Experience with mars aqua China lights

[LeftyReefer]

If you are going to go with CBB's, I'd at least try to get the Viparspectras, which were clearly the best of the CBB's in BRS's tests. The Mars Aqua were surprisingly bad. Atleast the Viparspectras had the correct spectrums covered.

 

[Kris 2020]

True - BRS doesn't sell them. They are toys, and I wouldn't sell them either. They measured the Mars Aqua against the standard that they use for the rest of their lights, and they failed miserably. And we aren't even getting into safety aspects here.

I get it - I started this hobby without a lot of money to spend, so I know what it's like to have to consider cost effective equipment. Heck I still do. Yes, they will grow corals. Yes, I think there are MUCH better cost effective options.

By-the-by - let's see some pics of these tanks using the Mars Aqua, long term. Height above tank? Spectrum settings? Photoperiod?

These are dated 2014. I don’t remember my photoperiod, but the light was maybe 15-20” above the water? That hammer started as a bargain basement frag about the size of my thumb.

 

[EMeyer]

I had them ordered prior to post. But both lights for 85 bucks to my door? I really feel like it’s gonna be okay. But now y’all have me concerned

Ignore the naysayers. Mars Aquas are perfectly fine, just as good as any of the other black boxes (which is to say, as good or better than the "high end" overpriced lights).

There is some interesting psychology at work here, but its nothing about the lights. You got a great deal and will be very happy with them.

Notice the only argument presented for calling them bad lights is "BRS said so"? Let me go ask Pepsi's PR team about whether Coca Cola is a good soft drink.

 

[piranhaman00]

What BRS found is that the Mars is the worst of the black boxes, yes people have success with them. That doesnt mean they are bad. Get the vipers for bb lights.

 

[Kris 2020]

Ignore the naysayers. Mars Aquas are perfectly fine, just as good as any of the other black boxes (which is to say, as good or better than the "high end" overpriced lights).

There is some interesting psychology at work here, but its nothing about the lights. You got a great deal and will be very happy with them.

Notice the only argument presented for calling them bad lights is "BRS said so"? Let me go ask Pepsi's PR team about whether Coca Cola is a good soft drink.

This^

 

[nereefpat]

By-the-by - let's see some pics of these tanks using the Mars Aqua, long term. Height above tank? Spectrum settings? Photoperiod?

Here is @Flippers4pups . Hope he doesn't mind.

There are a few long threads here on reef2reef on black box reviews and Marsaqua specifically.

 

[Flippers4pups]

No I don’t mind. First and foremost to everyone responding about these black boxes, all will do well in growing coral. That is a fact now for years now. Period. Regardless of what is said or done to compare them to other lights, similar black boxes and other form factor lights.

I personally have had my Mars Aquas now for nearly 5 years and they have preformed flawlessly.

 

[Mike N]

I've seen many stunning tanks full of SPS and other corals run on black boxes. They are more than capable.
No need to mention the obvious reasons BRS wouldn't rate them highly.
That being said, I do appreciate my G4's a lot more than my Mars Aquas.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

No I don’t mind. First and foremost to everyone responding about these black boxes, all will do well in growing coral. That is a fact now for years now. Period. Regardless of what is said or done to compare them to other lights, similar black boxes and other form factor lights.

I personally have had my Mars Aquas now for nearly 5 years and they have preformed flawlessly.

I agree with this.

I ran Mars for years and still do on some tanks as well. One thing that helped if wanting to move lower for aesthetics is to remove the lens from the leds or to replace with a wider angle lens. Mars are very focused and will need to be mounted higher unless this is done. You can also make a diffuser for them if needed.

This tank ran mars for 3 years and they only came down as the tank was upgraded to a 180 and I got a killer deal on a hybrid fixture with kessils. They are now over one of my frag tanks with everything from zoas to wd frags.

Nems, clams and everything else grew great. This was the 32” or whatever 300w mars light

 

[odstar]

I’ve seen many nice tanks thriving in bad boxes. I say don knock em until you try them out for yourself

 

[Flippers4pups]

I agree with this.

I ran Mars for years and still do on some tanks as well. One thing that helped if wanting to move lower for aesthetics is to remove the lens from the leds or to replace with a wider angle lens. Mars are very focused and will need to be mounted higher unless this is done. You can also make a diffuser for them if needed.

This tank ran mars for 3 years and they only came down as the tank was upgraded to a 180 and I got a killer deal on a hybrid fixture with kessils. They are now over one of my frag tanks with everything from zoas to wd frags.

