InWatter Stingray LED Review

Forgot to mention that I'm doing this review on three sites as well, Saskreef (which is basically our provincial site, mostly people from Saskatchewan, and Canreef which is a lot like 3reef but mostly Canadians)

 

One last thing when I was talking (emailing) with Bongy from Inwatter I think they are looking for a distributor or supplier in the states as well, sounds like they may already have one lined up for Canada. Just a FYI for anyone reading this thread, if they are interested they can contact them directly.

Cheers
Todd

 

thank you, didnt know about Canreef. Do you know what kind of drivers were used in the unit?

 

Watch out! Your corals are gonna burn under those crees! I'd hang it higher and slowly adjust it.

 

Have no idea what drivers they are using but I do now that they use pwm dimming. Something they call smart dimming, not sure exactly what it is or does, but may be Bongy will chime in with an answer, he said he'd be checking out the reviews when he had some time. I think the drivers are there own though. Not sure this helps or not...

And yeah I'm going to runn home in about 20 mins to check on the tank to see how the corals reacted today and then judge from there if I need to dial them back further yet...

Really not sure as it's my first exposure with led...

Fingers crossed..

TJ

 

What size fixture did you get? I'm not totally convinced its such agreat deal personally. I just installed two Aqua Illuminations Sol Blues over a 60" 100G reef along with their controller for a total investment of a little under $1100 American and am totally pleased. The AI controller is stand alone and has a ton of adjustability or you can use their fixtures with all the popular controllers like Apex and Reefkeeper. I waited until they had the Blue version so it has three different bulbs, white, blue and royal blue, all independently adjustable of each other. The royal blue really adds another dimension to the spectrum.
Its good to see competition and hopefully it drives the prices down soon but even at $1100 I will see a return on my investment in less than 16 months versus my HH or MH/VHO combinations. Like you I am thrilled with my purchase and I am convinced LED now has a prominent place in the reef hobby, not just as moonlights.

I'm running my AI's at 40 to 45% and my corals and anemones are doing nicely compared to the 2x250w MH bulbs they were under before. I'm drawing 40 watts compared to 500 with the MH and 800 with the MH/VHO combination and have the same visual look as far as intensity.

 

not to hi-jack the thread but AZ how is the covereage of just 2 AI for your 60"? how high from the tank did you mount it and i assume you mounted it perpendicular to the tank.
i will be installing 2 AI for my 90g (48") and i am worried about the coverage.

 

I have posted in a couple of threads here and on other forums with pictures.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-lighting/ai-sol-spread-diy-kit-65-cube-111229.html
My AI Sol Super Blue Installation

The fixtures are mounted parallel with the tank and cover great, AI is very conservative with their estimates in my opinion.

 

Again not to hijack but THANK YOU AZ!

 

I bought the largest fixture so it's the 48" model at a total of 240 watts would need at least 3 Ai's for close to the same output and in talking with them they recommended 4. The AI 's have way more controllability but with two you only have access to 140 watts. But that may be enough as well as I'm only running mine at approx 120 watts now and everything seems happy, but coverage is awesome. Truthfully I'm sure that if I hung the stingray it would be more than enough for a 6 ft tank as well, but with the legs it's only about 3.5-4 inches above the water.

But The AI's were another I was considering, I just like the look of a solid fixture across the tank as well.