Aqua Illumination Blade par readings

[twentyleagues]

I just put a 21" on my 20x20x18 and it looks great. I have no idea what the par is as I dont have a meter. I am debating on ordering one from brs and testing but im afraid ill never return it ( bad at that). A somewhat close lfs 1 hr away rents one but its not apogee dont remember the name $20 a day but again thats a 4hr drive to test 1 light. I currently have mine set at 33% on the blue channels and 28% on the white. I dont currently have any high light demanding corals 5 rfa on the sand bed and a frag of ppes a few inches off the sand bed on a rock. The ppe have popped 2 new heads in 2 weeks and are definitely not streching toward the light. The light is directly across the middle of the tank and seems to light the entire tank well, Im sure there is alot of drop off at the front and back.

 

[rtparty]

BRS just lights like a 60 gallon cube with 5 and uses that as the standard that one should have haha

This is a completely false statement as BRS has never claimed or recommended 5 over a 60g cube.

For an all SPS 60g cube, they recommend 3 Blades. They simply tested with 5 to show the results of a 3 Grow and 2 Glow combo.

 

[rtparty]

Been running mine for almost 3 months now. Had quality control issues early on. All well documented in the lengthy Blade thread.

My Grows are slightly more white on one end but not one person has noticed when looking at the tank. It must not be that noticeable if you don’t know it’s there.

I run 3 57” Blades and 2 XHO over my 72*36*22 peninsula. The XHO I just left on from my halide setup. They will come down and be sold soon enough. They don’t sniff the Blades in looks, PAR, functionality, control, anything.

The Blades aren’t perfect though. I really don’t like the connection between Blade and power supply. It 100% should be a screw in type and not compression. They are very loose. When I installed mine, I set them up in a way where they hopefully should never come loose. Time will tell.

Quality control still seems to be hit and miss but I’m betting they haven’t sold out of the first batch yet. I was assured all new lights have fixed many of the early issues. They still need to fix the grow issue though and I don’t see that happening until V2.

 

[Spare time]

This is a completely false statement as BRS has never claimed or recommended 5 over a 60g cube.

For an all SPS 60g cube, they recommend 3 Blades. They simply tested with 5 to show the results of a 3 Grow and 2 Glow combo.

Notice the wording I use "lights like a 60g cube." Its a non declarative statement poking fun at throwing money where its not needed. "Like" means something akin to, and in fact that is one of the options they appear to recommend. I like to make fun of those in the hobby where by default recommend options where money is a joke. Its an exaggerative and satirical comment making fun of people who don't care about how much money something really costs. They did show 5 as a recommendation when talking about spread and price per par placing it as a middle of the road choice according to their graphics.

 

[NASAGeek]

Trying out one 30” grow on a 40B filled with softies and lps. I miss the kessil shimmer a little, but overall I love how the shadows are all gone. Love how they use bluetooth. No more changing wifi to connect to the app. Have mine mounted 4 inches above the water using acrylic risers. Hope it lasts! No white/blue end to end issues like i’m reading about.

 

[Hot2na]

the white blue end to end was fixed with a recent change..I had one that did it and they replaced it -no questions asked.. the new one is awesome

 

[rtparty]

the white blue end to end was fixed with a recent change..I had one that did it and they replaced it -no questions asked.. the new one is awesome

Do you have pics on the new one? What did they change? Can you see where the white LEDs are placed in each cluster?

 

[Hot2na]

No pics, sorry.. I have no idea what they changed -only know that it seems to be more even light spread and "color" is consitent -end to end..contact eco tech if yours is bad-they will replace without hassle.

 

[NASAGeek]

75/75/42 per Mobius app looks like this currently. No filter…

 

[SGV - Bluestar]

Since you bought 4 AI Blade, would 2 Radion XR30 do the same job?

 

[titos_tanks]

So I’m planning on getting a 25G Innovative Marine tank, and was wondering if I can get just 2 AI blade Grows? Was planning on growing SPS. What do you all think?

 

[Solasis]

So I’m planning on getting a 25G Innovative Marine tank, and was wondering if I can get just 2 AI blade Grows? Was planning on growing SPS. What do you all think?

I feel like you'd be fine with just one. I have only one set of AI blades on my 300 gallon reef and all of my SPS and LPS has been growing.

 

[twentyleagues]

So I’m planning on getting a 25G Innovative Marine tank, and was wondering if I can get just 2 AI blade Grows? Was planning on growing SPS. What do you all think?

Yeah I think 2 will give you plenty of coverage and power. You really need 1 for about 8" of higher par lighting. So if it's the aio 25g lagoon you have about 17" from front to filtration. Get the raised supports for better coverage.
My tank is about 20" front to back. Under the light I'm in the mid 100s half way down or about 10". Setting is 70 70 60 currently. That covers about 2-3" in front and behind the light. Par drops off pretty quickly past that front to back. Still getting high 70s low 80s on the sand bed front and back. Around 100 directly below the light.

