in this, at:
7:00am I'll have a 'sunrise' for 60 minutes which will hold from 8-10am
10:00am-Noon the lights will ramp to maximum intensity
Noon-3:00pm the lights remain at maximum intensity
3:00pm - 5:00pm the lights dim slightly in intensity and hold steady from 5-6
6-7pm the lights dim a bit more and hold steady in a 'dusk' for another hour
8:00pm the lights begin dimming to complete night mode which is at 9:00pm.
9pm - 7am = night lights
Still have to see how this looks and how the intensities & durations are. Any suggestions are welcomed!
Jeff, since there isn't much difference between the 10:00AM lighting and the 3:00PM and with a ramp of 120 minutes at 3:00PM you are going to have maximum lighting for quite a while. You might want to think about changing the ramp time at 3PM to just 15 minutes so it gets to that lower level quicker.
You may have already done this, but if you say yes to lunar lighting for the night time it will vary the lighting on a 30 day cycle so it sort of replicates moon phases, including some nights of no moon.
If you are coming from metal halides then you may be ok with these levels but if you are replacing T5s then I really think they are too high.
You may have already done this, but if you say yes to lunar lighting for the night time it will vary the lighting on a 30 day cycle so it sort of replicates moon phases, including some nights of no moon.
If you are coming from metal halides then you may be ok with these levels but if you are replacing T5s then I really think they are too high.
I think because he changed the optics and is running at 35% max that he should be pretty safe, but may really want to consider ramping down faster when he increases intensity. I don't own the fixtures yet, but read the entire RC thread...there is my disclaimer
How are your corals looking right now? Any bleaching? Good color? Growth?
Good point. The sun naturally tapers off a bit quicker than I programmed in. Will make the change when I get home.
I read that. I had that setup for a while with the apex, but sold off the lunar sim because I prefer more of a set night-time than 'natural'.
I'm coming from T5's. I have an 8X24 ATI-PM which is ridiculously powerful, like to the point that I could grow SPS on the bottom of the tank without problem, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. If I recall, you started out at 20% right? I will drop mine back into the mid to low 20's to start.
I did change the optics to 70 deg all the way around to get the light distributed a little better.
Well, time to run home!
Are these lights deceptively dim? Just asking because my previous T5's were ridiculously bright compared to these. I do have a lot of ambient light in the room though. Not going to raise up the lighting levels yet, but wanted to ask.
And I'm running them 9" above the tank (60 cube) with the lights oriented side to side.
And I'm running them 9" above the tank (60 cube) with the lights oriented side to side.
seth the wine guy
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Remember. These lights have optics. The difference is similar to the difference between a 100w spot light and a 100w table lamp bulb. You get tons of light bleed with the lamp bulb, but a focused spectrum with the spot light. Yet both are producing the same amount of light.
I think this is why so many people fry their corals. They are used to all the brightness and light bleed and think the LED's should look the same.
I think this is why so many people fry their corals. They are used to all the brightness and light bleed and think the LED's should look the same.
