# ADA Aquasky PAR tested



## dantra (May 25, 2007)

IWANNAGOFAST said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I recently received a PAR meter from Hoppy and I've been wanting to test the ADA aquasky for a while now. It seems like it's so bright! And I'm sure users of the light have experienced the intense lighting.
> 
> ...


Thanks for posting the results, I picked one up a while ago for my son so I'll pass the information along. I originally got him the 602 but eventually settled for the 601. I think 70umol is plenty light to grow anything you want which is a good thing considering the doubts on the internet about the fixture.

The fixture forces you to have your ducks in a row sort of speak because the fixture can not be raised so the beginner may have some issues however the seasoned "planted tanker"/(aquascaper) should have no problems whatsoever. I've been very busy but I'll try to document my son's journal when he gets started. I think once you get the CO2 tweaked, everything else should be a cake walk.

Dan


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## TheGuy (Jan 6, 2013)

dantra said:


> Thanks for posting the results, I picked one up a while ago for my son so I'll pass the information along. I originally got him the 602 but eventually settled for the 601. I think 70umol is plenty light to grow anything you want which is a good thing considering the doubts on the internet about the fixture.
> 
> The fixture forces you to have your ducks in a row sort of speak because the fixture can not be raised so the beginner may have some issues however the seasoned "planted tanker"/(aquascaper) should have no problems whatsoever. I've been very busy but I'll try to document my son's journal when he gets started. I think once you get the CO2 tweaked, everything else should be a cake walk.
> 
> Dan


Doubts on the internet come solely from the same people who hate on ADA because of its price. Within two days I could tell how strong it was and before even owning it by watching ada view videos. Its funny because I remember someone saying how it was trash lol. People that are cheap are so fast to hate on nice stuff, its quite funny. 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2


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## AVN (Oct 3, 2012)

TheGuy said:


> Doubts on the internet come solely from the same people who hate on ADA because of its price. People that are cheap are so fast to hate on nice stuff, its quite funny.


Yes.


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## dantra (May 25, 2007)

Even if it wasn't putting out that many _*umols*_ it would still be a compliment to the ADA family. Have you ever seen some of the earlier aquascapes that used T8's, those scapes had some of the reddest plants you've ever seen at a lower light intensity.

IWANNAGOFAST, the 602's may be just what you are looking for. They may be equal to the intensity you were expecting. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the 601's.

Dan


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## IWANNAGOFAST (Jan 14, 2008)

i bought the 601 just to try it out, I'm not a huge fan of having it on the legs, I prefer the pendent style myself.

Wonder how strong the 602 is


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Seem kind of low? Do you guys think the 601 on a 60P would be enough to carpet plants? Or do you have to get the 602, which is really expensive. At the price point of 500 ish dollars, there is other options such as Elos. At least with the pendent, you have the option of raising the level of light, do you guys think a 601 would be enough for all carpets of plants? I'm in the market of getting a light for a 60P, this info is really useful.


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## dantra (May 25, 2007)

Yeah, all of my lights have been suspended but the little guy wanted the Aquasky. I pretty much would had preferred the Solar 1 but again he wanted the cool factor. :smile:

I don't know if the lights will be adequate for some but when its up and running I'll try to documents stuff for you guys. He has a 60p, Garden Mat, stand, CO2 tank the stuff in the photo and a few other nik-naks. Maybe we can keep this thread going and keep track of the 601's performance and quality?

I'm sure we'll all keep different plants so it will be interesting to see how what plant response to the light. Perhaps some will use driftwood, stones or no hardscape at all, nevertheless the results should be interesting.

Dan


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## 58417 (Dec 18, 2012)

Finally, I have measured ADA Aquasky 361, Aquasky 451, and Aquasky 601 with PAR meter. So if someone's interested, you can look at my website, where there are the data with pictures: http://prirodni-akvarium.cz/index.php?id=mereni.

PS: It's in Czech language, so please, use Google translate. Hopefully, I get it translated into English soon.

