Mars Aqua Led 300w

[sdavi66572]

Just picked up 2 of the Mars Aqua 300w black boxes for my 240 gallon tank. My tank is 6 foot long, front to back is 24 inches and height is 30 inches. I would like to know if 2 of these light is enough or should I get more. Also would like to know if I should leave the lenses on the leds or should I remove them. I have these light hanging about 12 inches from the top of the tank.

 

[melypr1985]

You already have them? A picture would help get an idea of coverage. I'm of a mind that with a 6 foot tank, you would need 3 fixtures. Your wanting to avoid weird shadows and the "spot light" effect.

 

[sdavi66572]

You already have them? A picture would help get an idea of coverage. I'm of a mind that with a 6 foot tank, you would need 3 fixtures. Your wanting to avoid weird shadows and the "spot light" effect.

Yes I have had them for about a week. These light are 31 1/2 inches long and 7 inches wide, 100 leds in each light. Here are some pictures of my tank.

 

[bobman]

You should be ok the sand bed will not have great light. I just went through this on my 150 thats 48" long 24" from front to back and 30" top to bottom. Lighting a 30" deep tank is difficult. I at first used 2 mars aqua 165 and the par on the sand bed was not very great. I now have 4 mars aqua 165 watts and I will run a par meter on it probably this weekend but the corals on the sand seem to respond very well. I also have 2 t5ho purple actinics just for some added color. With a tank at your depth it is better to leave the lenses in to help lighting the sand bed and just keep in mind you will only be able to keep lower light stuff at the sand bed. You can turn the whites all the way up but 1 it dont look to good and 2 with as high as you rock work is in your tank I would be afraid of over lighting corals near the surface. If you have spot lighting in there you can add t5s to take care of that issue as well as give yu some color options to

 

[melypr1985]

Ohhh! I get it! I was thinking shorter fixtures! Looks like you have good coverage. +1 to what @bobman said too!

 

[sdavi66572]

You already have them? A picture would help get an idea of coverage. I'm of a mind that with a 6 foot tank, you would need 3 fixtures. Your wanting to avoid weird shadows and the "spot light" effect.

Would like to know your light schedule. I am currently running my blues at 50% from 9 in the morning till 10 at night. My whites at 40% from 11 in the morning till 7 at night.

 

[bobman]

I run my blues from 2:30 pm to 2:30 AM at 100% and my white are on from 4pm to midnight at right around 65-70%. Then I also have my purple actinic for supplementation running the same as the blues. This weekend I am going to install my other 2 mars aqua fixture and run a par meter in there I am hoping to be able to turn the white down a little and still get half way decent par at the sand over 30" down. The leds are about 15" off the water. so that's a 45" drop to the sand bed.

 

[melypr1985]

Would like to know your light schedule. I am currently running my blues at 50% from 9 in the morning till 10 at night. My whites at 40% from 11 in the morning till 7 at night.

I just got my LEDs in the mail today. So I dont have a light schedual like you mean. I run my T5's from 11am to 8 pm with the bright lights on from 2:30 to 5. I know that doesn't help, but until I can figure out how to make my apex talk to my new lights, I'm in a different and irritating boat.

 

[sdavi66572]

I run my blues from 2:30 pm to 2:30 AM at 100% and my white are on from 4pm to midnight at right around 65-70%. Then I also have my purple actinic for supplementation running the same as the blues. This weekend I am going to install my other 2 mars aqua fixture and run a par meter in there I am hoping to be able to turn the white down a little and still get half way decent par at the sand over 30" down. The leds are about 15" off the water. so that's a 45" drop to the sand bed.

Did you get your other 2 mars aqua light and check with the par meter? I am interested because the depth of our tanks are the same 30 inches. I turned my blues up to 75% and the whites are about 45%. I currently have mostly LPS corals. Would like to start getting into SPS. A couple weeks ago I picked up a nice birds nest. My phosphates are running at .05 a week ago. Still a little high for SPS.

