Aquatic Life Edge LED Lighting system review and pics

[jmf3460]

A year ago I was in the market for a new LED light to go over my 48" discus tank. At the time I was using two marineland single brights, which I was happy with their coloring but they did not have a timer nor any different channel settings. I did months of research, in the end I was stuck between going with build my LED and getting their "amazon themed" light or the Aquatic Life Edge LED which at that time was brand new and had some great reviews and manufacturer demos on youtube. In then end and due to customer service preference, I went with the Aquatic Life Edge LED and could not be happier. I have had it about 6 months now and thought I would offer up a review/thoughts on the light in case some of you are looking for a new LED lighting system.

The light is simple enough to understand and has 3 channels that you can dial in separately or simultaneously. It also has a sunrise/sunset setting that can be adjusted to last 10 minutes or 2 hours. It has a battery back up so when the power flickers it doesn't need to be reset (it maintains the timing settings.) It is lightweight, puts out little heat and has a pretty sleek design like many of the other leds out there. The LED system comes with tank mounts that are skinny enough to use with my tank skirt (hood type thing that goes around the top but does not have a hood.)
An example of my lighting schedule is:
Channel 1 (colored LED channel) 6am-4pm (with the sunrise lasting 2 hours at 6am and the sunset lasting 2 hours at 4pm)
Channel 2 (bright white LED channel) 12:50-1:10, this is only a 20 minute setting, it triggers my discus that a feeding is coming at 1pm via electric feeder and trust me they know what the bright light means
Channel 3 (blue led "night" channel) 5pm-10pm this is interesting bc while the night channel is going through its sunrise, the colored channel is going through its sunset cycle and makes for some really cool colorings

Overall I am very happy and would advise anyone in the market for a new LED light to get this lighting system. Not that there are not other great options but this is just my experience.

Here are some pictures as you can tell the sunrise/sunset times are my favorite

this is last night, channel 1 was going through sunset while simultaneously channel 3 was going through sunrise
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this pic is towards the end of sunrise cycle so it is almost the colored channel at its brightest (keep in mind I use tannins which make it look slightly darker)
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some pics toward the beginning of the sunrise so you can see how dark the sunrise starts out
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I don't have any tank shots during the night mode but I do have some pics of the fish during the sunrise of the night mode so you can see how blue it makes them look
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[Kirbs]

Thanks for the review. I've been following tour thread with this tank. I'll probably order this light when I get to that point on my own tank

Great tank and pics. I love those Greens!

[Mgus]

Those lights look great I was considering upgrading to them eventually. I have t8s on my 125. Was thinking of getting two 36". My plant growth is very slow with the t8s. I Really like the sunrise/sunset option. Do those also have a moon light?

[rickztahone]

Great review. Really like mine. The moonlight bank serves as a nice night light lol

[jmf3460]

Do those also have a moon light?

Yes Marc channel 3 on this system is the "moonlight" setting. This is basically an all blue led channel that has its own sunrise and sunset. Meaning the blues start very dim and get brighter then at the end of your moonlight timer they dim down again before cutting off completely if you choose to have a no lights period.

[jmf3460]

Great review. Really like mine. The moonlight bank serves as a nice night light lol

Thanks Ricardo, when I was debating between this system and buildmyled.com lights, the fact that a simply discus admin had done a review was a key deciding factor.

[rickztahone]

Thanks Ricardo, when I was debating between this system and buildmyled.com lights, the fact that a simply discus admin had done a review was a key deciding factor.

I actually adjusted my timing on my lights because of you a few days ago. I made it so that the moonlights start to kick in when the bank 2 lights are still on. Before, the tank would go dark and at 10pm the moonlights would come on. Now, there is a wider span of lights being on, but much more subtle. Additionally, I have never tried this, but I was thinking of making bank 1 lights come on AFTER bank 2 lights so that the white lights are the first to turn on in the monring. May look ugly when I try it, but I want to give it a go.

[jmf3460]

but I was thinking of making bank 1 lights come on AFTER bank 2 lights so that the white lights are the first to turn on in the monring. May look ugly when I try it, but I want to give it a go.

I am not a fan of the bank 2 lights Ricardo, just for my heavily stained water I don't think it is appealing. Bank 2 is really bright I find. But in your stark white tanks with your clean domestics it would look really good I do believe. So will you have bank 1 come on before or after bank 2 has amped all the way up? what is your new schedule per channel?

[rickztahone]

I am not a fan of the bank 2 lights Ricardo, just for my heavily stained water I don't think it is appealing. Bank 2 is really bright I find. But in your stark white tanks with your clean domestics it would look really good I do believe. So will you have bank 1 come on before or after bank 2 has amped all the way up? what is your new schedule per channel?

I currently have bank 1 from 8am to 4pm. Bank 2 kicks in from 2pm to 8pm. The third bank (moonlights) kick in at 7pm. They all have the 2hr sunrise/sunset effect after follwing your advice on that as well :). Previously, I had it on 10 minutes I think. It is much cooler with the longer sunrise I think. I could see how in your tank it would be more stunning however.