Marcel


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

kwisatz said:


> Finally, I have measured ADA Aquasky 361, Aquasky 451, and Aquasky 601 with PAR meter. So if someone's interested, you can look at my website, where there are the data with pictures: http://prirodni-akvarium.cz/index.php?id=mereni.
> 
> PS: It's in Czech language, so please, use Google translate. Hopefully, I get it translated into English soon.
> 
> Marcel


google translate works pretty good for a start.. 
Thanks btw.

https://translate.google.com/transl...ni-akvarium.cz/index.php?id=mereni&edit-text=


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## exv152 (Jun 8, 2009)

I have an aquasky 601 on a 60-P and it grows everything from HM, HC, marsilea crenata, lilaeopsis brasiliensis, hairgrass, etc. Love the intensity and colour rendition. But I would not pay the retail price for this light, it's just too expensive. The 602 however is way too much light IMO, that's if I just multiply the 601 x2, which is basically what it is with a different acrylic stand.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Your results don't surprise me. I think people have a tenancy to think ADA uses super high light because they don't really make any low light options. Some other their light is of really high intensity but it's meant to hang. On any of their fixtures that are non adjustable, they seem to play it safe.

To me that makes sense, a full ADA setup in someways is a "paint by numbers" system and if the light was higher, it wouldn't be a universal setup for every aquascape. Surely you can go above those light levels with success but most don't need to, but it may become problematic if you are doing just HC or something similar that doesn't need ADA levels, much less above that. 

As above said, the 602 is just two 601's in one housing. I have no doubt that you are just doubling the par, which is overkill for just about all of us. It actually seems overkill for the 60H even, not that it's a very popular tank.

That said, it's cool to see the numbers. I am not hugely into the Aquasky design and for the price, I would pick a different fixture but I have considered the Aquasky if money just feel in my lap. I would personally take it out of the acrylic housing and hang it at the same level which has been done but there are plenty of other fixtures on the market that have my attention that do more for cheaper. That said, these numbers almost make the thing more appealing to me, making sure I would be right in the zone I need to be in without needing to play around. Thanks for the numbers.


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## 58417 (Dec 18, 2012)

*Aquasky PAR readings*

According to my opinion the values for ADA Aquasky are a way too high. I think that for good results its enough to have 60-80 µmol PAR at the substrate level. I use 70 µmol PAR at my tanks and I'm able to grow whatever plant I want ... without any visible algae. But when I tried more than that (~100 µmol PAR) then I begin to have some persistent problems with algae (not as many but it requires much more maintenance on my side). So for me the Aquasky is over the top. I was just curious what values exactly it gives, because as I have read somewhere that it uses SMD 5630 LED chips (probably). And these diodes are used in some LED strips also, so I plan to build a DIY LED light from these LED strips with similar setup as Aquasky to see if I can get the same high PAR values ... for a fraction of price. I know the Aquasky design is excellent (I won't be able to achieve it with DIY project), but I don't want to pay the price for Aquasky if I can have build it myself using LED strips and a decent heatsink ... something similar to this (see the atteched picture).

Marcel


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

kwisatz-Please post a DIY or PM me what you are planning to use if you can. I am planning to try an LED from light strips for something else as I already have tons of RGB ones so an RGBW on the cheap would be really nice. Mine may not be as pretty as that, unless I get a housing made which isn't out of the question, I have family that does that sort of thing all day but it would break my budget, I really want to see how cheaply I can build a useable RGBW fixture without making much compromise on performance.


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Interesting info. Thanks


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## 58417 (Dec 18, 2012)

*DIY Aquasky*



talontsiawd said:


> kwisatz-Please post a DIY or PM me what you are planning to use if you can.


I would like to use LED strips with SMD 5630 or 5730 diodes (one meter of this LED strip with SMD 5630 chips should have 60pcs of diodes), as these are the brighest ones that are widely available. I would like to use approx the same number of chips in my DIY (i.e. ~60 pieces running at 0.4W each ... but not all LED strips use such a high wattage, so you can use a little more diodes with 0.3W, for example), so that I can compare this light with ADA Aquasky. To have the same light as Aquasky you need to find a LED strip which will have 2500-2800 lm per 180 cm (3 x 60cm), that's 1400-1550 lm per meter. And that's exactly what SMD 5630/5730 LED strips do have, although they use different number of diodes. So just use whatever LED strip to give you 2500-2800 lumens in total. This should do the magic. Then find out some nice heatsink for it. I would use this piece of aluminum as heatsink (http://www.ledsvet.cz/led-profil-klus-multi-a-699.html), because it looks great (but it's a little expensive => $30 for one meter). Originally it's two part heatsink, but I would use just one part (part A).

Here's some background info about Aquasky LED chips: http://goo.gl/wrA0um

PS: The picture of the DIY LED light from my previous post is not mine ... it's a light built by my friend.

Marcel


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## limz_777 (Jun 29, 2005)

IWANNAGOFAST said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I recently received a PAR meter from Hoppy and I've been wanting to test the ADA aquasky for a while now. It seems like it's so bright! And I'm sure users of the light have experienced the intense lighting.
> 
> ...



this reading 70 umol of aquasky (which model ? ) is tested on a mini m ?


