New AI Vega's ....looking for input

Currently have the ai sol blues and like them, but since the new ones are out have been thinking of upgrading to the new Vega version.
Wondering if anyone has experience with both?and if so would be kind enough to share

my tank is 28 inches deep so the penetration factor on both seems more than adequate.
 

tkh

New member
I literally just installed these! Having no experience prior with Sols or leds... well, I like them, lol. I wouldn't worry about depth or breadth - like many leds, a lot of people report bleaching at 100%, so very few run it that high, although most probably also run them too close to the water (probably myself included). The biggest thing going for them is replaceable pucks! That alone was the reason I went with AI Vegas, although if I had time (which I don't - surgery tomorrow), I would have done another round of massive research and done a DIY, selecting the specific leds to correspond to the various photosynthetic pigments...

As for the Vegas, most people go with the Color vs the Blue, and the colors can be tuned to more than enough blue... The red is a waste in them, but help for toning the color to your liking, but has little photosynthetic benefit (they missed the bump, it should be a bit lower in the orange/yellow wavelength). The green led is nice for photosynthesis of course, and there is plenty of blue and deep blue for the brunt of coral growth anyhow.

If you have Sols, they will have upgrade kits available soon, if they don't already have them. Unless you're in a rush, however, I would wait for the full release of Director (program run off a pc / tablet / phone for control), and the full release of pucks. Just my 2c :)
 

Averageguys

New member
When I went to get my AIs I had the ability to choose sols or vegas, I put one of each up on a frag tank at that LFS, the coverage by far was better with the sols then the vegas, This is why I went with them was because of the coverage and my tank being odd shaped. Now if the vegas were 2 rows of pucks then I would be all in. Im sticking with what works for me personally.
 

tkh

New member
I'd seen the owners thread - definitely a good read for ai vega owners given the lack of a manual.... I'd seriously considered sending an email with a quote for $1000 to write the **** thing for them, lol.

Hadn't seen the other thread, but like I said, DIY is the way to go if you have the willingness to do your research, and the time to execute it (which I didn't have sadly.) Also as mentioned in the other thread, I'm not worried about power, lol. It's been proven they have too much (coral bleaching/burning) if anything. Spectrum does have me concerned - hence either DIY, custom fixtures (group buy lights would have been great!), or... Well the ai vega, due to the exchangeable pucks! That's the one thing that sold me on them, and the individually controllable LEDs. (For better customization).

That's not to say anything else won't work, if I'd found razors in the size I wanted I would have gone with that, but the Vegas are more "future-proof". Same reason I didn't simply use sols. If the director (upcoming controller) works as intended, then I will be quite happy! Control from my ipad, while giving me graphic output on the expected color spectrum based on the custom settings I've entered - talk about cool and functional! But, this is all not released yet, so I suppose it and the swappable pucks could flop and I'll be selling, lol.

All of that said, they look killer :) and I'm fairly happy with them, just wish I could get my corals used to them quicker!!

As a side note, and the last bit I'll add for now, the default sunrise/set function could look more realistic.... They do ramp up quite beautifully, but they start with the blues first! Twilight is violet, and then you get reds, yellows, oranges, and finally full blues.... So I'll be messing with it and adding my settings here once I get a sunrise that looks more natural.... Will this help my livestock? Almost certainly not... But it will make me a happy reefer, and being a bit if a tech-head, will it be great fun? Definitely! Moonlight (which almost universally consists of dull blues, when moonlight is white light - out eyes make it appear blue due to the way our rods work) is more than a bit overrated in my opinion, unless we can get something that really puts out that low of a light.. And even then... Similarly, as I mentioned, sunrise/set is most likely not terribly useful for our livestock. Oddly enough the lightning/storm function is probably the most useful of the gimmicky functions, as it can promote spawning in certain species.... (Useless for me, but I found it interesting that it actually did have a use!)

I'll keep everyone posted with my experiences as I go along of course!
 
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