# [2] New MicMol's Planted Led fixtures| Unboxing and Test runs |



## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

MicMol's Planted Prototype Mini&Pro - Testing 

Convincing a reef lighting company to go planted - p1. 

I got these fixtures way-way back in early June and I haven't be able to do a proper review for them until now, for that, I am sorry. I'm grateful for the chance to review this and I hope MicMol enters the planted-sided of the hobby. 

History:

White Light only: 









Colour high- White low:









I got some great results from their reef unit (I turn the intensity down- a lot) so I ask if they had any interest in making a fixture for the planted hobbyist. Being a reef company, I explained how rearranging the LEDs can easily turn the fixture into a plant oriented unit. 

Here the result - 








<- Array led


I basically took out all the funky reef LEDs and added more white with a single source for red/blue. I felt that the blue spectrum would be ideal for a iwagumi. The Mini's array is pretty straight forward while the larger "Pro" version is arranged in rows of 5's. 

This is what came in the mail, an Aqua Pro and an Aqua Mini. 









The box was so foreign that I kept it, I like boxes. 

Aqua Pro - 20 Blinding LEDs that lit up my entire balcony. I can't wait for Earth Day 2015! 































Two protective film covers both side, and both are equally fun to peel off. 
Here is a close up of the reflective lens. 








The top of the fixture has a glossy black finish and a mirror shine. Oooh-awwh very pretty indeed. The only problem I find with such a great gloss finish, is the inferno finger print that is always left behind. What you get is a mixture of super glossy- oh- so beautiful shine with an oily film around the buttons. 








In the accessories department, they give you all stainless steel pieces, and yes, that includes the hanging kit. 
















The bracket is acrylic and so are the screws, which is a breathe of fresh air because I hated the metal screw that came in the older models. I would always add tape at the end just in case, it's nice they finally switch to a softer material. 
























I recently discovered that the screws fit perfectly in a protective plastic cap, I'll add the pics soon. 
Baby's got back.... this is the AquaMini. 









I'll add more on the AquaMini later on pg2. 










p2 is a placeholder for the AquaMini

??????? 

Bump: Place holder for AquaMini


























































iMOS (Operating system) 2.0 (?)
There a new OS that ramps up and down depending on Sunrise, Mid-day, Sunset and Night. With the older OS, I had to manually input the intensity and duration, 24 times for the 24 hours. 

Hopefully more companies will take notice of the planted community as reefers shouldn't be the only one with all the fancy equipment. 


Not sure if LEDs are right for you?
Here a comparison of CFL (Hc Cuba) vs LED (Glosso)







<- HC Cuba







<- Glosso


----------



## Squrl888 (Oct 3, 2014)

Did you get any spotlighting or disco light effects where the colors didn't mix well? Or did all the colors mix into a uniform white?


----------



## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Squrl888 said:


> Did you get any spotlighting or disco light effects where the colors didn't mix well? Or did all the colors mix into a uniform white?


Yes, you do get the shimmer effect, that the nature of LEDs. It's welcome by the reef community, and some even like it in their planted tanks. The LED fixtures that don't have much of a shimmer would be the SMD mounted ones (lower power, closer together) leds. 

I don't have a lot of surface tension (not many do when they inject Co2) so the shimmer is not very noticeable. But, if you crank up the colours and have tons of movement, you can't really escape the physic of light reflection and refraction.

If you have a even surface, the light reflecting off of it is stationary, but if you got a surface that moving, then you get a light show that will amaze your friends and have people outside wondering what going on in that room?

Here the older unit.







II







II








The new planted units won't have the crazy reef colours so I'm afraid you won't be able to open up your own nightclub.


----------



## Squrl888 (Oct 3, 2014)

FlyingHellFish said:


> Yes, you do get the shimmer effect, that the nature of LEDs. It's welcome by the reef community, and some even like it in their planted tanks. The LED fixtures that don't have much of a shimmer would be the SMD mounted ones (lower power, closer together) leds.
> 
> I don't have a lot of surface tension (not many do when they inject Co2) so the shimmer is not very noticeable. But, if you crank up the colours and have tons of movement, you can't really escape the physic of light reflection and refraction.
> 
> ...


Hi, thank you for your response! I was asking because I'm designing my own DIY LED unit with the focus on being best color rendition and matching the sun's electromagnetic spectrum. This involves the use of a lot of colored LEDs such as cyan, blue, green, and deep red.
I like the shimmer effect of LEDs, but unfortunately the disco effect, is a bit hard on my eyes.
The use of an acrylic light diffuser seems promising in order to reduce this:
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/2962...erial-tested-only-5-light-loss-through-water/


----------



## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Take a look at the Seasonal depression lights, they are supposedly the closest light resembling the sun. I think anything that has a wide spectrum w/ intensity control should be fine.


----------



## Dannurai (Feb 16, 2012)

hi, how would you suggest setting upp the scheme on these lights?


----------

