Aquaneat: Does anyone know about these LED's?

mfl74 · Jan 22, 2019

Thought this might work over a 60g cube but just found these on eBay and hoped someone out there has experience with them. Please provide feedback if you have any?! Thank you!

Here is the LED fixture link:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aquaneat-A...1fecdddb:m:mqvtnDyU5HQ0jkoSKVQPP5w:rk:11:pf:0

Thanks,
Matt

saltyfilmfolks · Jan 22, 2019

In all honesty, the spectrum could be questionable. It’s in the range and coral will adapt in general.

We don’t get a lot of reviews on this stuff here Likey cuz it’s not a brand name and folk won’t say what they’re using.

Were I to try these I’d buy two of them.

Were I to reccomend a low budget light (in the same $range as two of those ) for a 60 cube you’d have guaranteed moderate to good success, I’d reccomd a mars aqua , vita spar , bloomspect black box , used SBreeflight basic and take most all of the lenses out mount it at 11 12in in and crank it up.

Poseidon03 · Jan 22, 2019

I just got some used Kessil A150s for my 45 cube and I'd definitely recommend them.

Porpoise Hork · Jan 22, 2019

They are not all that much different than the BeamsWork 10K lights. They are decent for a FOWLR tank, but you would only really be successful with softies and low light lps if you decided to add them. You also won't get the best coloration from the corals that you ran under it. For a 60 cube and wanting something inexpensive that will provide a much better spectrum and PAR, take a look at the Lomonie Pixie 30 lights.

https://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Lighting-Channels-Dimmable-Saltwater/dp/B07F5B5GRB

You could start with one and add a second later on for better coverage.

If you are able to spend a tad more, then the Reef Breeders Photon v2+ is an amazing light and will support soft to sps with no issues. You can find used ones semi-frequently on here for about $2-250 on average.

mfl74 · Jan 22, 2019

Thanks for the thoughts so far. Porpoise Hork or others, have you used the Aquaneat lights? I'm wondering if anyone has some first-hand experience with them?
Porpoise Hork: Do you have the Lomonie Pixie 30 lights? I read the Q&A on the amazon link and it looks like sort of mixed information about the suitability for coral reef tank, etc, etc?

Thanks again all!

jda · Jan 22, 2019

Those look like Fish-Only lights to me. Probably .25w LEDs that are static with no color control. Most folks are not happy with a 10k look and I have no idea if the diodes are any good, or not. They are probably substandard for a reef tank, IMO. Like suggested above, a standard larger wattage black box at about $100 is probably a better idea. Mars, Galaxy Hydro are the basic lower end units that get the job done, all the way up to SB Reef Lights and ReefBreeders Photon which have more features, but are more expensive.

I have not used these and probably would not just based on the specs... unless people started to come from everywhere to tell us how great that they are. I do not know anybody who uses them.

You cannot afford to be cheap on lighting.

mfl74 · Jan 22, 2019

Thank you! I have not used any of these either, so I appreciate the inputs before I buy. (not that I've owned myself, but was thinking of AI Prime or Hydra 26 over my 60g cube, and thought these might be the top of the line based on what I've read from some folks).

Thanks again...

oreo54 · Jan 23, 2019

Man that's a lot of 20 Ohm resistors..
No power specs at all..
Technically prob 1/2W LEDs run close to that (maybe as low as .25 but not sure that low)
48" may push 80W's....

OK found this, slightly different model..Divide by 2 for 24" :

AQUANEAT 48" LED Light Marine 0.5W 270 LEDs Aquarium Plant FOWLR Coral Reef

Click to expand...

Includes 270 LEDs

255x 10000K cool white

15x 460nm Actinic Blue

Lumen :16200

Would like to see the power supply output.. for fun..

Porpoise Hork · Jan 23, 2019

mfl74 said:
Thanks for the thoughts so far. Porpoise Hork or others, have you used the Aquaneat lights? I'm wondering if anyone has some first-hand experience with them?
Porpoise Hork: Do you have the Lomonie Pixie 30 lights? I read the Q&A on the amazon link and it looks like sort of mixed information about the suitability for coral reef tank, etc, etc?

Thanks again all!

