AliExpress A8SE Reef Light

[Matt1997]

Wait... What?!

Yup. All made in the same Chinese factory

 

[Hooz]

Yup. All made in the same Chinese factory

And... where is this? We need details, man!

 

[Matt1997]

And... where is this? We need details, man!

Hop on Alibaba and search around. Won’t be hard to find.

 

[Hooz]

Hop on Alibaba and search around. Won’t be hard to find.

Yeah. I found them. They have minimum order quantities of 2 on all the tanks. I guess if you knew someone local who wanted the same tank it'd be ok, but...

 

[Matt1997]

Yeah. I found them. They have minimum order quantities of 2 on all the tanks. I guess if you knew someone local who wanted the same tank it'd be ok, but...

Just contact them. They will do only one

 

[Eagle90]

Did you have pictures of the boards inside? Real curious if you could swap out the mobius chip on the A8.

 

[legionofdoon]

Just contact them. They will do only one

Any idea on shipping charges for the tanks?

 

[mercurialchen]

https://www.douyin.com/search/a8se%E7%8F%8A%E7%91%9A%E7%81%AF%E8%AF%84%E4%BB%B7?aid=379d6ff7-21cc-4739-8cd2-740a4eb19ffc&publish_time=0&sort_type=0&source=normal_search&type=general

videos on Douyin. Did some digging and translation and I found out that people complain about the fan noise a lot. As for lighting quality, it looks nice imo

 

[Ben549]

Did you have pictures of the boards inside? Real curious if you could swap out the mobius chip on the A8.

This! If this worked, it would be very compelling.

 

[PotatoPig]

90% of skimmers/lights/pumps are Chinese or made in a foreign country (as we all know). The skimmer thing really ticks me off. The “American way” for so many of these companies is to purchase them from China, slap a sticker on them, then sell them for 2-3x their retail price on aliexpress. Kudos to the companies making them here in the US but they’re few and far between.

But seriously… any tips on ones to check?

 

[Shooter6]

Well here is my 6 month review.

I have had the light running on my sps only tank (6 months old) since January of this year. I bought it for $250 USD shipped with a North American power supply. It is as close to a radion as you will ever see. The fans are the same, the lens cover is the same, the housing is near identical with the main difference being the cord runs through the back of this light. The LED count, color and type is the same. I have dissembled my radion G5s to compare components and the only striking difference is the radions run a 10 channel system controlling all colors of leds while the A8 runs 6 and the radion uses Bluetooth connectivity while the A8 uses wifi (will touch more on this).

I currently have the light running beside two g5 XR30 blues and 95% of people would not be able to tell the difference. The color blends perfectly and the par is actually slightly higher than that produced by the radions. The A8 runs a warmer color overall and more closely resembles the pro version of the radion but with minor tweaks in color you can produce the “radion blue” look with very similar par results. With the light set to full intensity I was pushing well over 800 par in the upper parts of the tank. I currently have it set to about 75% blue channels and 20-30% whites and reds and am achieving 600+ par at the top 6” and 150-250 on the bottom 24” down.

Upon first setup I initially struggled with programming the light as it is in Chinese and the English app was not functional at the time. With the help of Google translate and some back and fourth with the supplier I managed to get the Chinese app working while they made improvements to the English app (which is now fully functional). After setup I took the time to create a manual for the light that I provided to the supplier with illustrations on how to program the Chinese app if you only know English. Feel free to reach out and I will provide the document.

As for the connection. I have found it more reliable than the radions Mobius. I have come home many times to my radions being out of schedule, changing times, and only running red/green/individual channels. In all my time with the A8 I only lost connectivity twice. The first time the power went out and the light was running 1h behind schedule until I opened the app and set to current time. The other time the light must have completely lost connectivity and reset to the default 5% on all channels until I reconnected.

Now does it grow coral? Absolutely and oddly enough all my most vivid pieces are underneath the A8.

I have been so impressed with this light that I put my radion G5s up for sale. I figured for the price I sell my G5s for I can purchase about 10 of these lights as they give a discount on 10 units. In all aspects I see that as a win.

Can you give me a copy of your manual?

 

[Shooter6]

Also can you list the seller you bought from? I'm looking at buying from aquariumlowcost.com
But they are about 320. On there

 

[icedgxe]

Well here is my 6 month review.

I have had the light running on my sps only tank (6 months old) since January of this year. I bought it for $250 USD shipped with a North American power supply. It is as close to a radion as you will ever see. The fans are the same, the lens cover is the same, the housing is near identical with the main difference being the cord runs through the back of this light. The LED count, color and type is the same. I have dissembled my radion G5s to compare components and the only striking difference is the radions run a 10 channel system controlling all colors of leds while the A8 runs 6 and the radion uses Bluetooth connectivity while the A8 uses wifi (will touch more on this).

