AI Vega Color/Blue Owners Thread!

[RandoReefer]

Originally Posted by andrewbram

I have a 30 inch deep tank. My lights are 4-5 inches off the water depending on wave height. I would supplement with t5 however I am way to frustrate to recommend anything else at this point. If you have another questions feel free to ask though. Have you already purchased these lights.

Not yet, I have four of them in my shopping cart at BRS, just waiting to pull the trigger. I don't get back from Africa until mid December, so I'm sorta stalling to see if anything better comes out by then.

I can wait until mid Jan to buy something, but I really want to get some LEDs on my tank.

[rhinonm]

Originally Posted by andrewbram

Well heard back from ai. Although their response was speedy I don't feel satisfied. The 50 degree optics will not work for us vega owners. There maybe the development of lenses but they wouldn't commit. I let them know my frustration of lack of par and they only suggested buying another unit. I for one do not think 79 par on sandbed is acceptable. Hopefully the addition of my t5 will boost profits for another company.

HMM... straight from tier website "AI Vega/Hydra - 50 degree Lens Kit
$25.00
Kit contains four 50 degree lenses."

[andrewbram]

Originally Posted by rhinonm

HMM... straight from tier website "AI Vega/Hydra - 50 degree Lens Kit
$25.00
Kit contains four 50 degree lenses."

Read the little asterisk at the bottom does not fits vega with xm-l LEDs. Trust me I went rounds with them today because they won't offer anything for those of us with vega. They told me to buy another unit. If you pm me I would be more then happy to provide screen shot of conversation with ai.

[andrewbram]

Originally Posted by RandoReefer

Not yet, I have four of them in my shopping cart at BRS, just waiting to pull the trigger. I don't get back from Africa until mid December, so I'm sorta stalling to see if anything better comes out by then.

I can wait until mid Jan to buy something, but I really want to get some LEDs on my tank.

I will be honest if you are going to buy from ai the hydra52 look promising. They at least have 50 degree lenses for more punch. But this is just my opinion. I just ordered t5 because my corals can't wait for a maybe we will produce that lense. If your tank isn't to deep then they will be fine. How deep is your tank.

[RandoReefer]

Originally Posted by andrewbram

I will be honest if you are going to buy from ai the hydra52 look promising. They at least have 50 degree lenses for more punch. But this is just my opinion. I just ordered t5 because my corals can't wait for a maybe we will produce that lense. If your tank isn't to deep then they will be fine. How deep is your tank.

Standard 125 gal, 72"x18"x21". I suppose the Vegas will work if the Hydra52s don't come out by the time I pull the trigger, although for a shallow tank like mine, I do like the 80 degree lens for a wider spread.

Such is the frustration with purchasing new technology.....

[andrewbram]

Well ai quoted the vega at 28 inches will do between 100-125 par at 4 awl. I don't like my lights that close to the water. If you go with regular hydra instead of hydra52 you can still order 50 degree lenses. Just be open. Vega are good lights for the correct application.

[reef bloke]

I have measured my Vega at 100% at 8" off the water with my Apogee electric sensor on my 26" deep (water) reef and I'm getting about 150 on the sand and up to 600-750 par at around 6-8" from the surface. About halfway down I'm getting around 450-600 par which is more than enough for sps.

[andrewbram]

Originally Posted by reef bloke

I have measured my Vega at 100% at 8" off the water with my Apogee electric sensor on my 26" deep (water) reef and I'm getting about 150 on the sand and up to 600-750 par at around 6-8" from the surface. About halfway down I'm getting around 450-600 par which is more than enough for sps.

Jealous wish I was getting that.

[mlott132]

Anyone ever order custom pucks? Just wondering how long it took to get them. Ordered mine August 15th and still no word on when they are going to ship. Every time I ask they tell me within the next week or two. Getting kinda frustrated.

[rhinonm]

Originally Posted by mlott132

Anyone ever order custom pucks? Just wondering how long it took to get them. Ordered mine August 15th and still no word on when they are going to ship. Every time I ask they tell me within the next week or two. Getting kinda frustrated.

Same here ordered 3 early august. More BS from AI..

[RandoReefer]

Anyone think that (4) AI Vegas for a standard 125 gal (72" x 18" x 21") is a little overkill?

I see some of you with larger volume tanks and lengths with less than (4) lights....

[treetopflyn]

Originally Posted by RandoReefer

Anyone think that (4) AI Vegas for a standard 125 gal (72" x 18" x 21") is a little overkill?

I see some of you with larger volume tanks and lengths with less than (4) lights....