 

[bobman]

No the girlfriends dad wound up in the hospital so we had to go there this weekend. I will be working on them over the week when I get off work and hopefully be able to hit it with a par meter this coming weekend.

 

[clownfish chris]

I don't usually like bumping old threads but I'm curious if you ever got those par readings. I just purchased the same lights for my 7x2x2 sos dominate tank.

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

I don't usually like bumping old threads but I'm curious if you ever got those par readings.

Old thread bumper too.
I'm thinking about a pair of these on a 125 that's 72x18x21. Any thoughts or tips from your experience?

 

[clownfish chris]

I purchased a pair for mine. I have a bit of a gap that I am going to fill with a smaller fixture. You won't have that problem with your tank being a foot shorter than mine. My corals have responded very well. I would recommend to go for it! T5 supplementation is very beneficial.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Old thread bumper too.
I'm thinking about a pair of these on a 125 that's 72x18x21. Any thoughts or tips from your experience?

itll work fine. just get the coverage as good as you can.
VERY powerful lights. @12in it'll blas about 1000 par

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

I purchased a pair for mine. I have a bit of a gap that I am going to fill with a smaller fixture. You won't have that problem with your tank being a foot shorter than mine. My corals have responded very well. I would recommend to go for it! T5 supplementation is very beneficial.

I appreciate the feedback!

itll work fine. just get the coverage as good as you can.
VERY powerful lights. @12in it'll blas about 1000 par

Thanks as well. This is an old tank that was made without the middle bar. I'm hoping the coverage will be easy to manage if mounted 12" above the tank. I'm looking forward to seeing it once they are in place.

Do you have a recommendation on starting %s as I currently have a mostly softy tank (leathers, zoas, kenyas, and a few euphyllia) ?

 

[clownfish chris]

I appreciate the feedback!


Thanks as well. This is an old tank that was made without the middle bar. I'm hoping the coverage will be easy to manage if mounted 12" above the tank. I'm looking forward to seeing it once they are in place.

Do you have a recommendation on starting %s as I currently have a mostly softy tank (leathers, zoas, kenyas, and a few euphyllia) ?

I would start the whites as low as they will go and the blues just a bit above that. With SPS I am at about 40% on whites and 50% on blues. I added a purple plus and a blue plus supplement. Great growth and color is improving. With the softies you have, they won't need much.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I appreciate the feedback!


Thanks as well. This is an old tank that was made without the middle bar. I'm hoping the coverage will be easy to manage if mounted 12" above the tank. I'm looking forward to seeing it once they are in place.

Do you have a recommendation on starting %s as I currently have a mostly softy tank (leathers, zoas, kenyas, and a few euphyllia) ?

I hate percentages personally. I like lux meters though.
Try 40%.
if it still is spotty and has dark/ dead spots you can pull the lenses or some of the lenses. it gives a wider spread and at the close distance you'll have enough power to compensate.
two of my tanks Ive done this on.
with a lux meter you can see how much intensity you are using. lux and par can be converted.

I actually marked a space on the floor the same size as the tank and hung the fixtures from a broom to gauge the best height.

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

I would start the whites as low as they will go and the blues just a bit above that. With SPS I am at about 40% on whites and 50% on blues. I added a purple plus and a blue plus supplement. Great growth and color is improving. With the softies you have, they won't need much.

Thanks. I'll give it a shot and see how it looks and how they respond the first week.

 

[ChuzUThisDay]

I actually marked a space on the floor the same size as the tank and hung the fixtures from a broom to gauge the best height.

Great idea. I'll be hanging them, but not from the ceiling. Hopefully what I have in mind will be high enough and allow enough adjustment.

 

[West1]

bump... How are the 300w owners liking the light?

I need to light a 34x15x21tall tank and I am considering this model. I might remove the middle half lenses get more spread while having the ends narrow.