Ramp timer for mars aqua chinese LED

Slot · Mar 16, 2017

I have 2 chinese mars aqua 165w leds but i hate manually turning them on and adjusting the color all day, is there a controller or something that automatically ramps the intensity up and down? I know nothing of controllers or how they work and just want one for ramping my lights, any suggestions?

donnievaz · Mar 17, 2017

You'll need to get lights with that capability built in. Your fixtures are manual control only, they're meant to be put on a timer, set and forget. You need something along the lines of an Ocean Revive T247 or Reefbreeders, SBreeflights, etc.

You could mod your lights but that's not a trivial undertaking. http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=78107&title=mars-aqua-on-an-apex-controller

Slot · Mar 17, 2017

donnievaz said:
You'll need to get lights with that capability built in. Your fixtures are manual control only, they're meant to be put on a timer, set and forget. You need something along the lines of an Ocean Revive T247 or Reefbreeders, SBreeflights, etc.

You could mod your lights but that's not a trivial undertaking. http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=78107&title=mars-aqua-on-an-apex-controller

I have no problem with modding the lights, thanks for the link! Would the apex jr or even the reefkeeper lite work for this? I have no experience at all with controllers and dont want to spend 800$ for something ill only use for lights and my sump

donnievaz · Mar 18, 2017

Slot said:
I have no problem with modding the lights, thanks for the link! Would the apex jr or even the reefkeeper lite work for this? I have no experience at all with controllers and dont want to spend 800$ for something ill only use for lights and my sump

I have no controller experience either so I don't have a clue. I do know that buying a new light looks to be a lot cheaper unless you're going to use the controller for a lot of other functions as well.