Mars Aqua Chinese LED review (Ebay)
 

My Frag tank needed a upgrade for lights and I decided to give the Chinese Led lights on Ebay a shot. Im very impressed right now with them and for the money i don't think they can be beat. (I have no affiliation with these lights, im a hobbiest like everyone else.)

Link to the Ebay Site.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2PCS-Dimmabl...item5658e7c2e9


Description :
Dimmable 165W LED Aquarium Light with Lens for each led.
Dimmer One(28 LEDs): 8 x Cool White 12,000k, 6 x Neutral White 7500k, 6 x Warm White 3500k, 2 x Red 660nm, 2 x Green 520nm, 4 x Blue 460nm
Dimmer Two(27 LEDs): 7 x Royal Blue 450nm, 20 x Blue 460nm
Two Dimmers, two power cords and two on/off switches to control blue &white separately
Output Optimized for PAR, Sufficient Lights Spectrum, Super Light Penetration
PAR of the light is: 28PAR for Lens can output more PAR
3 Watt Epistar LED
LED Output Power: 55pcs*3watt
Dimension: 400mm*212mm*60mm
Working temperature: -20 to 40 Degree Celsius
Input voltage: AC85V-265V
Lifespan: 50000-100000hours
The range of power consumption under 110V: 123W-130W; 220V: 120W-126W
Black painted casing.
The LED Spectrum ratio can be changed for big order (more than 2pcs).


Ordered on Monday evening. Arrived Friday afternoon.


Packing was very good
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...123_143726.jpg

Out of the box
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...123_143801.jpg

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...123_143809.jpg

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...123_143934.jpg



Mounted on my Frag tank. They did not give off a huge area of light, the frag tank is only 12" tall so i mounted them where they can hit everything in the tank. They are still a little high, Ill lower them later to let corals adjust.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...123_155329.jpg

All blue, and all White so you can see them side by side.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...123_155504.jpg

Randoms of the frag tank. These colors are VERY true to the real life colors. Im very happy with that.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...123_155553.jpg

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...123_155638.jpg

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...123_155646.jpg



Overall im happy with these lights and would recommend them for a cheap alternative. I dont think they can be connected to any controller, so they are just a basic on and off with a dimmer.

Agreed , I bought he 300watt model just to see how we'll it works. It's on a 40breeder and I must say the color is nice as well as the spread. I am using it with two T5s,

What is your experience with these now that you've had them for a month.

Can you elaborate some on the dimmable feature? I'm looking for a budget option for lighting to replace my halides that will give me the ability to dial in the light spectrum.

I see two dials, does that provide the ability to turn up/down the white light to achieve the proper color?

Im getting a Par meter Saturday. Ill do a update after that.

Since Ive had mine now for a bit, they ONLY concern I have is the total lack of any 420NM Diodes for UV spectrum.
Otherwise, Its totally fine. I incrementally adjusted mine up to 100% blues 75% whites combined with a 39W KZ Fiji Purple T5 and a 15K 39W red sea T5. Soon to be two ATI blue plus bulbs.

The white channel is VERY yellow when on by itself, much like sunlight in mid day during the summer. The reds aren't noticeable to me but I don't feel like there needs to be 4 of them on the 300W model. Maybe 2 max.

The green diodes are just weird... But again, you'd don't notice them at all.

Overall, my SPS have DEFINITELY brightened up quite a lot, growth is decent (dealing with ALK/CA balance right now).

Aesthetically if you are considering this fixture it is a great choice. I can't comment on PAR yet with my 300W.
Mine is suspended Exactly 7" above the waters surface on a 40gallon breeder, SPS/LPS dominated.

Here are some crappy iPhone pictures, colors are brighter in real life. For some reason the phone takes these darker pictures:
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n.../photo4-15.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n.../photo2-27.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/photo5-4.jpg

Current:
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n.../photo%201.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n.../photo%203.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n.../photo%202.jpg

I also have the 300w model and anticipate your par readings. Mine is on a 32"x18x24 tall tank and my lights are 6 inches off the surface running about 75% on both dimmers. What's up with the 420nm complaint? I thought it was anywhere from 420-460nm for blue photosynthetic growth. There was a chart I saw that gave ranges on them. My blue maxima seems to enjoy the spectrums I get from these. Then again so does the algae. Lol

This comes out to be about $200 cheaper than the Photon I was thinking of getting. Do you think the two pack would be enough light for an LPS/macro planted 120 gal tank?

I would say 2, 300w LEDs or 4, 120w LEDs would fit your tank.

The photo I took from Google and its 2, 300w LEDs

These fixtures seem like a better version of the ones I bought on eBay about a week ago but for $100 less. Jealous. But anyways, I really did notice the red diodes in my tank, but I also have some red corals that are reflecting quite a bit of it. I also found that the green diodes in these fixtures almost serve to "HD" your corals. They seem to make the contrast between the colors in the coral a little sharper. Maybe it's just higher quality LEDs than I've used in the past considering the last LED fixture I bought was a 5 years older model of similar price point on eBay. I will also be considering adding an ecoxotic stunner strip in the UV spectrum (if I can still find one available) and then I think these lights will be quite good for the price.

There's a newer version that's programmable. It's nice.

any par readings so far?

Par reading?

I'll post the par readings tonight

I bought a pair 6 months ago and one of the LED fixtures may of gotten wet while cleaning the tank. I emailed the seller and told me to take a picture of the fixture with the problem. He said three of the four LED power supplies maybe defective. Sent me 3 brand new power supplies which arrived a few days later. Power supplies were easy to replace since everything is in a wiring harness. Working like new again.

I'm thinking about getting some. My husband won't let me spend a ton of money on lights, for several reasons. 1. I already bought lights and paid too much for them and they are not going to grow anything. 2. Because I have already spent way too much money because of mistakes I made when purchasing equipment [emoji34]. But I saw these and am interested in them if they actually work

I am also very interested in this subject. My tank is 31 1/2 x 13 3/4 x 17 3/8 tall (80cm x 35cm x 44cm) the water column height is about 14" and I want to be able to keep BTA, SPS and LPS. I was wondering if I need one or two units of http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2Units-180W-D...-/141065773144 which is nice since has the UV component or just one long 300W http://www.ebay.ca/itm/MarsAqua-Dimm...item5b029756ad ? Or I would be better with 2 units with UV?

My light is 18" off the surface of the water. 12 inch deep tank. (Frag tank) .

Full blast both blue and white I was getting 400 par at the surface and 200 par 12 inches down.

Half power I was getting 250 par at the surface and 125 at the bottom (12" deep)

Those are pretty good orientative values. You have those lights up and running since January? How are the corals doing? I think the way corals behave/grow is the best PAR meter, more important the best PUR (Photosynthetically Useable Radiation) meter.

I bleached alot of corals at first. Everything is doing good now. In at 1/2 power

That is great to her! Not that you bleached the corals, but that is more light than you need and it can be adjusted to fit all needs...

Another question I wanted to ask... Does it bring the fluorescence of the corals up since it lacks the UV component?

The blue makes fluorescent corals pop really nicely. Good to hear about the par readings. Mine are still 6 inches off the surface and 24" deep tank. And I run 75 blue and 50 white. I didn't bleach any corals and my sps coral is 5 inches under the surface and loves it. My maxima is in the substrate and is fine.

Is this your only light source for that aquarium or you supplement with T5 or MH?

I am hoping to receive my 300w fixture tomorrow. Wondering if I have to acclimate the coral to this light?

Currently using 4 t5 HO

Tank is 48 x 13 x 20" deep

I just put the order through... for the 300W one. I am so glad this things are working great!