I have not used the Aquaneat lights but looking at them, it looks like they are your garden variety LED aquarium light only with more Atinic leds than most. They would probably be closer to how I ran lighting on my last tank. It had a 10K beamswork with a pair of Atinic reefbar led strip lights over my 40g (37 tall) for nearly 2 years and was able to support soft and los fairly well. The color temp with all lights on was around 12-14K and produced about 80 PAR on the sand bed of a 22" deep tank.

As for the Pixie's I personally have not run them yet, but I am using the smaller Asta 20 over my 5g Fluval spec V nano and it is fairly impressive. With the 120 degree lens at 100% on all channels mounted 5" above the middle of the tank it produces 130-150 par directly under the light on the sandbed, but it does fall sharply to 50 in the far corner. I have had a hammer coral colony under it for about 2 months now and it's doing very well. The Pixie is basically the same as the Asta only with more LEDs. Color blending is amazing for such a cheap light, with no individual hot spots. Out of the box it's set to all channels 100% and looks to be about the same color ad my Photon V2 when running that one on a 20K color setting. The light comes with a 60 and 120 degree lens that you can change out, however I did not like the blending the 60 degree produced with some odd color refraction issues at the corners of the tank. It doesn't have any type of sunrise or sunset functionality, but does remember the channel intensity after power cut from a secondary timer. The remote is IR and the sensor is placed in the power brick. So when adjusting the lights (if running more than one) you would want to make sure that both are responding to the remote at the same time. These are a set it and forget it light, so once you get them dialed in you probably won't be messing with the remote all that much after that. Based on the performance of the Asta 20, I do plan on swapping out the AquaKnight lights I have over my 20g lion fish tank for a pair of the Pixie 30's fairly soon.

mfl74 · Jan 23, 2019

Porpoise Hork: Such good info and thanks for all the information!!

Any opinions on the Pixie 30 versus the AI Prime HD ? I see the following specs but I'm wondering what is better?
Pixie 30: 24 LED's, full spectrum six colors, 90 degree lens & power 26-30 watts. Price: $78.29
AI Prime HD has 13 LED's, seven colors, 80 degree lens & power 55 watts. Price: $198.90

My question on opinions would be as either of the lights over a 60g cube (24" x 24" x 24") and it will be fish, coral (soft to begin with but don't want to be limited later) and liverock, etc. The build will start soon, so starting with the equipment choices. Thanks again for the inputs!

Porpoise Hork · Jan 24, 2019

No problem, happy to help.

As for a comparison, the Prime HD is a far superior light, however a single light will not be sufficient for your tank. You would need two of them and that would push it to 400 for lighting. With the AI lights they make it fairly simple to program via the mobile app and it's fairly easy to replicate the Coral Lab spectrum settings by Ecotech. Bulk Reef Supply put out a short video showing how to achieve this on the Prime and Hydras.

If you are OK with that kind of price range for lighting then I would seriously consider looking into the Photon v2+ 24. I have the 48" and it's amazing. Mounted 12" above the water line on a 75g with the blues at 55% and whites running a modified 22-35% mid day curve it easily produces 100 PAR on the sand bed and 250-300 at the top of my rock work. They use the same LED's as AI does and the LED layout provides a very uniform spread across the entire tank. Add to this excellent customer support with a 2 year full warranty it's a win win in my book. The only downside is setting the light spectrum and intensity are not as easy as the AI's are, but there are plenty of us who have gotten them dialed in fairly well and have amazing results with them. Plus a single light for your tank is less than a pair of Prime's or single Hydra26.

https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/photon-24-v2/

My main concerns with the Pixie 30 would be if it can penetrate to 24" depth with decent PAR numbers. If you were planning on very low light corals on the bed, then these will probably be fine, however you would still need two of them. But they would be less than one PrimeHD. Also these are relatively new on the market and support for them would be limited, and hard to say if they have the reliability as other brands out there.

mfl74 · Jan 24, 2019

I've read that one AI Prime HD would cover the 24x24 foot print? Other places I've read it won't (or might be a little darker in the corners). I'm conflicted.

rock_lobster · Jan 24, 2019

mfl74 said:
Porpoise Hork: Such good info and thanks for all the information!!

