Aqua Illumination - THE GOOD THE BAD THE UGLY

[mvm]

The 4 outside pucks are 70 degree. The center 4 are 40 degree. You can get them from AI.

 

[snowmansnow]

tdam;677920 wrote: I agree, Seth. I am getting no growth in my SPS. I was thinking it was just me. Love the royal blue color though!

i admit thats I didn't read through the entire thread so this may have been addressed already.

but.

I'm not sure if it is just the AI units, other water parameters or what... but I when I had my DIY LED fixture over my frag tank I had REALLY good color and growth.

THAT being said... oddly enough certain sps frags didn't seem to do as well as others AND the tank was only 10 inches deep

 

[rockdog]

Great write-up Seth, Thanks!!!

 

[snowmansnow]

+1 I have to agree. Thanks for posting your experience and opinion about this product Would be great to keep it on tap over in the review section

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Acroholic;678297 wrote: I currently have AIs on all my tanks, but I don't really have practical long term experience with them over SPS because I had almost total losses of my SPS and LPS corals well under way before I placed my AIs over the tanks.

I think my issues were from an unmaintained sulfur denitrator that was long term pumping H2S into my system. I have since serviced the denitrator and taken care of the issue, but I have shifted the focus of my tanks to LPS. I may try SPS again, but not for a couple months at least.

I ran my AIs at 90% initially and burned a couple of my corals, but they were on the way out before that. I installed all 70 degree optics on mine.

You will have areas of higher PAR from overlapping point light sources, whether LED or halide.

You will find a few threads saying that AI Sol Blues and SPS don't mix, but you will find a ton more threads saying that LEDs are great for SPS corals. Here is a Reef Central thread about a 340 gallon tank that has had AI LEDs over it for 2 1/2 years, and the SPS corals look pretty nice. Looks like pretty good long term results to me.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2029329">http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2029329</a>

Are some of these threads saying AIs gave great results with SPS fabrications because people don't want to think they wasted their money? Maybe.......or maybe not.

[B]Another point to consider is that an individual's experience over the short/long term is not necessarily another Reefer's experience over the short/long term, and there are other factors that can affect color and growth in addition to lighting. It is not always as cut and dried as "A caused B," or "this AI Led caused this condition."[/B]

Finally, slower SPS growth may be associated with LED lighting, but that is not necessarily a bad tradeoff, given the electricity savings and cooler temperatures you get in return? Nice not having to run a chiller any more as well.[/QUOTE]
I cant agree with the part of your statement that I bolded above more. This is an ENORMOUS issue in our realm of this hobby. The science and technology has come so far, and we all embrace it, yet do not apply it to cases like this. For example, what causes SPS to grow and color? Is it "Light"? Does that mean spectrum, intensity, photoperiod, etc? Or can it include temperature (of the water), calcium, alkalinity, flow, or any number of other factors? How sure are we that "nothing else has changed"? Essentially, the deductions we make are horrifically unscientific and archaic at times. When changing a lighting regime, for established corals, can that indicate ANYTHING about the efficacy of that lighting system? In my opinion, no. Furthermore, people take so little time to actually understand their corals needs. For example, does anyone consider the photsaturation and photinhibition of their corals? For a lot of corals, this is already determined and defined. So, when we increase or decrease light to the ranges within, are we even considering what the CORAL can take? And not immediately blame the equipment?

 

[seth the wine guy]

jmaneyapanda;678363 wrote: I cant agree with the part of your statement that I bolded above more. This is an ENORMOUS issue in our realm of this hobby.

You are absolutely right. There are too many variables from one persons tank to the next. It's through a collective sharing of information that we can come to a deductive conclusion over time. That's why it's so important for people to post their EXPERIENCE on products and not merely a "Well I heard..." opinion.

I remember one time I was trying to decide on which skimmer to run. And one person spoke up with a very strongly stated opinion for one product over the other. Yet, that person had no personal experience with one of the products in question. I think that's vastly more irresponsible than someone sharing their ACTUAL experience.

 

[seth the wine guy]

I was incorrect

 

[acroholic]

Seth The Wine Guy;678486 wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong Dave, but AI's haven't been around for 2 1/2 years. The AI SOL Blues even shorter than that.

Aqua Illumination has been around since July 2007.

Look here:

 

[seth the wine guy]

Acroholic;678488 wrote: Aqua Illumination has been around since July 2007.

Look here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1145146&highlight=aqua+illumination">http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1145146&highlight=aqua+illumination</a>[/QUOTE]

Oops. I guess the question I'll have to ask him is how long has he been running the 2b 1w ratio.

 

[seth the wine guy]

I just got my answer- 5 months he's been running AI's SOL Blue. Ecolamps before that

 

[frdagaa]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of the Sol blue vs the regular Sol (2w, 1b?). Is there reason to believe that the poor SPS results you've had might be better with the regular sol?

 

[acroholic]

frdagaa;685385 wrote: What are the advantages/disadvantages of the Sol blue vs the regular Sol (2w, 1b?). Is there reason to believe that the poor SPS results you've had might be better with the regular sol?

The Sol White is very white, and very hard to get anywhere close to a bluish appearing spectrum without turning the white LEDs waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down in intensity. LED difference is Sol white has two white/1 blue. Sol blue has 1 white/1blue/1 royal blue. All are 3 watt LEDs.

Sol white is for those liking a more 10K appearance.

 

[marko22]

Seth - Good write up - I was thinking about going this route in the near future due partly to heat and energy costs. Appreciate the info.

 

[leledmunds]

Thanks for all the info on the led fixtures.