 

[twentyleagues]

I feel like you'd be fine with just one. I have only one set of AI blades on my 300 gallon reef and all of my SPS and LPS has been growing.

You only have a single blade on a 300g?

 

[titos_tanks]

Yeah I think 2 will give you plenty of coverage and power. You really need 1 for about 8" of higher par lighting. So if it's the aio 25g lagoon you have about 17" from front to filtration. Get the raised supports for better coverage.
My tank is about 20" front to back. Under the light I'm in the mid 100s half way down or about 10". Setting is 70 70 60 currently. That covers about 2-3" in front and behind the light. Par drops off pretty quickly past that front to back. Still getting high 70s low 80s on the sand bed front and back. Around 100 directly below the light

Yeah I think 2 will give you plenty of coverage and power. You really need 1 for about 8" of higher par lighting. So if it's the aio 25g lagoon you have about 17" from front to filtration. Get the raised supports for better coverage.
My tank is about 20" front to back. Under the light I'm in the mid 100s half way down or about 10". Setting is 70 70 60 currently. That covers about 2-3" in front and behind the light. Par drops off pretty quickly past that front to back. Still getting high 70s low 80s on the sand bed front and back. Around 100 directly below the light.

Awesome! Now the thing is, I was originally planning on getting a G6 pro blue for the tank. Would you recommend the 2 blades or the G6. I was planning on getting the 21” blades with extenders, and that’s far below the G6 price. I know I’d save money, but would the blades provide better light due to the spread they would provide?

 

[twentyleagues]

Awesome! Now the thing is, I was originally planning on getting a G6 pro blue for the tank. Would you recommend the 2 blades or the G6. I was planning on getting the 21” blades with extenders, and that’s far below the G6 price. I know I’d save money, but would the blades provide better light due to the spread they would provide?

I just got back into the hobby with this tank in March so I'm not necessarily the one to ask. I got this light because I was looking for a lower priced entry led. It seemed to tick all of my wants, control, look, ability, price. Also this light will move to the bigger tank when I was going to I set it up. This tank was a quick set up for the one fish that brought me back. I have the upgrade tank ready but there are some issues I need to address with it. None of the tanks I have are new and both of these have a similar issue. Hard water damage to the glass. To light the current tank this was one of the best options and adding 2 more will light the upgrade without breaking me. As far as the G6 goes from everything I've read it's great but the price is not. To light the upgrade tank with something along the lines of the G6 or similar I'd need some kind of accessory lights or 2 of the G6 15s or a 30. Doing mostly lps and softies I could get away with 2 of the 21" blades if I want sps probably need a third. This tank allowed me to prove the idea will work or won't for a fraction of the cost without putting out $1000 for the G6 30 that I know will work for the bigger tank but would be total overkill on this temporary tank.

 

[ATI North America]

The blades aren't rocket science. They're actually cheaper to make than an XR30 Radion. They're a long strip of light and multiples will literally cover the tank in light.

That's one of the key factors LED is lacking, light coverage. If someone ever makes a fixture that is about the size of a T5 fixture to cover the entire tank, it will be perfect. An LED could be very thin line the ATI Straton and just larger.

You mean the Straton Pro 204? Its 24.0 in. x 18.5 in.

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

You mean the Straton Pro 204? Its 24.0 in. x 18.5 in.

You mean the fixture that doesn't exist to purchase in the USA? Bad attempt to use an others thread for publicity.

I had the ATI Straton original version. The Straton Pro should have better coverage, but the limiting factor for most people will be price.

Let's look at your largest Straton Pro, the 204 model. ATI Recommended coverage for SPS is 36" x 28". The cost before taxes of that fixture is $2400.00.

Not saying it isn't worth it and it may very well be, but it's expensive for 36" of coverage which the fixture is 18.5" wide. I don't see that covering 28" end to end. Hope I'm wrong and it is revolutionary.

 

[ATI North America]

You mean the fixture that doesn't exist to purchase in the USA? Bad attempt to use an others thread for publicity.

I had the ATI Straton original version. The Straton Pro should have better coverage, but the limiting factor for most people will be price.

Let's look at your largest Straton Pro, the 204 model. ATI Recommended coverage for SPS is 36" x 28". The cost before taxes of that fixture is $2400.00.

Not saying it isn't worth it and it may very well be, but it's expensive for 36" of coverage which the fixture is 18.5" wide. I don't see that covering 28" end to end. Hope I'm wrong and it is revolutionary.

To be clear this is not in the AquaIllumination forum, and you brought it up

You are correct the 204 is special order, however the 102 and 153 are in route to USA now.

 

[AlexandraDreadlocksPanda]

This might be a dumb question, why do they lose strength from the center just like a normal light? Doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose of a bar?

They won’t be losing strength, rather light getting reflected off end glass panels… fitting 4’ bars over 5’ tank etc counteracts this (or as I’ve done mix up 4 & 5’ to even out PAR)