New Nano LEDs!

[Reef Breeders]

Hey Everyone,

We just got in the new AquaKnight V2! Available now: https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/aquaknight-v2-nano-led/

Redesigned.
The new and improved Aquaknight V2 LEDs come with a redesigned LED board and use genuine 3watt Cree LEDs. Every light has a built in heat sink and temperature controlled, silent cooling fan. In addition we added more LEDs for increased power. The Aquaknight V2 is more compact and has a wider lens angle for even light distribution.
Full Spectrum.
The Aquaknight V2 has 12 3watt Cree LEDs for a total of about 36watts of power.

Channel	Color	Brand	Wattage	QTY
A	450nm Royal Blue	Cree XP-E	3	5
A	420nm Violet	SemiLED	3	1
B	7500K Cool White	Cree XP-E	3	4
C	480nm Cool Blue	Cree XP-E	3	2

Intuitive Controls.
The Aquaknight V2 is controlled using 4 touch sensitive buttons and an LCD screed on top of the light. Each channel is individually controllable, and the controller has a built in ramping function.
You program the light by setting times, 1, 2, and 3 for each of the same channels. Time 1 is the starting time, and all channels should be set to 0. Time 2 is the peak hour, it should be the center of your daily program and have your desired settings for channels A, B, and C. Time 3 is your off time, and all channels should be set to 0. Your light will automatically ramp up from time 1 to time 2, then ramp down from time 2 to time 3. This emulates a full sunrise and sunset.
Simple Installation.
The included tank mounting bracket works with any tank with a rim less than 1" in width. It is adjustable and can be used on tanks up to 24" front to back. The Angle of the mounting arm sets the light to the ideal height over the water based on the width of your tank. As you slide your light towards the center of your aquarium, it also rises higher above the water level.
Slim Profile.
The Aquaknight LED is a purpose-built nano/pico reef light. Each light measures 4.25" in diameter by 1.25" tall.
Each Aquaknight V2 is designed to cover a 12" cube for SPS, or an 18" cube area for a mixed reef/soft corals.

Every Aquaknight V2 purchased with us has our full 12 month warranty. Ships from and serviced in Wakefield, RI USA.

 

[Ranjib]

Nice . 36W is a pretty good deal, compared to A80. Would love to see some reviews. Is this externally controllable?

 

[Reef Breeders]

Nice . 36W is a pretty good deal, compared to A80. Would love to see some reviews. Is this externally controllable?

It's a new product so no reviews just yet! It only works via its internal controller, but gooseneck and controller are included for $99.99 shipped.

 

[Steven Garland]

I was going to ask if you guys were going to carry this.

I emailed Fish-Street for weeks about numbers and such on this light and they wouldn't give up any info.

 

[Reef Breeders]

I was going to ask if you guys were going to carry this.

I emailed Fish-Street for weeks about numbers and such on this light and they wouldn't give up any info.

We're one of their US distributors, if you see any items on their site we can order them in, even if we don't have it listed on our website.

I have been testing the aquaknight V2 for a little while now, they are pretty simple to program and the sunrise/sunset ramping is really nice. I like that the cool blues are on their own channel- I set those to about 5% for timer slot 1 and 3, so they will be on overnight and act as moonlights. The Cool blues are 480nm- so they don't directly cause photosynthesis, so your corals get a chance to rest but still provide some flourescence at night.

 

[Steven Garland]

Really,I had no idea but kind of had a feeling since you carry a lot of Jebao,Coral Box stuff. Have you put a par meter under this ? I wonder what kind of numbers this little thing puts out.

I'm happy they put the violet on with the royal blues but really wish they used maybe a 2:2 nw &cw or all nw instead of the cw..they kill me lol.

 

[MattR]

@Reef Breeders I just got the email and I am super excited! I want to buy a couple but am just waiting for the reviews!

 

[Reef Breeders]

Really,I had no idea but kind of had a feeling since you carry a lot of Jebao,Coral Box stuff. Have you put a par meter under this ? I wonder what kind of numbers this little thing puts out.

I'm happy they put the violet on with the royal blues but really wish they used maybe a 2:2 nw &cw or all nw instead of the cw..they kill me lol.

I did some preliminary readings in our shop, haven't done water testing yet. Will get on it once I return from RAP CA

 

[Steven Garland]

Please do,I would love to see what numbers it produces. Could you post some pics over a tank or do you not have one set up over one yet ?

 

[lolmatt]

I just ordered one. I have the aqua knight v1 on a nuvo 10 and it's just crushing it for leather corals.

The v1 par readings I got near 200 a couple inches under the water and around 75 on the bottom. That v1 is only 27W and I had white turned pretty low (since it doesn't ramp) with the v1. In the v2 there are now 8 blue/violet leds versus 6 in the old model, so I think you can safely expect a 33% par jump to over 250 on the v2. Iirc I got nearly 300 par on the v1 with both blues and whites at 100%.

On the v2 I'd expect well over 300 par with all channels at 100%, and probably around 250 with a more blue heavy spectrum near top water. Definitely enough light to grow sps in the upper half of a 12-15" tall tank.

 

[Reef Breeders]

Please do,I would love to see what numbers it produces. Could you post some pics over a tank or do you not have one set up over one yet ?

I have it over a new tank I am setting up- it's a 12" cube ULM system. Will be stocked when I'm back. Shimmer is very nice with the focused LED pattern. The light also has a nice spread about 6" off the water:

 

[Steven Garland]

I just ordered one. I have the aqua knight v1 on a nuvo 10 and it's just crushing it for leather corals.

