Check things out

Lynnzer · Apr 6, 2023

I'm waiting for a new d d 900 marine tank and have ordered a few things to get it going.
The biggest apparent expense were the lights that were recommended by the LFS, which of course they sold at enormous expense. Couldn't afford going that far so after a good look around I found the Aqua Knight A029's at 30w but instead chose the A052 marketed by Gako and running at 50w. The reviews I found seemed OK so I took the plunge. They arrived this morning and they do look the part BUT, the dang instruction manual is in Chinese. The funny thing is that the Yoube videos I've seen are those from Polish and other countries but the images shown where a manual comes into view is in English. This is a bit of an **** about face.
I'm getting the supplier to send a pdf of an English manual but until then I can't really set things up.
All that apart, when I was checking Aliexpress for the Aqua Knight A029 the price was around double to that showing on Alibaba. Most suppliers wanted a minimum purchase of 2 units though but hey, if you wanted 2 lights that would be ideal. If not then you pay around the same and have a spare to sell or keep for later. It's worth checking both sites. Some items have no minimum order so a one-off is OK.

nuxx · Apr 6, 2023

I've had great luck with Chinese Black Box LEDs tbh and that was years ago...

I went with trendy Kessils because the display was in the middle of the house and didn't want to look like I skimped, but I feel the black boxes actually were superior lights...

Lynnzer · Apr 7, 2023

You tank is really REALLY nice and it's easy to see why the Kessils are preferred. Linking them together with the controller is a great way to go.
I have 2 Kessils myself on a 120ltr tank but haven't had any success in keeping corals. Most seem to die back within a few weeks. That's my next task, getting them sorted. When I put the new lights on the incoming tank I'm hiring a PAR meter from my LFS and hopefully will be able to work things out.

Lynnzer · Apr 8, 2023

The Gako lights are in operation, at least clipped over an empty tank for the time being.
I got the pdf of the manual but managed to work the settings out myself before that, though I'll need a PAR meter to finalise things.
Anyway, the lights are pretty easy to set up. There's white, green, purple, red, blue and sky blue all of which can be run on whatever percentage power from 0% to 100% so they are fully functional through the complete spectrum. There's a Sunrise, Midday, Sunset and Moonlight setting to be set according to your own preference.
There's also a function to show the running temperature of the light. As for that, the fan kicks in only when needed and is silent.
All in all it seems to be just the job.
The only real criticism is that the controller buttons (not a real button, but a circle to press for control) is hard to see as it's only a circle with a dark blue surround. It really could have been white with a black text inside.
If anyone goes for these lights I have the English pdf for the manual attached. It also covers the A075 light

Lynnzer · Apr 9, 2023

A little update to my last post.
After playing about with the settings to get a really low moonlight setting I opted to go only with purple. Even 1% on any other colour such as white or blue was just a little too bright. Purple showed a slight glimmer when set at 100%. I wondered what the purpose of purple was given that the intensity is so low so sought an answer. Apparently purple is UV. It benefits the corals so I believe, but I don't think a 100% setting will be appropriate. I'll need to dig deeper into this.
As I'm sitting here now, the lights are ramping up. Sunrise has just faded in from moonlight and I must say I'm impressed.