Comments on: Unboxing the New Aqua Illumination LED Module

By: Plymanf

Plymanf — Tue, 31 May 2011 20:43:00 +0000

I purchased three units at a significant price after hearing how beneficial the lighting would be for my corals. From almost the beginning, I’ve had nothing but issues. All three units have had to be sent back to the manufacturer on three separate occasions for repair due to either the fans not working, the LED lights burning out or the electrical supply shorting out. After just two days of re-installing the units for a fourth time, half of the lights on one of the units are no longer working. The manufacturer’s solution – pay another $500 to upgrade because in their own words, “The new LEDs that we currently use and that you could upgrade to if you want are much better around moisture and not as prone to the heat issues.” And the lunar cycle is a joke. One night, I’ll have moonlight, the next night it will be pitch black dark. Save your money and look elsewhere. That’s what I’m going to be doing.

By: Rimless Reef

Rimless Reef — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:25:00 +0000

Great looking fixture! I am very excited about the potential of LED lighting!

By: Rimless Reef

Rimless Reef — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:25:47 +0000

Great looking fixture! I am very excited about the potential of LED lighting!

By: glassboxdesign

glassboxdesign — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:57:41 +0000

Just one module to test for now. No guarantee it will be over the tank, but most likely… I'm very impressed so far.

By: glassboxdesign

glassboxdesign — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:56:24 +0000

Hey Nat,

At 30″ two fixtures would be better suited, but one could work if you're willing to live with less intense lighting in areas. Depending on the aquascape… a single fixture highlighting the rock and corals could look quite good.

By: nivenethan

nivenethan — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:09:21 +0000

I have 4 modules running so far over a 30″ deep tank. Awesome and super bright. Waiting on the next 4 to come to cover the rest of my tank.

By: Jimbobfett

Jimbobfett — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:56:28 +0000

For every series of Cree LED's as well as most others… the output as measured in watts/s*m2 (or PAR/PPFD by at a given spectrum) of a blue LED is exactly the same as the 'white' LED in the blue spectrum, just with the rest of the spectrums removed. So if the peak output of a given LED line has a 455nm peak of 1.2 watts for a full spectrum or 'cool white' LED, then the blue only LED also has a 1.2 watt peak. Its not as if eliminating the need to power other spectrums allows all of the power to be diverted to making a higher output of only blue… LED's dont work like that. Overall, yes, the blue phosphors tend to be the most efficient, but a 'full spectrum' LED is still going to be higher output than a 'blue' one. Since the LED's being used for blue are the XP-E's… I doubt they have half the overall efficiency of the XP-G's.

Also, an output of 350-400 mmols/m2*s at 16-18″ isnt that impressive, not considering that they have 45 degree optics on them. You could also make an claim that they can hit levels almost double that with 20-30 degree optics as well. My XP-G's (28 of them at about 93 watts) can hit that intensity at 18″ without any optics. Such claims of intensity at a given distance are only valid if the area if incidence is also given.

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:48:42 +0000

@ Ian- yes the yellow-ish tint of the housing is noticable when the lights are on predominantly white or mixed. When it's more blue it takes on a cool blue glow, which i like. I think they shouldve stuck with the housing they had at reefapalooza which had a white glow w/ white. seems they changed that neat feature for this… i like the new lenses over the ones they had at reefapalooza though.

Hi Eric — just one module over the glassbox?

I'm using 2 over my nano. i didnt expect them to be so bright. i dont think i need this much light, but it's cool to have. i think i could probably have gotten away with one. is that what you're doing?

By: AJ_Tsin

AJ_Tsin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:17:34 +0000

Awesome aesthetic design. Guess we will see how they work.

By: clive@nanocustoms

clive@nanocustoms — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:29:37 +0000

Wouldn't count on it. The royal blues are more efficient when it comes to PAR output, so it's very likely that it can meet or beat 250W MH PAR levels. If driven at decent drive currents and coupled with the included 45 degree optics, I wouldn't be surprised to see ~350-400 PAR at about 16-18″.