Aqua Illumination LED

[sfarid123]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to know if anyone has recently purchased an Aqua -

Illumination fixture, and if so what your experience has been with

the product?

[TheMorayMan]

hey whats up, What Kinda tank do you have and if you could jus give me a quick run down, THis way i can help

[sfarid123]

55 gallon reef , planning to grow anemones w/ percs.

[TheMorayMan]

THats almost like the solaris and u know what else they have in common? I'll Tell You....You Dont need a 2000+ Lighting system for your tank lol. I mean if you want to spend all that money hey let me get the bank account number lol, i mean from what ive heard and seen, there amazing fixtures but i have a 70 gallon reef with hard and soft corals and Mushrooms etc, and i use 2 power compact lighting systems for 384Watts and the intensity is great as well. You Mite as well buy a 250 gallon tank for that you know what i mean.

[glassbox-design]

it's just like it....but not

i havent heard any reviews of it yet, are they shipping them yet?

[RichConley]

Originally posted by TheMorayMan
THats almost like the solaris

yeah, its like the solaris, except it uses LEDs that produce 5 times the light for the same amount of electricity, which puts it in the same area as MH and T5HO for efficiency, unlike the Solaris, which is down way below PC and VHO, and is not all that far from incandescent.

[sfarid123]

Well, the current lighting I have is a 260watt PC which is not enough light intensity for anemonies; they simply shrink and die after a few months. I haven't tried T-5 or other options such as MH since they produce too much heat and waste a lot of electricity. I 'd figured in the long run LED would be a better option.

[luke33]

Originally posted by sfarid123
Well, the current lighting I have is a 260watt PC which is not enough light intensity for anemonies; they simply shrink and die after a few months. I haven't tried T-5 or other options such as MH since they produce too much heat and waste a lot of electricity. I 'd figured in the long run LED would be a better option.

You can control the heat very easy with fans for MH and t5's. And you must have been choosing anemonies that were out of your lighting range. There are some that can live in PC lighting, just not all.

[SWSaltwater]

Originally posted by RichConley
yeah, its like the solaris, except it uses LEDs that produce 5 times the light for the same amount of electricity, which puts it in the same area as MH and T5HO for efficiency, unlike the Solaris, which is down way below PC and VHO, and is not all that far from incandescent.

wow this is an outright lie.........Fow any noobs I would not believe a word this guy says he does nt even own a solaris. I guess I can switch my Solaris for a 40 w bulb and have the same SPS growth.....

[luke33]

Originally posted by SWSaltwater
wow this is an outright lie.........Fow any noobs I would not believe a word this guy says he does nt even own a solaris. I guess I can switch my Solaris for a 40 w bulb and have the same SPS growth.....

I think he was trying to get his point accross that I would pass on the first LED attempt and wait for a much better more reasonably priced light. And he gives good advice about most equipment issues. Some people just don't like what he's saying.

[gcarroll]

I think Rich may have axagerated to make his point. Here is some info on Aqua Illumination's website to illustrate the difference in the fixtures.


How does your fixture compare PFO's Solaris 250W (G) and the '400W' (H4) LED systems?

We are using the highest output, single-die white LED for the market combined with a high output blue LED to produce an unbeatable combination. We are significantly more powerful than the Luxeon III LED combination (as used in the Solaris G) as well as the Luxeon K2 combination (based on released data, as used in the Solaris H).

[SWSaltwater]

ok now that compares the single LED against one another. now how many does the Aqua illumination use. Quite frankly the H4 solaris is way bright, any more might be overkill. I think the next step is higher output LED's but using less per fixture to cut cost. BTW The light already paid for itself via energy savings for me.......................I will continue to replace the MH and otehr fixtures in my store with Solaris as I can afford it. I will bring in a Aqua illum once they make some business pricing. Have they even shipped a light yet?

[SWSaltwater]

Originally posted by luke33
I think he was trying to get his point accross that I would pass on the first LED attempt and wait for a much better more reasonably priced light. And he gives good advice about most equipment issues. Some people just don't like what he's saying.

He has no qualifications to form an opinion on this product. Does he own one for evaluation?

Would you take car buying advice from an Amish guy?

He continually bashes a product he does not use, if he owned one and then said it was bad I would lend a little credit to his words. Fact is I own 2, sold a lot more and service the tanks I sold them for. I know what I see.

[Fliger]

Greg (or anyone) - who's selling it? Would love to check it out. I spoke with a light manufacturer who is looking into adding LED's to complement MH instead of T5's. Sounds interesting. I just saw an LED rep from traxsontechnologies for some displays in my business. Cool stuff, he's not in the aquarium hobby but he sees the same misinformation in his trade (design).

Originally posted by SWSaltwater
He has no qualifications to form an opinion on this product. Does he own one for evaluation?

Would you take car buying advice from an Amish guy?

He continually bashes a product he does not use, if he owned one and then said it was bad I would lend a little credit to his words. Fact is I own 2, sold a lot more and service the tanks I sold them for. I know what I see.

