Adam_T Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Okay, let's to it! Tank: Elos Mini -20 gallons -17x17x16 -17lb Live-Rock in display -Mixed reef (SPS, LPS, Softies) Flow: Vortech MP10ES Lighting: AI Nano -2 Cree XM-L Cool White -4 Cree XP-E Blue -4 Cree XP-E Royal Blue -Mix between 40/70 degree optics PAR Meter Used: Apogee QMSS Here are the measurements: NOTE: 2'' is out of water, 4'' is AT water level, 6'' is 2'' below water and on... 25% on all 3 colors, measured under the CENTER of fixture -2'' below fixture: 1700 -4'' below fixture: 375 -6'' below fixture: 100 50% on all 3 colors, measured under the CENTER of fixture -2'' below fixture: 2000+ (meter doesn't go higher) -4'' below fixture: 700 -6'' below fixture: 300 -8'' below fixture: 200 -14'' below fixture: 77 -18'' below fixture: 50 50% on all 4 colors, measured at the SIDES of the tank -4'' between: 25-32 -6'' between: 60-68 -8'' between: 69-83 -10'' between: 48-54 -14'' between: 40-47 -18'' between: 39-43 75% on all 3 colors, measured under the CENTER of fixture -2'' below fixture: 2000+ -4'' below fixture: 850 -6'' below fixture: 530 -8'' below fixture: 437 -10'' below fixture: 359 -12'' below fixture: 181 -18'' below fixture: 69 75% on all 3 colors, measured at the SIDES of the tank -6'' between: 87-90 -8'' between: 156-179 -18'' between: 51-58 100% on all 3 colors, measured under the center of the fixture -2'' below fixture: 2000+ -4'' below fixture: 1339 -6'' below fixture: 622 -8'' below fixture: 469 -10'' below fixture: 301 -12" below fixture: 169 -18'' below fixture: 107 100% on all 3 colors, measured at the SIDES of the tank -8'' between: 198-205 -10'' between: 141-163 -18'' between: 88-94 REVIEW: I like the AI Nano for many reasons. The build is very small and sleek, and there is no extra "parts" or "spaces" that are just...."there". Ya know? It is only as big as it needs to be to house all the LED's, fans, driver...etc. TINY! I also like how you get 3 color choices and you can set the values of each one of them to get the exact color you want. The mounting arm is rather cheap looking...but seeing that it is black, you can barely even see it when it is on your tank. There is only 1 wire (2 if you have the controller) and it gets tucked nicely within the arm mount so you see no wires. The fan is quiet as can be and comes on automatically when a certain temperature has been reached. I have had my LED's set up to around 45% and the fan has yet to come on...great little fella! The PAR levels will differ in everyones tank based on flow...I am using a Vortech MP10ES that blows in the center of the tank (where I was taking measurements), and it was on pretty high as well. Overall...I really enjoy the lighting. I wouldn't put this over anything bigger than a 18x18 cube tank. Based on the PAR measurements above, I am currently running this fixture at 46% white, 55% blue and 55% royal blue. I will gradually increase each week based on how my corals are looking. My acropora colony towards the edge of my tank has been browning a little bit, and I believe that to be from lack of lighting (it was only getting around 55 PAR at my prior settings), but I just adjusted my light from around 34-40% range to the 55% range...so hopefully it will help it out a bit. PICTURES: (pictures were taken with iPhone 4 and LEDs at 34/40/40%) I've had the fixture for a few weeks now, and slowly got them up to 36 white, 40 blue and 40 royal blue....and just bumped it up to 46/55/55. Dawn: 11:55am w/ a 30 minute ramp White: 10 Blue: 25 Royal Blue: 25 Daytime: 1:55pm w/ 120 minute ramp White: 46 Blue: 55 Royal Blue: 55 Daytime 2: 6:45pm w/ 15 minute ramp time White: 55 Blue: 48 Royal Blue: 46 Daytime 3: 8:00pm w/ 15 minute ramp time White: 46 Blue: 55 Royal Blue: 55 Dusk: 9:55pm w/ 60 minute reverse ramp time White: 0 Blue: 10 Royal Blue: 10 Nighttime: 10:55pm w/ 0 ramp time and lunar cycle on (changes between 0 and max numbers below given the specific day of the week/month) White: 1 Blue: 5 Royal Blue: 3 I think everything will like it! Since I've upped the % a bit today, my Tricolor Acro colony is showing it's polyps again! Not to mention, my frogspawn is twice the size of normal (no joke) and my Multicolor Wellso is about 6'' across! Link to comment
rfalk Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Great work...wish I had the money for one of those! Can't wait to see the par numbers on the phoenix. Link to comment
1fishmonger Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Exact set up I have waiting around. Thanks for the PAR numbers. Only concern is that IIRC, PAR is hard to use as a measure of output due to the blue spectrum being read differently and it skews the PAR results... Some LED guru or the LED guru will probably be able to explain that Link to comment
rfalk Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Exact set up I have waiting around. Thanks for the PAR numbers. Only concern is that IIRC, PAR is hard to use as a measure of output due to the blue spectrum being read differently and it skews the PAR results... Some LED guru or the LED guru will probably be able to explain that Yeah I know the apogee meters are known to not read par correctly in the blue spectrum so the numbers are probably higher than recorded. Link to comment