I currently have the light running beside two g5 XR30 blues and 95% of people would not be able to tell the difference. The color blends perfectly and the par is actually slightly higher than that produced by the radions. The A8 runs a warmer color overall and more closely resembles the pro version of the radion but with minor tweaks in color you can produce the “radion blue” look with very similar par results. With the light set to full intensity I was pushing well over 800 par in the upper parts of the tank. I currently have it set to about 75% blue channels and 20-30% whites and reds and am achieving 600+ par at the top 6” and 150-250 on the bottom 24” down.

Upon first setup I initially struggled with programming the light as it is in Chinese and the English app was not functional at the time. With the help of Google translate and some back and fourth with the supplier I managed to get the Chinese app working while they made improvements to the English app (which is now fully functional). After setup I took the time to create a manual for the light that I provided to the supplier with illustrations on how to program the Chinese app if you only know English. Feel free to reach out and I will provide the document.

As for the connection. I have found it more reliable than the radions Mobius. I have come home many times to my radions being out of schedule, changing times, and only running red/green/individual channels. In all my time with the A8 I only lost connectivity twice. The first time the power went out and the light was running 1h behind schedule until I opened the app and set to current time. The other time the light must have completely lost connectivity and reset to the default 5% on all channels until I reconnected.

Now does it grow coral? Absolutely and oddly enough all my most vivid pieces are underneath the A8.

I have been so impressed with this light that I put my radion G5s up for sale. I figured for the price I sell my G5s for I can purchase about 10 of these lights as they give a discount on 10 units. In all aspects I see that as a win

 

[icedgxe]

Well here is my 6 month review.

I have had the light running on my sps only tank (6 months old) since January of this year. I bought it for $250 USD shipped with a North American power supply. It is as close to a radion as you will ever see. The fans are the same, the lens cover is the same, the housing is near identical with the main difference being the cord runs through the back of this light. The LED count, color and type is the same. I have dissembled my radion G5s to compare components and the only striking difference is the radions run a 10 channel system controlling all colors of leds while the A8 runs 6 and the radion uses Bluetooth connectivity while the A8 uses wifi (will touch more on this).

I currently have the light running beside two g5 XR30 blues and 95% of people would not be able to tell the difference. The color blends perfectly and the par is actually slightly higher than that produced by the radions. The A8 runs a warmer color overall and more closely resembles the pro version of the radion but with minor tweaks in color you can produce the “radion blue” look with very similar par results. With the light set to full intensity I was pushing well over 800 par in the upper parts of the tank. I currently have it set to about 75% blue channels and 20-30% whites and reds and am achieving 600+ par at the top 6” and 150-250 on the bottom 24” down.

Upon first setup I initially struggled with programming the light as it is in Chinese and the English app was not functional at the time. With the help of Google translate and some back and fourth with the supplier I managed to get the Chinese app working while they made improvements to the English app (which is now fully functional). After setup I took the time to create a manual for the light that I provided to the supplier with illustrations on how to program the Chinese app if you only know English. Feel free to reach out and I will provide the document.

As for the connection. I have found it more reliable than the radions Mobius. I have come home many times to my radions being out of schedule, changing times, and only running red/green/individual channels. In all my time with the A8 I only lost connectivity twice. The first time the power went out and the light was running 1h behind schedule until I opened the app and set to current time. The other time the light must have completely lost connectivity and reset to the default 5% on all channels until I reconnected.

Now does it grow coral? Absolutely and oddly enough all my most vivid pieces are underneath the A8.

I have been so impressed with this light that I put my radion G5s up for sale. I figured for the price I sell my G5s for I can purchase about 10 of these lights as they give a discount on 10 units. In all aspects I see that as a win.

Do you know if the Radion diffuser fits?

 

[Shooter6]

Do you know if the Radion diffuser fits?

I believe the fixtures are the exact same as radion except the wifi controller vs mobius/blur tooth, and the number of channels due to those controller differences. Why are you looking to use a diffuser?

 

[icedgxe]

I believe the fixtures are the exact same as radion except the wifi controller vs mobius/blur tooth, and the number of channels due to those controller differences. Why are you looking to use a diffuser?

I was just curious. I’m not sure I’m changing anything on my setup yet, but if I did I have a shallow tank and the diffuser may help disperse the light better/cut down on glare.

 

[fishface NJ]

Just contact them. They will do only one

Have you placed an order for an aquarium? If yes, what size did you order?

 

[Shooter6]

I was just curious. I’m not sure I’m changing anything on my setup yet, but if I did I have a shallow tank and the diffuser may help disperse the light better/cut down on glare.

I understand. I've not ordered one yet but plan to for testing. My understanding of the g5 was the glass works as at least a partial diffuser. That only a few of the whites are partially clear and the rest of the leds have a frosted cover. This is why I asked.

 

[icedgxe]

I understand. I've not ordered one yet but plan to for testing. My understanding of the g5 was the glass works as at least a partial diffuser. That only a few of the whites are partially clear and the rest of the leds have a frosted cover. This is why I asked.

That makes sense. I’m running three Kessil a350we at the moment, but am intrigued by these.

 

[Shooter6]

That makes sense. I’m running three Kessil a350we at the moment, but am intrigued by these.

I'm probably ordering 10 after testing one