Nems, clams and everything else grew great. This was the 32” or whatever 300w mars light

I did pull most of my lenses. Easily done.

 

[JCOLE]

Hold my Beer......

I can assure you Mars Aqua can and will produce great results if used correctly. I have a 150 gallon Acro dominant tank with over 80 pieces and have used (4) Mars Aqua boxes since day one. The tank is a little over 14 months now and everything is doing great. I also have (2) on my frag tank as well.

The key with these boxes is spectrum. Most CBB's including Mars have too much white. What you want to do is remove all white diodes from the white channel except for around 8. The rest fill in with 440-450nm. Also, replace the greens with 490nm CYAN's. This will allow you to do a 50/50 on both channels and give a good 14k spectrum.

I have my Mars Aqua hooked into my Apex for dimming and it works great. These paired with (2) 80w ATI Blue+ T5's is giving great growth and color.

Besides the spectrum the only issue I have with them is the newer Mar's have COB diodes which are very time consuming to replace. Viparspectra's are the standard 3w diodes which make it much easier to replace and they also have a couple of UV diodes already on the blue channel which is a plus. Going forward I will use Viparspectra just because of the ease to replace the diodes.

Do not listen to those that say these will not grow coral. They have either never used them(or used them correctly) or is just repeating what BRS says as the gospel.

See videos below. These lights put out a crazy amount of PAR. At 100% blues and 80% whites with (2) T5's I was getting around 1500+ PAR at the tops of my rocks. I had to lower my Blues to 40% and whites to 30% to get around 800 at the top and around 350 at the sandbed.






Look at my build thread and on page 9 is where I changed out my Diodes.

Build Thread - JCOLE's ACRO Dominant Build

Completed layout over frag tank on new light. Spectrum looks really good. On my DT I am going to use this layout except I will change out the 4 7500K diodes for 20000K for a crisper white. These are the newer Mars Aqua boards with COB diodes so I had to get a little creative. Prepped and...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[MichaelReefer]

If you want to burn your house down...I mean...go for it.

 

[JCOLE]

If you want to burn your house down...I mean...go for it.

This seems to be the issue I always hear. However, where are all these cases for that? At 100% Blues and Whites, my units get a little warm to the touch.

I would be interested to see how they were being used? I have seen some questionable installs involving "Name brand" equipment surrounded by a complete fire hazard.

 

[MichaelReefer]

This seems to be the issue I always hear. However, where are all these cases for that? At 100% Blues and Whites, my units get a little warm to the touch.

I would be interested to see how they were being used? I have seen some questionable installs involving "Name brand" equipment surrounded by a complete fire hazard.

it's more a joke, personally I have always felt like you get what you pay for.

 

[JCOLE]

it's more a joke, personally I have always felt like you get what you pay for.

And I as well. However, for some reason, hobbyists continue to spread false information about these lights. It seems most hobbyists believe that you have to spend $800+ per light to achieve results. Clearly, this isn't the case.

 

[MichaelReefer]

And I as well. However, for some reason, hobbyists continue to spread false information about these lights. It seems most hobbyists believe that you have to spend $800+ per light to achieve results. Clearly, this isn't the case.

I agree but disagree. While these black boxes do put out more than sufficient PAR, I personally don't like the way the light "looks," compared to units like AI and Kessil for example. Mainly when it comes to "shimmer" and the coloring. I can always tell from the pictures when someone is using a Black Box vs a "higher end" light.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I agree but disagree. While these black boxes do put out more than sufficient PAR, I personally don't like the way the light "looks," compared to units like AI and Kessil for example. Mainly when it comes to "shimmer" and the coloring. I can always tell from the pictures when someone is using a Black Box vs a "higher end" light.

It’s a personal preference. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[fnlyreefready]

True - BRS doesn't sell them. They are toys, and I wouldn't sell them either. They measured the Mars Aqua against the standard that they use for the rest of their lights, and they failed miserably. And we aren't even getting into safety aspects here.

I get it - I started this hobby without a lot of money to spend, so I know what it's like to have to consider cost effective equipment. Heck I still do. Yes, they will grow corals. Yes, I think there are MUCH better cost effective options.

By-the-by - let's see some pics of these tanks using the Mars Aqua, long term. Height above tank? Spectrum settings? Photoperiod?

I posted a video of an sps tank 8 month review previously page one

 

[fnlyreefready]

These are dated 2014. I don’t remember my photoperiod, but the light was maybe 15-20” above the water? That hammer started as a bargain basement frag about the size of my thumb.

And this is with mars aqua?