Is Zoo Med's AquaSun LED HO any good for low light corals?

[biswajitdey13]

When I bought the used tank, I got this light from the previous owner. It's Zoo Med's AquaSun® LED HO 36". Based on the website specification, it includes 16 white 6000K LEDs (one watt each), and 8 blue 465nm LEDs (500 milliwatts each) - only 20W in total. My tank is 36" in L x 20" in H. The width at the sides are 12" and at the middle is 17". Is this light any good for keeping any types of Coral?

I do plan to upgrade the light at some point for keeping soft corals and LPS. But considering the cost of light upgrades and due to current tight budget, I wanted to check if the current set up is barely enough for any Corals. Manufacturer website does specify that the 24" light is compatible for Low Light and Soft Corals, but it does not say anything for 36" fixture. Hoping someone in this forum might know some more details about it or may have some experience with these.

 

[biswajitdey13]

Even if no one has direct experience with this model, I was hoping if experts can provide some insights based on the specs I found on manufacturer's site.

 

[jda]

I have never heard of it, but it looks very low power. Most manufacturers over rate their LEDs by 2x, so assuming that these folks are similar, I would not use this for anything but the lowest light stuff like some mushrooms or polyps.

 

[FUNGI]

I ran zoomeds on my old 75G. Kept all the soft corals I needed. IMO, These are good lights for softies

 

[biswajitdey13]

I have never heard of it, but it looks very low power. Most manufacturers over rate their LEDs by 2x, so assuming that these folks are similar, I would not use this for anything but the lowest light stuff like some mushrooms or polyps.

Okay, makes sense. I do want to upgrade my light at some point. But it's a fairly costly affair, so taking some time to do that and looking for options with the current set up. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[biswajitdey13]

I ran zoomeds on my old 75G. Kept all the soft corals I needed. IMO, These are good lights for softies

Oh! That's interesting. That's good to know. Did you have the same 36" variation? I am assuming it was not great for Coral growth and all, but good to know that you were able to keep them successfully.

 

[FUNGI]

Oh! That's interesting. That's good to know. Did you have the same 36" variation? I am assuming it was not great for Coral growth and all, but good to know that you were able to keep them successfully.

I ran the older version Aquasuns....and they did grow the softies....and the lights come in modules so you can change the colors.....

AquaSun® LED HO – Light Module | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

They aren't that bad for a smaller softies tank.....

 

[oreo54]

Oh! That's interesting. That's good to know. Did you have the same 36" variation? I am assuming it was not great for Coral growth and all, but good to know that you were able to keep them successfully.

Well no experience with that light nor in what you want to grow.
So this is a general critique of some possible issues.
Biggest is it seems to have secondary lenses that are most likely narrower than the native on led 120's
Good for depth penetration, bad for spread and also spotlighting.
Not too concerned with the stated wattage. It's low regardless of the listing.
The panels look to have some sort of driver on them so as to run in constant current mode.

Overall because of that and the lenses they probably can perform out of their usual "league".

Problem though goes back to the spread and in my "opinion" the legs do not raise the lights enough to give a decent spread.
But if you have a weak light and want to make it at least viable.. well the low placement will do it.

From your listed tank dimensions I'm assuming some sort of like 40gal bow front tank?

Since you want to buy some time my suggestion would be to add a light for spread and some added photons.
You can add a supplement for fairly cheap and by getting a light with less restrictive optics you could improve the overall distribution.
36" light for $29..

Listed at 16.8 watts. 5:1 white to blue ratio.
Your current light is 4:1 based on power so the look shouldn't be shocking.

Only thing it will do is add some needed spread and increase your odds a bit.
One can argue that its really more of a fw light. I'd argue a bit in the opposite on my fw side.
Kind of a mutt.
Anyways one brave soul gave it a shot.

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2018
I purchased this nearly 6 months for a 30gal salt tanks with a couple of easy corals and they’ve not only survived but actually thrived. I was honestly shocked, seeing as the cheapest comparable lighting at my local pet store was nearly 5x the cost.
Great product!

For $30 and it doesn't work out.. grow some parsley with it or.. something..
With the 2 you could probably get like 40PAR at16"

History..