Rich knows everything. The sad part is that he thinks people (other than those on the DIY board) listen to him. Ask him to see a picture of his tank in all its glory ....

Edit - mile sq (thats gotta be hoboken, love that place) - I owe Rich for making me realize how valuable the ignore button is.

[mile sq. reefer]

Hey Rich, I dont want to start any trouble but you're getting bashed dude. Wow. I like my MH, cant comment on the Solaris.

[luke33]

It kind of goes like this, the Solaris is the first of its kind and has all the fancy bells and whistles. Does it grow corals? Yes it does. Does it grow them as fast as t5's and mh's? No. Is it competitive pricewise with mh's and t5's. No, does it have the same par as a t5 or mh's. No. Does the Aqua illumination? Its yet to be determined but it will be much more powerful than the solaris. Until they come down in price i'll stay with mh's and t5's.

Its is in poor taste to call someone out for there tank not being as nice as yours. I'm by no means rich and I'm not poor, but I can't imagine spending 2k+ on a freakin light. Not all people can afford this kind of stuff. Thats why bashing people's tanks is in very poor taste. Just my thoughts.

[gcarroll]

Originally posted by Fliger
Greg (or anyone) - who's selling it? Would love to check it out. I spoke with a light manufacturer who is looking into adding LED's to complement MH instead of T5's. Sounds interesting. I just saw an LED rep from traxsontechnologies for some displays in my business. Cool stuff, he's not in the aquarium hobby but he sees the same misinformation in his trade (design).

We had PFO speak with our club last month. Basically Pat was critical about the claims of other Aquarium LED lighting manufacturers because they are all promising something that they cannot deliver at this time. That is why the Solaris is still the only LED only lighting on the market today. He will be doing his presetation and demoing the products at Reef-A-Palooza this weekend. You might want to here his presentation and form your own opinion.

[Fliger]

luke, trust me - I would never bash anyone's tank. There are certain people who just post opinions as fact when never seeing the product. Know-it-alls. They read posts, remember what suits them, and post like they are brilliant. They often contradict themselves with time (if you care to read back far enough). When you profess to know so much about so many things, and never show your tank ... you gotta have way too much time on your hands. They usually make it to the ignore list for me, but RC still gives you the option to self-inflict some pain by reading their posts. BTW, is the line in your avatar, "My hypocrisy only goes so far ..."?

Back to the light, little info from a search. Will they be at RAP? I've seen a couple Solaris, would love to see this one. Just bored at work.

Edit - cool Greg - was typing while you were posting. I'll stick around to see it for sure, see you in a couple days!

[glassbox-design]

you guys can rip on rich all day, but when it comes down to it the solaris is old technology. solaris=PC's, seouls= t5's w/ SLR's. I think you get the point.

the math shows that the energy savings are not there yet nor is the par. i've seen them running, and i've heard pat and joy say this and that. i also saw the par numbers at IMAC, that was just it took them a very very long time to release their product...not to mention they had QC issues, and they recently upgraded to a "400w equivalent"...

why this turned into a solaris thread, beats me. lets keep it to AI's unit...

eric

[SWSaltwater]

I would love to talk about the AI unit but I don't think any exist yet, outside a factory or test unit. I have yet to see a pic on a tank......

[luke33]

Originally posted by Fliger
luke, trust me - I would never bash anyone's tank. There are certain people who just post opinions as fact when never seeing the product. Know-it-alls. They read posts, remember what suits them, and post like they are brilliant. They often contradict themselves with time (if you care to read back far enough). When you profess to know so much about so many things, and never show your tank ... you gotta have way too much time on your hands. They usually make it to the ignore list for me, but RC still gives you the option to self-inflict some pain by reading their posts. BTW, is the line in your avatar, "My hypocrisy only goes so far ..."?

....it is the best western ever made.

[sfarid123]

Great info, thanks for the feedback everyone , didn't think it would turn out into a major debate. How is this for a Topic :
Miller Lite ... tastes great or less filling?
;-)

Hopefully will hear from someone with first hand experience with AI fixture.

[stemonia]

I pre-ordered one of these almost two months ago. The company has had issues with delays in part manufacturing and therefore casued delays in shipping. They were originally supposed to start shipping them at the end of July. They pushed the expected ship dates back to the end of August. Not sure if they will hit that date. I cancelled my order and went with a IceCap T5 setup because I wasn't willing to wait for another possible shipping delay. I also started to feel like I didn't want to be a lab mouse with the lighting system. They are very expensice and I'd rather wait until the LED market matures with regard to reefkeeping. For now I've spent about 1/3 what I was going to spend on the AI fixture and I'm very satisfied. If the AI proves to be as good as it sounds once they start shipping then I'll order one.

[mile sq. reefer]

No matter what you post for a review or comment or opinion it will turn into a debate. I seems that certain key words trigger this response. For example, Tunze turns into the Tunze v. Koralia debate; T5 turns into the T5 v. MH debate; Solaris turns into the Solaris v. AI debate, the list goes on. People can't just stick to the topic.

[luke33]

Don't forget the HOT skimmer always turns into a remora being junk or crap(total crap) lol