The v1 par readings I got near 200 a couple inches under the water and around 75 on the bottom. That v1 is only 27W and I had white turned pretty low (since it doesn't ramp) with the v1. In the v2 there are now 8 blue/violet leds versus 6 in the old model, so I think you can safely expect a 33% par jump to over 250 on the v2. Iirc I got nearly 300 par on the v1 with both blues and whites at 100%.

On the v2 I'd expect well over 300 par with all channels at 100%, and probably around 250 with a more blue heavy spectrum near top water. Definitely enough light to grow sps in the upper half of a 12-15" tall tank.

Awesome info,thank you. I did see a youtube video where a dude had it on a IM 10g and his par numbers were pretty dang good for that light on that tank.

So this is definitely going to be a good contender for nano and pico tank keepers. I was originally wanting this light for my 12"x6"x6" sps tank but may get one to put over a 8"-10" cube and go sps if the numbers are that good.

 

[Reef Breeders]

Awesome info,thank you. I did see a youtube video where a dude had it on a IM 10g and his par numbers were pretty dang good for that light on that tank.

So this is definitely going to be a good contender for nano and pico tank keepers. I was originally wanting this light for my 12"x6"x6" sps tank but may get one to put over a 8"-10" cube and go sps if the numbers are that good.

Can you link the youtube video? These lights are nice and powerful from what I am seeing so far. The controller was also super easy to figure out- I will get a video on programming done as there was some initial confusion before I got the hang of it.

 

[Steven Garland]

Can you link the youtube video? These lights are nice and powerful from what I am seeing so far. The controller was also super easy to figure out- I will get a video on programming done as there was some initial confusion before I got the hang of it.

Whoops sorry I was referring to the V1 not this light

 

[lolmatt]

I might be able to do one, our reef club has a PAR meter available to borrow...I'll see if I can get my hands on it. Light should be here tomorrow. Impressive shipping time, awesome service as always Logan.

 

[Steven Garland]

Please do,I would to see what it puts down.

 

[lolmatt]

So I got this today and I can tell you it looks pretty sharp versus the v1. Much smaller footprint and the goose neck is very stiff.

However, I'm slightly disappointed with the way they did the set points and channels. Essentially there's 3 set points: on, max, and off. You can set levels at the on and off points but I don't think it makes much sense except for if you're running something at 5% or less overnight. It basically gives you two levels you can set (off and max), I don't see anyone ramping their moonlight from 5 to 0 percent for 12+ hours lol. Aside from the ramping you'd have better control with 2 power cords and a dual outlet timer.

But I have an idea.

I just ran a short test, and the thing kept time without getting power for over 10 minutes. I'm going to run a longer test (overnight tonight) so I can potentially misuse the channels to achieve some blue-only time morning and night (which is really why I bought this light over the aqua knight v1...the ramping is neat but I really wanted a light that'll give separate blue time at morning and night).

The idea is - an external timer to power the light from noon to midnight.

Set point 1 1pm blues at 25
Set point 2 6pm blues at 100 white at...wherever I end up liking the color
Set point 3 11pm blues at 25

So at noon the light will come on (via external timer) with blues at 25 (I may go lower TBD) and they'll stay there for an hour. Then it'll ramp up for 5 hours, back down for 5 hours, 11-midnight I'll have blues at 25 for an hour, and at midnight the light will turn off (again via the external timer).

The only caveat is the whites flash for a second at boot. Guess my fish are waking up to lightning every morning lol.

I'll let you all know tomorrow afternoon sometime if the light keeps its time overnight (so this is about a 14.5 hour test), then I'll try it out on the tank this week.

 

[Steven Garland]

Interesting,well thanks for the info man.

So,besides you not being able to use the blues as moonlights,the light coming on at a certain time,ramping up,ramping down and turning off functions all are good ?

I don't care at all for moonlights personally lol.

 

[lolmatt]

To be clear, you can definitely use the blues as moon lights (I don't care for them either). What you can't do is have the blues turn on before the whites and stay on after the white turn off.

Yes the light was easy to program. So if I were to compare this to the v1:
- No timer required
- Many more levels (3 channels instead of 2, 1% granularity instead of set 0-15)
- Harder to mess up your program (how many times have I bumped the +/- on the v1 only to forget...did I have whites at 3 or 4 clicks past off.....)
- Can do moonlight (personally I don't care for it but surely others do)
- Nicer form factor (both the smaller fixture and the cluster of leds versus individual lenses)
- Higher watts/more leds
- Ramping (unknown intervals here, it's not documented)
- Goose neck on v2 seems much nicer than the awkward metal arm on v1

Things that would make this a perfect light imo:
- Two more set points for a total of 5
- Ability to turn off the time display (maybe it goes off on its own? Haven't gotten that far)
- Replace one white led with some sort of actinic blue

Overall it's a nice upgrade over the v1, but a little pricey when the v1 can be found for around $60 from places not called reefbreeders

 

[lolmatt]

Channel B on my light is cool blue, channel C is white.

I can confirm the light kept its time overnight without having power, within a minute or less, having no power for 14+ hours.

I set it up as described above and ended up with 25/25/0 from noon to 1, 100/100/50 from 1 to 11, 25/25/0 from 11 to midnight. Idk how long it takes to ramp yet, should give me an effective photo period of like 8-10 hours which lines up with the way I was using the v1 (on a simple on/off timer from 1-11p).

Bonus pic