Disappointing experience with aqua illumination

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

Gosh I can’t say how sorry I feel for those who have bought Ecotech and hydra (one in the same). But for all those who laughed at me and said I was insane for going with current usa marine pro model 4117, I’m so glad. Yes they are not as fancy and no wifi but power wise they will stay right with any of the radions or hydras and I was clumsy and dropped one of them into my tank. Each one of mine is 72 inch long I may add and I was out of warranty. Current sent me a brand new one over night and told me to throw the old one away.

Their customer service is by far the best I have ever experienced. My tank has done very well with their lights , pumps, and dc return pumps.
I will add that when I was doing volunteer work for some local aquariums, neither company would give any of the aquariums a discount, even if they bought 20 plus units. Most of the aquariums I see and still talk to, run Chinese black box current usa, mh or t5. I have seen some mars aqua and few other no names and all their tanks look great. But with my limited experience, with both companies was never even mediocre, it was usually terrible.

I believe the op will be a lot happier with the black boxes over the hydras. At least if they break you don’t need a second mortgage on your home to buy more.

 

[Cliff717]

One more year with my cheap sb reef lights!
I love them!

 

[AbjectMaelstroM]

If I didn't do complete DIY, my next best route would be the "Chinese blackbox" type light.

They arguably work just as well as the 800 dollar light at a fraction of the cost. After that, It all comes down to repairability. I am my own warranty. I control the spectrum, everything is replaceable/repairable and the fact that I still come out hundreds of dollars below what I would have paid for a "high end" light is just icing in the cake.

 

[Stephen D. Brown]

Same story,

Purchased 12 hydras for two tanks, one home, 1 office about 4 years ago. Director goes out at home. Lights work but they no longer sell the controller. Good news is for $250.00 per light they will convert to new hardware. Bad news, that program just expired. 4 large wasted. Bought 12 new hydras. 3 have gone bad in 18 months. Same story out of service each time. “ Exposed to water “, non-repairable. Will sell factory direct replacement for $500.00. BTW did I mention my tank at home has a completely closed top? Looking for lights that will last more than 18 months. Over 9 grand spent. Buyer beware!

 

[Cliff717]

Wow that sucks. Unfortunately your experience is not unique. I just wish I had found a thread like this before I spent thousands with a company that has such poor service

 

[PlasmaBoy]

Biggest problem is the good quality but cheap lights aren't getting any news time. Product placement is strong, business loves these overpriced lights. Almost every business like coral farms and LFS etc are all given these lights to prove and show that their lights are the only lights capable of growing great looking coral.

 

[sh@rkB@it]

My experience with AI was very good. I had an AI Prime HD with a blown violet led. I contacted them via their online support site. They responded back to me within 24 hours and instructed me to send the unit in for repair.

Two days after AI received the unit, they sent me a status update by email. The service person said they were replacing my faulty Prime Hd with a brand new unit at no cost. Not even shipping. I was amazed, I was ready to pay the quote they gave me to repair my Prime. Got the new unit back within a week of sending it.

The three times I contacted their support I received excellent service. Luckily my tank is only 20 gallons so I don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on lights.

I would be very disappointed if I had to dish out $2000 for new lights. If my two Prime”s die and can’t be repaired, I may go with T5’s. Seems like high end LED’s are like high end sports cars. High upfront costs and high repair costs.

I understand the OP’s pain and would feel disappointed if faced with the same situation but my experience with AI has been nothing but excellent.

 

[Naturalreef]

I had issues with a brand new Radion G4 XR30 Pro, seconds out of the box and their customer service was horrible. I have owned every Aqua illumination light and every Ecotech light. Spent a lot of money on both companies when they were separate entities. I wont purchase any more products from Ecotech.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I’ve had an AI Vega, 2 hydra 52 HD’s and 2-26 HD’s with zero issues. The fan in my Vega went out after 5 years or so but I called and had replacement later that week for less than $40.

 

[A. grandis]

I normally don't bother to read any LE threads, but this one keeps coming to the top over and over.
It is worse than I thought!!!
I use metal halides and am used to deal with amazing customer service from companies like Hamilton Technologies. I also had amazing results using T5 fixtures for 15+ years over some of my systems and ATI is the best in many aspects!
I'm truly sorry for the trouble some of you are going through!
Best wishes!

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

I agree with the MH fans out there. I prefer them to LEDs. But here’s the thing.... they are electricity hogs. Our power bill would definitely increase if I replaced my Radion fixture with MH/t5.

Unless you live in a hot climate and need a chiller this is simply not true. The radion is 190 full boar vs a 250 halide. I live in oregon so if the MH are not on, then the heaters are. Or at least that is what the apex graphs tell me.

I had an AI prime over a tank, was 18 months old and just started flickering one day. They told me "probably water damage".. pretty much told me too pound sand.

So i scraped my skimmer into a box and mailed it to them.

 

[A. grandis]

Unless you live in a hot climate and need a chiller this is simply not true. The radion is 190 full boar vs a 250 halide. I live in oregon so if the MH are not on, then the heaters are. Or at least that is what the apex graphs tell me.

I had an AI prime over a tank, was 18 months old and just started flickering one day. They told me "probably water damage".. pretty much told me too pound sand.

So i scraped my skimmer into a box and mailed it to them.

Also the temperature of the water can be controlled simply by placing a fan between the fixture and the water surface. If you need a chiller because of the ambient temperature you will need with LEDs too. The halides are also on less hours than the LEDs.

 

[BestMomEver]

Unless you live in a hot climate and need a chiller this is simply not true. The radion is 190 full boar vs a 250 halide. I live in oregon so if the MH are not on, then the heaters are. Or at least that is what the apex graphs tell me.

I had an AI prime over a tank, was 18 months old and just started flickering one day. They told me "probably water damage".. pretty much told me too pound sand.

So i scraped my skimmer into a box and mailed it to them.

I live in south Alabama. The MHs on my 500 cost $100+ a month.

 

[AngryInch]

I know this is an old thread, but if anyone still has their old AI lights that are broken. I'll buy them if the price is right.
Buying broken Vega, gen1 Hydra and Hydra 52.

 

[luisgo]

Three years with my Hydras 26HD. Still doing their job!! First photo August 2017 second photo October 2020

 

[Cliff717]

I know this is an old thread, but if anyone still has their old AI lights that are broken. I'll buy them if the price is right.
Buying broken Vega, gen1 Hydra and Hydra 52.

Do you have a way to fix them?

 

[Cliff717]

One more year of my Sb reef lights and still going strong. Not one failure at 1/8 the cost

 

[KorD]

I love my 52’s, but I just got them for less then $400 each.
I wonder if rapidled has anything that will work for you. I have used them in the past for building my own lights.

 

[92Miata]

Do you have a way to fix them?

There are a couple of groups making replacement pucks for the Prime lights. It may have something to do with that.

 

[Cabinetman]

A few years ago I bought some used ai sol super blue that didn’t have the controller with it thinking oh those aren’t that old I’ll have no problem buying a replacement for them. Boyz was I wrong. I mean ya. They were probably 4 or 5 years old but still I should be able to buy replacement parts for led lights that were said to last 10000 hours. After that experience I sold everything ai and I won’t ever buy anything with that name on it.