1fishmonger Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 So they incorrectly read lower? Pretty impressive numbers as it is IMO. Would be neat to have side by sides of the different same range LED fixtures. Was hoping Reef Builders would take that on Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Brilliant, I think that the PAR varies greatly too based on location and the optics--it's just hard to be "accurate" but this is awesome. I've been waiting for someone to take par readings on this thing, when I got the LED light I was surprised at how "not bright" it seemed, but that's because I got used to BLARING halides that burn your iris... I need to get a controller, but I just don't see a good reason to--turning it off and on manually isn't that big of a deal to me...I have mine set at 50% white and 100% blues for a more "14k ish" look. Do you know if the PAR readings drop significantly in water vs just air? I have my light raised pretty high (about 7" or so) to cover a 24" spread...my tank itself is only about 7" tall though. Link to comment
Adam_T Posted September 29, 2011 Author Share Posted September 29, 2011 I'm surprised you haven't started roasting your corals...having blues at 100% and your total depth only being 7'' out of water and 7'' in water for a total of 14''....that's a #### load of par. But yes....the AI Nano PAR measurements FULLY out of water are very high...like...2000+ at 2''......and about 400 at 18''...(compared to the 107 at 18'' under water). Link to comment
Adam_T Posted September 29, 2011 Author Share Posted September 29, 2011 I've had the fixture for a few weeks now, and slowly got them up to 36 white, 40 blue and 40 royal blue....and just bumped it up to 46/55/55. Dawn: 11:55am w/ a 30 minute ramp White: 10 Blue: 25 Royal Blue: 25 Daytime: 1:55pm w/ 120 minute ramp White: 46 Blue: 55 Royal Blue: 55 Daytime 2: 6:45pm w/ 15 minute ramp time White: 55 Blue: 48 Royal Blue: 46 Daytime 3: 8:00pm w/ 15 minute ramp time White: 46 Blue: 55 Royal Blue: 55 Dusk: 9:55pm w/ 60 minute reverse ramp time White: 0 Blue: 10 Royal Blue: 10 Nighttime: 10:55pm w/ 0 ramp time and lunar cycle on (changes between 0 and max numbers below given the specific day of the week/month) White: 1 Blue: 5 Royal Blue: 3 I think everything will like it! Since I've upped the % a bit today, my Tricolor Acro colony is showing it's polyps again! Not to mention, my frogspawn is twice the size of normal (no joke) and my Multicolor Wellso is about 6'' across! Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 I'm surprised you haven't started roasting your corals...having blues at 100% and your total depth only being 7'' out of water and 7'' in water for a total of 14''....that's a #### load of par. But yes....the AI Nano PAR measurements FULLY out of water are very high...like...2000+ at 2''......and about 400 at 18''...(compared to the 107 at 18'' under water). Haven't had a problem thus far, though maybe I will turn it down I did melt some Darth Maul's recently...though nothing else has melted. Since everyone else seems to have a problem with Darth Maul's, I'm least likely to blame the lights (especially when they came from halides) ... Link to comment
AustinV90 Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 thanks for the review! Link to comment
Adam_T Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Haven't had a problem thus far, though maybe I will turn it down I did melt some Darth Maul's recently...though nothing else has melted. Since everyone else seems to have a problem with Darth Maul's, I'm least likely to blame the lights (especially when they came from halides) ... Well....a lot of corals wont show signs for a few weeks. Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Well....a lot of corals wont show signs for a few weeks. Would they be growing new polyps/growth if there were problems? I've only had them in there for a few weeks, the Xenia's a bit off-centered and is reaching more towards the center of the light where most of the focus is... Link to comment
7digits Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Well....a lot of corals wont show signs for a few weeks. +1. I roasted a LOT of corals when I got my maxspect fixture. Things looked fantastic for about a month, then death. It's a hard lesson to learn. BTW Nice to see a fellow RASOCer on nano-reef. Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 +1. I roasted a LOT of corals when I got my maxspect fixture. Things looked fantastic for about a month, then death. It's a hard lesson to learn. BTW Nice to see a fellow RASOCer on nano-reef. What are the signs? My paly's came from MH and the others came from an LED setup as well, I tend to stick new zoas on the sides for a week or so then I move them onto the rock towards the center of the tank. Based on the PAR readings though, i'm ranging at about 160-200+ PAR at the base at the center of the tank...that doesn't seem too much? Also, any particular reason why the 75% at 12" is 181 and 100% at 12" is 169ish? Even at blue-led inaccuracies considered, 75% intensity still shouldn't have a higher par rating...strange. Link to comment
