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Chihiros Aquasky vs Chihiros series

Jack Reilly said:
I have the Chihiros Aquasky 452. After just four hours of having one of the two panels on, the heatsink is too hot to hold my fingers on for more than 5 seconds. I'm thinking of getting a small fan to point at the heatsinks for summer...
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This was my main concern with a less expensive product, the heatsink. Went to my lfs today to check out lighting, none of the led fixtures were hot, only warm to the touch. Although they had only been on for approximately 3hrs so maybe not a fair comparison.

I take it your 2nd panel is ok?
 
DavidW said:
Just heard back from the manufacturer. They do use the same LEDs the main difference in cost is down to the stand. The Aquasky has a more high end stand so is more expensive although the A Series is brighter.
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Sry to let you know but they are not using the same LED. I'VE also spoke with the manufacturer and seems like the aquasky unit uses 0.5w led and the A series uses 0.33w LED. They are not giving any info about the par levels but from the other people's findings looks like both are good enough.
 
The email I received said the only difference was the stand and the power, but looking at the spec I can see that 24w from 72 leds works out to 0.33. Not that I'm too bothered It's more powerful and I only paid £28.99 delivered 🙂
 
Jim.. said:
This was my main concern with a less expensive product, the heatsink. Went to my lfs today to check out lighting, none of the led fixtures were hot, only warm to the touch. Although they had only been on for approximately 3hrs so maybe not a fair comparison.

I take it your 2nd panel is ok?
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They both get hot but I have them staggered so only one gets hot at a time. Both panels are on for four hours with one hour overlap.

The heat might not be a problem as the heatsink is just doing it's job. Were any of the lights you checked at your LFS the ADA Aquasky? I've heard they get hot too so if they get as hot as the chihiros then there's nothing to worry about. That's what I'm trying to find out.

Also there is a dimmer which might help reduce heat but I don't use it.
 
Jack Reilly said:
They both get hot but I have them staggered so only one gets hot at a time. Both panels are on for four hours with one hour overlap.

The heat might not be a problem as the heatsink is just doing it's job. Were any of the lights you checked at your LFS the ADA Aquasky? I've heard they get hot too so if they get as hot as the chihiros then there's nothing to worry about. That's what I'm trying to find out.

Also there is a dimmer which might help reduce heat but I don't use it.
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No ADA unfortunately, would be nice to have a comparison. They had Arcadia, Zetlight, Kessil and a few others. I could pick up and hold them all, the Kessil was actually cool to the touch.

I don't think it's right that the unit is too hot to handle.
 
I took a few PAR readings from the A series today. A dimmer is essential!!

My dimmer is the standard one and has 7 settings. Lets call 1 the lowest and 7 the brightest.

On setting 2 it gives par values between 22-35 at the substrate (60cm from the light). Mid 40's mid water.

Setting 3 gives between 30-45 at the substrate. 75 mid water

Setting 4 gives 40-60 at the substrate.

That's more than enough light for me so i gave up at this point.

I was using a seneye sensor borrowed from a marine shop. The owner said it had been tested against an expensive apogee meter and gave similar readings.
 
Got my A series in the post today. It nice looking at very very bright. I've just setup a aquanano 55 tank and was using the standard led light that came with the tank. The A series is in a different league it's so much brighter.

Very happy with it so far 🙂
 
bridgey_c said:
I took a few PAR readings from the A series today. A dimmer is essential!!

My dimmer is the standard one and has 7 settings. Lets call 1 the lowest and 7 the brightest.

On setting 2 it gives par values between 22-35 at the substrate (60cm from the light). Mid 40's mid water.

Setting 3 gives between 30-45 at the substrate. 75 mid water

Setting 4 gives 40-60 at the substrate.

That's more than enough light for me so i gave up at this point.

I was using a seneye sensor borrowed from a marine shop. The owner said it had been tested against an expensive apogee meter and gave similar readings.
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I've got my A series at brightness 6 on a 30cm cube. I'd better turn it down....
 
On no! my apologies. I mixed my measurements up. These reading are correctly taken at the substrate but the distance from light to substrate in the chihiros case is 38cm.

I was measuring the PAR of my ADA grand solar too. This distance from light to substrate is 60cm and I got the two mixed up.
 
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Yes the seneye.

One point I would make about the chihiros is the sharp drop off in light from the middle to the edge and corners. Ideally I would like to raise it another 5-10 cm and use a slightly higher power setting. The stem plants that grow to the surface at the back of the tank will recieve very low light levels at their tips because obviously the thin strip of lights, only slightly above the water level, doesn't have the spread to hit these areas. Im not sure if this is really a problem though.

My ADA pendant, raised high above the water, gives a much more even coverage. Using just the two cfl's it gives a par of mid 40's over the entire substrate
 
Did you find one that is adjustable in height kadoxu?

Can you post the link please
 
I think that these are adjustable... there seems to be a screw to hold the stainless steel parts. It's sold by hinterfeld on ebay, althought they don't have it available on the website (and they are cheaper too)
Ebay item number 322207854959
 
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