Mars aqua led ready for acros sps

David osborne · Apr 13, 2019

Hi every one
Iv gone and order Mars aqaua 165w lights off Amazon and just seen there are things I may need to do them them to make them ready for acros ? I'm keeping an sps only set up and I currently run ATI 8 bulb sunpower and just wanted the led pop look ,
Will pulling the lenses help speed the lights and do I need to change some leds to get the correct spectrum or do the new boxes have the better leds now ?
I was going to buy XR30 with mounts but if this works then I save a heap of cash and will treat my sell to a high end sps acropora
My tank is 3x2x2 with only acros in so I need to get this right many thanks

Crabs McJones · Apr 13, 2019

@Flippers4pups @redfishbluefish @saltyfilmfolks have amazing tanks with sps corals. They would be your best bets for information :)

David osborne · Apr 13, 2019

Any help would be appreciated

redfishbluefish · Apr 13, 2019

You can leave them the way they are...LED mix is just fine. Some take the lenses off, but my preference is to leave them on and ideally mount 12-14 inches off the water. Might wish to pick up the poor man's PAR meter....a LUX meter. You can buy one for under $15. This way you can set intensity just right.

David osborne · Apr 13, 2019

Thank u for replying and it's good news I can use them straght out the box as they are , I probs will fiddle at a later date with led mix but for now will be good to get more info on what led mix I will want for my sps system , I will have some time off work soon and it will give me a mini project to change the leds if I need to , i gave never used a par meter where do I find them ? Amazon again ?
What sort of hrs am I looking at running the lights for ? At the moment I'm running 8 t5 fir 14 hrs
2x whites for 5 hrs
4 blue plus 2 antinics 14 hrs
I'm getting great growth at this but I'm not happy with colours and thought leds for coral pop and save having to buy new bulbs every year plus having to burn the bulbs in puts me right off buying new ones

redfishbluefish · Apr 13, 2019

Not a PAR meter.....too expensive.....but a LUX meter, around $15. HERE's the one I purchased. That's why I termed it a poor man's PAR meter. @saltyfilmfolks is the expert on LUX, and if I remember correctly you want a peak LUX of about 20,000 LUX.

As far as the light schedule, I shoot for a 12 hour day, and here's my current light schedule:

Sunrise (Moonlights) ----------- 1 hr --- 10AM-11AM
Morning (Blues only) ----------- 3 hr --- On at 11AM
Mid-day (Blues and Whites) -- 4 hr ---- 2PM - 6PM
Afternoon (Blues) ---------------3 hr ---- Off at 9PM
Sunset (Moonlights) -------------1 hr --- 9PM-10PM

The sunrise and sunset (moonlights) are two, four foot IceCap LED strips.....fairly bright.

I'm currently running two SBReef Lights and the middle is a MARS Aqua with an SBReef replacement board. Blues are set at 60% and whites at 30%.

Rybren · Apr 13, 2019

Thought you had made a typo on the price of that lux meter. The link brought me to Amazon Canada where the price is ~$51. Then checked Amazon.com and the price was $13.99.

Man, are we ever getting ripped off!

David osborne · Apr 13, 2019

How come you decided it's best to leave the lenses on the LEDs ? Do u get hot spots ? Or the newer Mars aqaua have better lenses now ? Do you know if they updated the leds at all ? Guessing I will find out tomorrow when they turn up

David osborne · Apr 14, 2019

Could some one that has updated there leds give me the list of leds to buy would be good , i have built my own leds before using the pcb style and would be a easy update for me to do , I think I will pop the lenses off because I have acros all round my tank and need a good light spread

Sarah24! · Apr 14, 2019

David osborne said:
Could some one that has updated there leds give me the list of leds to buy would be good , i have built my own leds before using the pcb style and would be a easy update for me to do , I think I will pop the lenses off because I have acros all round my tank and need a good light spread

Hello,

Not sure if your switching or adding, (to your current lights), but I definitely would not just get rid of the t5 you have. It will stress your corals, and adding these leds will stress them also. I would probably leave them alone and place them and then acclimate your corals to them.

Leds don’t have the spread like mh or t5 do if they are a puck design (similar to yours but yours is more like a brick (which is better). But generally you have 60, 90, 120. 60 has the highest intensity, and 120 is lowest. I’m not positive but would assume they come with 90 degree lens but they may say also. It would be a mistake to underestimate how much more power these will add. I definitely second the idea of renting a par meter (.buy one) or use a lux meter as well. Just make sure when you test the wave makers are turned on. The critical angel changes and you will get a better test result with them on. How large or deep is your tank and any pics. Welcome to the forum by the way :)