AI Sol Review

Bblinks · #1 06-16-2012, 06:52 PM

Glad to see the corals are adjusting to the lights, more so that you are adjusting to the new lights.

I have been thinking about adding some Fiji pink T5's for some time since Chris retrofitted his tank with them but truthfully I really don't think we need it. The color of the coral doesn't seen to change much instead the reflection under different lighting system alters it's true color. I had a piece from Peter's tank that looked brownish with white polyps under his AI sols but once I put it in my frag tank with T5s 3 whites, 2 blues, and 1pink. That piece instantly changed into a redish purple body with white polyps. Same with a bubble gum nana I got from JL a week and half ago. The body under T5 was baby blue and as soon as it hits my tank the blue washed out and the body just look like its bleached white, I took it back to the JL just to see that I am not mistaking and as soon as it hits their water BAM the piece turned baby blue. I am not gonna pretend that I am some kind of light spectrum expert but I do know that coral grows and they do keep color under LED but to make them "pop" we should supplement it with a red spectrum so it will be more asethetically appealing.

Aquattro · #2 06-16-2012, 07:00 PM

Rich, I talked to Chris about the T5 thing, and I added a single fiji purple bulb to see if it made a difference. Visually, none at all. I couldn't tell if it was on or off. I suppose enough of them and you might see a difference. Not sure it affects color either, the colors lacking pop are simply lacking from the full spectrum intensity of the MH.

An example is that piece I got at the frag swap that Chris brought over from Tim...the pink and blue milli. It was probably the "popiest" coral in the tank until I added the LED and instantly, the colors blended. Not so much washed out, but the difference between pink and blue weren't as distinct. Still a nice piece, but not what it was under MH.

But overall, the difference in colors only happened at light change over. What they were then is still what they are today, no changes due to the LED.

Which for me is huge, I was really scared they would all brown out.

Bblinks · #3 06-16-2012, 08:41 PM

That's the main reason why I wanted you to keep the intensity relatively close to your halides is so that the corals won't brown out. The only other thing I want to mention is that not all of the corals will react positively 100% to the switch at first, I found that majority of the deep water ones will take longer to be accustomed to the new lights but no more than a month or two in my experience.

I also dose some zeovit sponge power and amino acid to help with the transition period. just a thought.

Aquattro · #4 06-16-2012, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bblinks

That's the main reason why I wanted you to keep the intensity relatively close to your halides is so that the corals won't brown out. The only other thing I want to mention is that not all of the corals will react positively 100% to the switch at first, I found that majority of the deep water ones will take longer to be accustomed to the new lights but no more than a month or two in my experience.

I also dose some zeovit sponge power and amino acid to help with the transition period. just a thought.

I think all the corals are doing well, even the deep water piece I have.

I dose a bunch of zeo stuff, including aminos (but not sponge power). I can't really say there is an event happening that I'd call a transition period, the tank just looks like it does each year when my radiums were getting near replacement time. All in all, everything looks like it did pre LED, other than that fluorescing "pop" in colors.

Werbo · #5 06-17-2012, 01:43 AM

Brad - how many sols do you figure over a 24x48 120G?

Aquattro · #6 06-17-2012, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyler Werbowski

Brad - how many sols do you figure over a 24x48 120G?

Tyler, you'd need 4 of them. If you have no center brace, "maybe" 3, but probably 4

Aquattro · #7 07-02-2012, 08:22 PM

Not exactly a month in, but here's my closing thoughts on this thread.

Overall, very happy with the AI Sol units, fantastic value for my dollar. Easy to setup on the Apex VDM module, no experience with the AI controller, but I'm told it's pretty simple too.
I chose to ignore most of the advice regarding initial intensity and started at 70/75/75, quickly increasing to 85/100/100 (w/b/rb). No issues at all with these numbers, as I suspected. These units are nice and bright, but they do not replace or compare to 400w MH lighting.

After a month, most corals have retained the color they had when I switched. A couple have become dull and almost brown. My pink and blue milli is now my mostly blue milli. Still nice, but not what it was.
I'm experimenting with supplemental T5 to see what I can get back in regards to color, I'll see how that goes over the next few months.

LED is nice for several reasons (less power, no heat, no bulb replacement, etc) and they do provide adequate light to bring out or maintain color in SPS corals. I've gotten used to the light separation, mostly, and overall I can live with this long term.

However, given unlimited resources, ability to more effectively manage evaporation and a lifetime supply of MH bulbs, I still feel that the 400w Radium MH is THE lighting choice for the best SPS tank possible.