Aqua Illumination AI SOL Blue

[GoTakeANap]

Does anyone have this light and use on your reef tank ? Its a Aqua Illumination AI SOL Blue. About to purchase this light and wanna make sure its a good light. Ive heard alot of good things about it but you hardly every hear bad things about alot of things in this world. haha. Any info would be great. Thanks

 

[zoaking]

Great light. I use 2 over my 120 and have good growth on softies and sps. I'm about to add a 3rd.

 

[GoTakeANap]

Great light. I use 2 over my 120 and have good growth on softies and sps. I'm about to add a 3rd.

do you have the controller for it? gonna buy that as well. I have a MH over my tank now and im tired of replacing the lamp every 6 to 8 months. Plus the light gets to hot and casues algae to grow and i cant control it. Klevins change to quick and the heat that thing produces is crazy. Just ready to be done with it all together.

 

[att]

Alot of my friends have them, you cannot go wrong with these but do acclimate your corals slowly to the light. The leds are very strong, mostreefers that I know never everr run the intensity over 60%. you will need the controller unless you have a reef keeper or neptune aquacontroller to control it.

 

[GoTakeANap]

Alot of my friends have them, you cannot go wrong with these but do acclimate your corals slowly to the light. The leds are very strong, mostreefers that I know never everr run the intensity over 60%. you will need the controller unless you have a reef keeper or neptune aquacontroller to control it.

One of my LFS has the nano version and the owner said he cant cut it up passed 60% bc it was burning and bleeching out the corals. Figured id ask about the SOL since thats the light I wanted and not the nano. Good info here. Im gonna go ahead and purchase the light and controller.

 

[zoaking]

I run my 2 units at 100% all for about 6 hours a day and haven't really seen any bleaching. My sps does good up high and my softies(mostly zoos) mid to low. I have a maxima clam on my sandbed. Yes you have to use the controller otherwise it will be at max power all the time.

 

[Knuckles33]

Good light. Good growth with zoos. Sps still up in the air. Can't figure out if they are too high intensity or not getting enough light. Lack of polyp extension

 

[AZDesertRat]

I have two hung lengthwise over a 60" 100G mixed reef 12" above the waterline and love them. The controller is what sets it apart from many others, you can do just about anything with them.

 

[kschweer]

2 over a 60" tank? How is the coverage? I have no personal experience with them but was looking into them for a 36" tank and was told by a few people I would need 2. How does SPS do in your tank?

 

[Saltwatercoral]

I have 3 over my 120 right now. Even with sps at the top of my rock I'm at 50% max at noon time with the controller. I had it higher but I kept on bleaching my sps and killed a few. Once I lowered it my sps and Los started to color back up. Really powerful lights. I could have prob gore away with 2 sol blues but decided to go with 3. Do NOT forget the controller. It's a little extra but so worth it. It's like buying a car with no steering wheel, yes you can drive it but only in a straight line.... With the controller you can program different intensity through out the day to simulate sun rise to sun set and even has a cool thunderstorm mode. I can go on and on but don't need to. Just get the controller as well and you will be set with whatever corals you want in that tank of yours!

 

[AZDesertRat]

The secret is how you place the fixture. Their leg kit places it like 6" above the water which has horrible coverage over many tanks. I raised mine to 12" then turned them sideways and have no dark spots and plenty of overlap. I am in the process of restocking my corals after a bad mojano anemone infestation so don't have much SPS yet, what I do have is doing OK and the LPS, RBTA and Carpet anemones and zoanthids are thriving.

 

[Saltwatercoral]

The secret is how you place the fixture. Their leg kit places it like 6" above the water which has horrible coverage over many tanks. I raised mine to 12" then turned them sideways and have no dark spots and plenty of overlap. I am in the process of restocking my corals after a bad mojano anemone infestation so don't have much SPS yet, what I do have is doing OK and the LPS, RBTA and Carpet anemones and zoanthids are thriving.

I df agree with AZDesertRat. It's all about placement. I have mine about 1ft off the water. I'll post a pic of my FTS and show the 3 BLACK SOL BLUE'S on top of the canopy to give you an idea.

 

[GoTakeANap]

im putting this light over a 29 gallon tank until i get my 50 gallon

 

[fort384]

I have 2 AI Sol Whites over a 57 gallon tank. I wrote a write up about them awhile back after purchasing. Several months later, tank is doing well. SPS, LPS, and softies are thriving. I currently run them at 35% white, 45% blue intensity for about 8 hours a day. The installed optics and the high powered diodes make this light extremely powerful.

Here is the writeup - it gives PAR readings and a few other insights that might interest you.

Review: Aqua Illumination Sol, Hanging Kit, and Controller - Aquarium Advice

 

[Saltwatercoral]

Does anyone have this light and use on your reef tank ? Its a Aqua Illumination AI SOL Blue. About to purchase this light and wanna make sure its a good light. Ive heard alot of good things about it but you hardly every hear bad things about alot of things in this world. haha. Any info would be great. Thanks

So what lights did you decide on getting Brokendeck?

 

[Fishinizer]

I have a 8in tall canopy and a 75 gallon four foot tank can I use two with no dark spots?

 

[Saltwatercoral]

I believe you can so as long as you don't use about 6in on each side of your tank for coral. This way you will be able to Focus more of your light more evenly. Put the SOL's or Vegas long ways to get the most Out of them!

 

[KoleTang]

I've got two blues over the same tank fort364 has. The new controller is awesome. Don't even bother trying to connect it to a reefkeeper. You have to cut up and slice wires together. Major pain to do.

The APEX should work fine, but if you want individual control over blue, white, and royal blue, then you will need two VDMs ($200).

The best way to do it is to use AI's controller.

 

[GoTakeANap]

So what lights did you decide on getting Brokendeck?

I bought the AI Blue with AI controller. Gotta order the AI EXT mounting rail thou. Gonna do that tonight or tomorrow. So excited, cant wait to get this light here.

 

[GoTakeANap]

I've got two blues over the same tank fort364 has. The new controller is awesome. Don't even bother trying to connect it to a reefkeeper. You have to cut up and slice wires together. Major pain to do.

The APEX should work fine, but if you want individual control over blue, white, and royal blue, then you will need two VDMs ($200).

The best way to do it is to use AI's controller.

just curious but what brand and model tank is that you and fort have?