Any opinions on the Pixie 30 versus the AI Prime HD ? I see the following specs but I'm wondering what is better?
Pixie 30: 24 LED's, full spectrum six colors, 90 degree lens & power 26-30 watts. Price: $78.29
AI Prime HD has 13 LED's, seven colors, 80 degree lens & power 55 watts. Price: $198.90

My question on opinions would be as either of the lights over a 60g cube (24" x 24" x 24") and it will be fish, coral (soft to begin with but don't want to be limited later) and liverock, etc. The build will start soon, so starting with the equipment choices. Thanks again for the inputs!

26w max isnt even remotely close enough power to light a 60g cube you would be getting about 100par at the surface and something like 20 par or less at the sand bed. A light that size is good for a 2 gallon pico jar which I actually use a 24w LED on my pico. Also a single AI prime wouldnt be enough unless you went softies only but it would look dim. You could get away with a single black box they are around 165w and could light a 60g cube.

rock_lobster · Jan 24, 2019

double post

Luna · Jan 25, 2019

I have the aquaneat full spectrum over my 75 gal and had some on my 20 long they work fine and give it nice color. The problem with them is the saltwater corrodes the switch and it stops working properly, usually around 4 months. I just bought a Lumini pixie 30 for my 20 long it’s good just not as bright as the aquaneat. You could buy a aqua knight if your on a budget or a Lumini Astro 20.

Porpoise Hork · Jan 25, 2019

rock_lobster said:
26w max isnt even remotely close enough power to light a 60g cube you would be getting about 100par at the surface and something like 20 par or less at the sand bed. A light that size is good for a 2 gallon pico jar which I actually use a 24w LED on my pico. Also a single AI prime wouldnt be enough unless you went softies only but it would look dim. You could get away with a single black box they are around 165w and could light a 60g cube.

It would be more than that. On my 20 long I have a pair of the Aqua Knight 30w lights and running them 5" above the water, whites reduced by 4 levels and blues down by 2 I easily get 130 Par on the sand bed under a single light. With both lights on I get about 200+ par. I also have the smaller brother to the Pixie 30, which is the Asta 20 and it easily produces 130-150 par directly under the light on the sand bed on a 5 gallon nano sitting about 4" above the waterline and the 120 degree lens installed. The Pixie 30 has a 90 degree lens and with running two of them I am figuring they would be similar in output to my Aqua Knights. Yes the Par levels might be fairly low on the sand bed. I'd wager they would be somewhere in the 50-70 Par range and there are plenty of soft and lps corals that can thrive in that range.

mfl74 said:
I've read that one AI Prime HD would cover the 24x24 foot print? Other places I've read it won't (or might be a little darker in the corners). I'm conflicted.

The Prime HD can support up to 24X24 but that's pushing it. I recently helped a fellow hobbyist who has a 60 cube with a single Prime HD mounted about 8 inches above the water line. I don't remember the exact power settings we put it to, but it was the same as the ones BRS found that closely matched the Coral Lab settings. When set to that same level a single Prime HD produced about 150 PAR at the top of the rock work (5 inches bellow the water) directly under the light, but fell drastically to 60 on the sand bed. That's why I recommended two of them, a single Hydra 26, or a single Photon V2+ for your tank as in order to ensure adequate light coverage. If you do want to go with the Prime's buy don't have the 400 to drop on it right now, you can always start with one, and add a second one in a few months. For mounting them, I'd space the light out about 4-6 inches from each other.

rock_lobster · Jan 25, 2019

Porpoise Hork said:
It would be more than that. On my 20 long I have a pair of the Aqua Knight 30w lights and running them 5" above the water, whites reduced by 4 levels and blues down by 2 I easily get 130 Par on the sand bed under a single light. With both lights on I get about 200+ par. I also have the smaller brother to the Pixie 30, which is the Asta 20 and it easily produces 130-150 par directly under the light on the sand bed on a 5 gallon nano sitting about 4" above the waterline and the 120 degree lens installed. The Pixie 30 has a 90 degree lens and with running two of them I am figuring they would be similar in output to my Aqua Knights. Yes the Par levels might be fairly low on the sand bed. I'd wager they would be somewhere in the 50-70 Par range and there are plenty of soft and lps corals that can thrive in that range.

Thats about the exact same Par I am getting in my jar except I use a diffuser which knocks off about 20 par it is also 12" tall. But if you bump it up to 30" above the sand bed the par will fall off exponentially not linearly I tried it with my 30w led and the par at 30" below was 20-30.