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## exv152 (Jun 8, 2009)

limz_777 said:


> this reading 70 umol of aquasky (which model ? ) is tested on a mini m ?


The mini m is 36cm wide, I assume they tested it with an aquasky 361 model.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

kwisatz said:


> PS: The picture of the DIY LED light from my previous post is not mine ... it's a light built by my friend.
> 
> Marcel


Your friend did a nice job.

The 602's are overkill for most anyone except perhaps something like my 120 Gallon high light tank......


Colors are okay, but more red and yellow is needed for my taste before I buy an LED.

The Flex mini LED's are perfect, but not quite out to market and they also have that non pendent design. 

DIY is great, but the products will not become mainstream till a company other than ADA makes them. They are over priced frankly for what you get.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

plantbrain said:


> Your friend did a nice job.
> 
> The 602's are overkill for most anyone except perhaps something like my 120 Gallon high light tank......
> 
> ...


These fixtures are overpriced IMO, but I would still buy a Solar Mini if I had the tank to go with it which is arguably more overpriced.

ADA has a few things going for them, like it or not. They are, in some ways, a lifestyle brand which means people find value in simply owning the product. You have a stylized light which is value added if you enjoy it, I happen to dislike the Aquasky but, again, I like the Solar Mini and on a nano, especially, an attractive light fixture can bring more interest, and value to the tank. Lastly, they work as a system so you can be pretty confident that everything works. Not to mention that the resale is there.

That's all marketing and I think if the Aquasky was more universally accepted as attractive, I honestly think that the price point would be fair, it's just hard to pay premium if you are on the fence or don't like something.


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## 58417 (Dec 18, 2012)

talontsiawd said:


> they work as a system so you can be pretty confident that everything works...


In case of ADA Aquasky I would disagree with this statement, because as I saw a few tanks with this light, all seemed to have *problems with algae*. Light intensity of *150 µmol PAR* at the substrate is too much. You need to do a thorough maintenance very often to keep it without visible algae. My friend have told me also, that when they tried to use *ADA Aquasky 602* (= 2x601) over their ADA tank, they were *not able to get rid of algae* at all ... whatever they did. So for me these LED lights are just overkill. If I would buy this light, then I suspend it much higher above the water surface then only 10cm.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

kwisatz said:


> In case of ADA Aquasky I would disagree with this statement, because as I saw a few tanks with this light, all seemed to have *problems with algae*. Light intensity of *150 µmol PAR* at the substrate is too much. You need to do a thorough maintenance very often to keep it without visible algae. My friend have told me also, that when they tried to use *ADA Aquasky 602* (= 2x601) over their ADA tank, they were *not able to get rid of algae* at all ... whatever they did. So for me these LED lights are just overkill. If I would buy this light, then I suspend it much higher above the water surface then only 10cm.


I was going off the 70 number, I missed your own numbers of 150, which I would agree is much too high for most cases. If it's 70, that's reasonable if you go with everything else you would typically find in an ADA tank. At 150, totally different story. It would be nice if someone else tested to back up either result.

As for the ADA Aquasky 602, I never really understood it's application. It seems that the 601 is about all you need for a 60P. The 60H is only 4 inches taller so it seems overkill on the 60H as well. Even if it is intended for the 60H, I think the 601 would be a better option. 

In general, I do tend to trust tanks going well than tanks flooded with algae. Plenty of people had issues with the Solar Mini but plenty of people had great luck with it. I tend to favor the idea that it's the right amount of light when enough people have luck with it as there are many other ways besides too much light to get an algae farm.


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## saiko (Mar 30, 2007)

Can someone else as well provide their Aquasky PAR reading with Apogee meter. It would be great.

Or has the intensity decreased after the manufacturing shifted to China?:icon_roll

(P.S. I am coming from this thread, so thought this'd be the best place to discuss)


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## 58417 (Dec 18, 2012)

saiko said:


> Can someone else as well provide their Aquasky PAR reading with Apogee meter.


I have another set of data for ADA Aquasky 451 (see the attached picture) from Dannyboy77.









_All data are in μmol/s.m2._


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## saiko (Mar 30, 2007)

Thank you Marcel. Thats intense second time, please can you link me to his post.
BTW is it another meter?


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## 58417 (Dec 18, 2012)

He's not a member of this forum, and he did not post it yet anywhere, but just sent me his data. He used Apogee MQ-200 PAR meter.


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