7digits Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Zoas close up and melt away. I did have some come back once the problem was corrected. Sps rtn's fast. They look great one day and show skeletons the next. IME lps, particularly favia and chalices were the first to go. Tissue starts flaking off leaving skeletons. I had some zoas close and melt down to tiny bumps that you could barely see. They did recover once I raised the fixture. Mine's not dimmable. It now sits 14" above my 40 breeder which is 16" deep. Par is great, but you can have too much. Just a little background info. I have the maxspect g2 170 watt fixture. It has I think 56 3 watt leds. It does not have the 30 watt leds. Out of 60+ frags and colonies, I may still have 8 to 10. I still have trouble getting some sps off the sandbed. I think there are some pics of the damage in my tank thread which I haven't updated in a long long time. Link to comment
zangmann Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Thanks for taking the time to do this write up, very nice! Few questions: Does anyone know what the XM-Ls are run at when at 100%? 700mA? More? What is that coral on the top left, with the bright blue, looks great! Link to comment
Adam_T Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 XM-L in this fixture are being ran at 5 watts each.... So a lot higher than 750ma. The coral with blue is a tricolor acro. The reason for the par differences is due to my vortech mp10. It is on reef crest mode which randomized the flow from low to medium to high and everywhere in-between at random times.... So it must of been on a higher setting during that test. I could get even higher numbers if I turned it off during testing, but that wouldn't be very helpful would it? No... Because that lowercase is always on, just like there is always current on the reefs in our oceans! Link to comment
ajgouty Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 This has been some very helpful info, well kinda....after seeing these numbers i am wondering if the nano would work on my 22x17x12 (with an inch of sand actually 11) I am trying to decided between the ai nano and the ai sol super blue. what do you think? tank will be mostly zoas/palys, chalices, and a few sps near the top. Can the ai sol super blue's leds be dimmed without the controller, like the nano? Link to comment
Adam_T Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 I don't believe the AI SOL Blues have the touch features that the nano does, but I am not positive. I would recommend going with a AI Sol Blue for your tank....especially with the 22'' number. I wouldn't put this on anything bigger than a 18x18 square area if you want adequate PAR numbers. Link to comment
zangmann Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 XM-L in this fixture are being ran at 5 watts each.... So a lot higher than 750ma. Never mind, figured it out. Looks like they are running at the max 3000mA. Running a 3w LED at 5watts doesn't seem correct. Are you sure on that? Link to comment
iDream Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 If someone has a BC14 they should post up their shots of it over the tank. Thinking about getting one of these babies, but probably gonna hold out and see what the warm white model looks like Link to comment
rbaby Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Zoas close up and melt away. I did have some come back once the problem was corrected. Sps rtn's fast. They look great one day and show skeletons the next. IME lps, particularly favia and chalices were the first to go. Tissue starts flaking off leaving skeletons. I had some zoas close and melt down to tiny bumps that you could barely see. They did recover once I raised the fixture. Mine's not dimmable. It now sits 14" above my 40 breeder which is 16" deep. Par is great, but you can have too much. Just a little background info. I have the maxspect g2 170 watt fixture. It has I think 56 3 watt leds. It does not have the 30 watt leds. Out of 60+ frags and colonies, I may still have 8 to 10. I still have trouble getting some sps off the sandbed. I think there are some pics of the damage in my tank thread which I haven't updated in a long long time. How long before they closed up and melted? My Darth Maul's did that after I got it, it took about a week after being put in the system--but everything else is fine so I don't know if it's due to the light or due to them just being nitpicky. I've read other reefers experiencing problems with the same color morph . Link to comment
Adam_T Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 I had coral show signs instantly on my last setup, and then some didn't show any signs until around 4-5 weeks later. Zoas started turning grey/black, frogspawn turned white...etc. They are all healed and well now, but I had a different LED system that was non-dimmable on my last tank. Link to comment
wolfador Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Just ordered one of these to replace my Odessa 4xT5 setup. Can't wait. Major upgrade I think Link to comment
rbaby Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Covers 24" spread at this height. This is running at 25% white 50% blues. Link to comment
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