I have 2 sol blues on my 105G. 48" long and its more light than my corals can handle running at less the 70% max. I would think 4 would be fine but you could get away with only 3.

[Giovanni]

Originally Posted by RandoReefer

Anyone think that (4) AI Vegas for a standard 125 gal (72" x 18" x 21") is a little overkill?

I see some of you with larger volume tanks and lengths with less than (4) lights....

If you have the means I would recommend 4. You will have better control of where your light goes. You can have one end set for softies and the other set for clams etc. Also you can run the a bit lower and they are more energy efficient. The spread is better and there will be less disco.

[EDAT6]

Originally Posted by RandoReefer

Anyone think that (4) AI Vegas for a standard 125 gal (72" x 18" x 21") is a little overkill?

I see some of you with larger volume tanks and lengths with less than (4) lights....

I have 4 Vegas over my 300 96x30x25 @ 6.5" AWL and I am happy with them so far. My tank is not yet fully stocked with corals so I cant comment on growth or light penetration.
HTH

[Reloadeddevil]

Very informative thread.

[mlott132]

Finally got my shipping confirmation today. Can't believe it took that long!

[rhinonm]

Originally Posted by mlott132

Finally got my shipping confirmation today. Can't believe it took that long!

I received my pucks yesterday. AI refunded me $50/150, probably for the wait, that was nice!

I have 3 vega over a 48"x36"x24". I swapped out 1 green/red puck on each and replaced with neutral white (center) 2x rb 1 UV 1 Violet.

I noticed the the neutral white in the center was a small led. Probably not a XML. I wonder why they changed this.

The neutral white is awesome btw much better than the cool white.

[mlott132]

Originally Posted by rhinonm

I received my pucks yesterday. AI refunded me $50/150, probably for the wait, that was nice!

I have 3 vega over a 48"x36"x24". I swapped out 1 green/red puck on each and replaced with neutral white (center) 2x rb 1 UV 1 Violet.

I noticed the the neutral white in the center was a small led. Probably not a XML. I wonder why they changed this.

The neutral white is awesome btw much better than the cool white.

Wish they would have done that for me too. The only thing they sent me was the wrong pucks. I ordered two different setups and they sent me two of the same type. So we will see on Monday what they are going to do.

[Hooked4life]

Got home from being out of town for a couple of days and my Vegas appear to be stuck. Running the on the new controller. I have powered the controller off & on, reset the lights, and even unplugged them, no change. Any suggestions?

[reef bloke]

Lovely tank, well lit with just the two SOL.

Originally Posted by treetopflyn

I have 2 sol blues on my 105G. 48" long and its more light than my corals can handle running at less the 70% max. I would think 4 would be fine but you could get away with only 3.

[rhinonm]

Originally Posted by Hooked4life

Got home from being out of town for a couple of days and my Vegas appear to be stuck. Running the on the new controller. I have powered the controller off & on, reset the lights, and even unplugged them, no change. Any suggestions?

Have you reset them by holding down the button for a few till it goes red/green for a bit then solid red?

[Hooked4life]

Originally Posted by rhinonm

Have you reset them by holding down the button for a few till it goes red/green for a bit then solid red?

Thanks for your reply. I did that about 3 times - they connected just fine everytime and then blinked so I could identify the left then right. Then they still stayed on at full power. I finally shut them off using the All Off button on the controller. When I turned it back on this morning, they were working fine.

I just wonder how long they were on and at what intensity. I need a better controller solution than this, or than Director. If I had been gone another day or two, it could have been disasterous.

[Hooked4life]

Same thing again last night. Lights should start dimming down about 8:00 by 9:30 they are still stuck on highest setting. The controller is communicating with the lights, it just isn't following the program. Using the controller, I turned the lights off, and again, it was fine when I turned it back on this morning.

Anyone else having a similar experience?

[RandoReefer]

Do you have the latest firmware update? They posted a new firmware update with the 2.40 on 16 September 13...

You may need to update the firmware.....

http://support.aquaillumination.com/...ted-with-v2-40

[mlott132]

Well I found out that the custom power pucks are not completely custom. Yes, you can choose the colors you want, but they might not be in the positions you choose. I wanted to swap the positions of the red's and green's between the two to help eliminate the disco effect. However, both are in the same position as stock. I do like they way the tank looks with the addition of UV and Violet. Brings out the colors nicely.

Hooked4life, what firmware revision are you running? If you are not at the latest, try upgrading to see if that fixes your problem. Only other thing I could think of is a factory reset on the controller and lights. Good luck.