Aquaneat: Does anyone know about these LED's?

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...

www.reef2reef.com

That's the 1/2w version.. assume it was like this:

Robot or human?

2x the power of the above 2x the cost. 10:1 white to blue though.
I couldn't find any cheap heavy blue" lights.

This isn't really a recommendation, just food for thought.
More to fix the design of the orig than anything.

Stranger things have grown "stuff".
history:

ZooMed Aquasun modules may be the unlikely harbinger of our LED future | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

The ZooMed AquaSun LED HO replacement modules we spied this week took us by surprise and it signals a real sea-change in the way major manufacturers look at LED lighting. When it comes to aquarium LED…

reefbuilders.com

AquasunLED is ZooMed’s first foray into solid state lighting | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

The AquaSun LED light in regular and HO flavors by ZooMed is a light fixture which we first got wind of several months ago but had to come all the way to Singapore to confirm. Here at Aquarama ZooMed…

reefbuilders.com

Well found out it uses 2 different lenses.. 90 on 1/2w 30 degrees on 1w leds..
Huh go figure. Doesn't change my opinion. They should be up higher than their legs are capable of.
They tried..

 

[biswajitdey13]

Well no experience with that light nor in what you want to grow.
So this is a general critique of some possible issues.
Biggest is it seems to have secondary lenses that are most likely narrower than the native on led 120's
Good for depth penetration, bad for spread and also spotlighting.
Not too concerned with the stated wattage. It's low regardless of the listing.
The panels look to have some sort of driver on them so as to run in constant current mode.

Overall because of that and the lenses they probably can perform out of their usual "league".

Problem though goes back to the spread and in my "opinion" the legs do not raise the lights enough to give a decent spread.
But if you have a weak light and want to make it at least viable.. well the low placement will do it.

From your listed tank dimensions I'm assuming some sort of like 40gal bow front tank?

Since you want to buy some time my suggestion would be to add a light for spread and some added photons.
You can add a supplement for fairly cheap and by getting a light with less restrictive optics you could improve the overall distribution.
36" light for $29..

Listed at 16.8 watts. 5:1 white to blue ratio.
Your current light is 4:1 based on power so the look shouldn't be shocking.

Only thing it will do is add some needed spread and increase your odds a bit.
One can argue that its really more of a fw light. I'd argue a bit in the opposite on my fw side.
Kind of a mutt.
Anyways one brave soul gave it a shot.


For $30 and it doesn't work out.. grow some parsley with it or.. something..
With the 2 you could probably get like 40PAR at16"

History..

Aquaneat: Does anyone know about these LED's?

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...

www.reef2reef.com

That's the 1/2w version.. assume it was like this:

Robot or human?

2x the power of the above 2x the cost. 10:1 white to blue though.
I couldn't find any cheap heavy blue" lights.

This isn't really a recommendation, just food for thought.
More to fix the design of the orig than anything.

Stranger things have grown "stuff".
history:

ZooMed Aquasun modules may be the unlikely harbinger of our LED future | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

The ZooMed AquaSun LED HO replacement modules we spied this week took us by surprise and it signals a real sea-change in the way major manufacturers look at LED lighting. When it comes to aquarium LED…

reefbuilders.com

AquasunLED is ZooMed’s first foray into solid state lighting | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

The AquaSun LED light in regular and HO flavors by ZooMed is a light fixture which we first got wind of several months ago but had to come all the way to Singapore to confirm. Here at Aquarama ZooMed…

reefbuilders.com

Well found out it uses 2 different lenses.. 90 on 1/2w 30 degrees on 1w leds..
Huh go figure. Doesn't change my opinion. They should be up higher than their legs are capable of.
They tried..

Thanks so much for detailed response! I did a search for those lights here in Canada and amazon says around 90 bucks for those. I’d look for something similar though. I am sure there are similar items available with some search.

 

[biswajitdey13]

I ran the older version Aquasuns....and they did grow the softies....and the lights come in modules so you can change the colors.....

AquaSun® LED HO – Light Module | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

They aren't that bad for a smaller softies tank.....

I added some zoas to test it out a couple of weeks back. And it seems like they are doing good. All of them are showing new heads already. Thanks for the feedback.