 

[jumplittlechloe]

I have now had 1 AI Sol Blue above my tank for one year. My tank contains mostly SPS. Before the LED, I had a 150w metal halide above the tank. My corals were growing well and the tank had great color in SPS and LPS pieces. Since changing lights, I have lost most of my coraline algae on the back wall, my SPS corals have browned out, and I have lost some other SPS colonies. I originally started with all 70 degree optics in the light hanging 8 1/2 inches above the water line. I could not get my SPS to color up with this setting. I have since gone back to the 40/70 optics to see if I can get the SPS colonies to regain their color. I will note that it seems that my birdsnest seems to like the lighting and has shown good growth and color. I run the lights for 8hrs at 80w 100b 100rb. I just added a frag of red planet about a week ago and have noticed that it too is losing some of its color. I have checked all my settings and all parameters check out. I do have a screen in place to keep fish from jumping and sometimes I wonder if this reduces my PAR. I am really starting to get frustrated with this light.

Ca 460
Alk 7.6
Mag 1400
P04 .01
NO3 0

 

[acroholic]

tdam;678318 wrote: Yes, i must say that LEDS are definitely worth the price of electricity savings and cooler temps!

HOW DOES ONE GO ABOUT GETTING THE 70 DEGREE OPTICS? And which ones of the module are 40 degrees?

The Sol Blues have 70 degree optics on the outer 4 pucks, and 40 degree optics on the inner 4 pucks. Cannot rember which, but one of the optics has a dot on the surface to distinguish it from the other. You can buy them from AquaIllumination a their website store. I have a big bag of the 70 degree optics if you need some. I'll sell you some for $5 each if you want. I bought them to convert my AIs to all 70 deg optics, but converted back.

 

[seth the wine guy]

Acroholic;699511 wrote: I bought them to convert my AIs to all 70 deg optics, but converted back.

When did you go back? What made you decide to go back? I just put another module on my tank as a last ditch effort before going with a proven winner. I was actually just thinking about going back to trying the 40* on the inner four. I guess I need to swing by and see what you're up to and compare notes.

 

[seth the wine guy]

There was a request for pictures to substantiate my claims of poor coral growth. Some of the pics were taken with a camera other than my phone and too large for ARC file upload. So, I apologize you will have to click a link. I was not up to resizing the photos.

I did not include my green birds nest or montis due to their ability to grow in various types of lighting and water conditions. (And really not a legitimate test for growth in my opinion) I designed this tank and bought its equipment with an Acro dominant variety in mind. So, it's that, I base my findings on.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59361828@N02/sets/72157628037565060/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/59361828@N02/sets/72157628037565060/</a>

Some fellow reefers who own these units, and content with their performance, were unhappy :mad2: with opinions I shared in some other threads, and felt I was unfairly harsh on AI Inc. (Please, do not feel the need to be offended on AI's behalf) I believe all these individuals are running their lights within my stated opinion for their performance capabilities.

[QUOTE=][B]Seth The Wine Guy;677884 wrote:[/B]
I was told without question, two units hung 12" over the water with 40 degree optics would be more than enough for my tank.

(I will have to disagree with their claims. I would say they adequately cover a 18"x18" square of a 25" deep tank.)
:)[/QUOTE]

So, if some folks are having success, it wouldn't shock me. (Analogy- I never said the car couldn't go 60mph. I just said it couldn't get to 60 in 4 seconds)

With a great number of people sharing their experience with these units, the true understanding of their abilities is better known. Much more than it was a year ago.

I have maintained objectivity in this thread evaluating these units. I have given the facts and reserved my opinions for dialogs/threads elsewhere to preserve this threads integrity. I reserve the fact to allow my personal feelings toward AI Inc to be made known in opinions elsewhere.

With that being said; a third unit being on my tank for just over two weeks, I'm already seeing some positive signs. I will update when I have concrete info/results to share.

 

[patrick]

Certainly think LEDs can do well with SPS, but greatly agree with you Seth about AIs. The SPS dominant tank in the RC thread is 28 inches deep and it has 2 fixtures to cover that. I think that is what it takes to do well with AIs. They are not bad fixtures, just do not cover the area they cite. A 24 inch spread is way more than what I saw they covered. I too looked at these fixtures before I bought my LED fixtures. I ended up going with the 200W fixtures, 72 3W CREEs, from reeffiltration.com. The AIs are great with all the controls and dimmer abilities. But, I just don't think they are yet worth their cost. Great lights, but you need too many to cover and that just prices them out of the "best" option category. I still have my dual 250W MH fixture so I can always revert if needed. MHs will always be hard to outdo for lighting. Your honesty is appreciated. Too many would rather talk things up to make themselves feel better.....like you stated. Thanks for being real

 

[frdagaa]

I've had good luck with my AI's, but I decided to $$$ and get a "full package", meaning 4 units for a 48" length tank. I'm very pleased even if my wallet isn't quite as happy.

When I got into this hobby, I kinda decided it was going to be a money pit and on decided to err on the side of more $$ on equipment. I figured skimping on equipment to save some $ for critters would backfire in the long run. I think I was right.

One thing about the AI's that is VERY IMPORTANT and I screwed up on -- you MUST return the warrantee card right away to get their full warrantee/customer support. I never return those cards...always kinda thought they were marketing scams, and that there were laws to protect you anyway... but I WAS WRONG. Luckily I've had no equipment failures, and when I had a simple issue, now out of warrantee, the company's tech service helped me out well for free. But if one of the lights goes down, I'm eating the cost when I could have been still in warrantee fi I'd returned the card .......