Blues 100%, Whites 30%

After un-boxing and playing with Aqua Illumination’s new nano LED fixture yesterday, I couldn’t wait to get some coral filled water under it. After placing it over several aquariums, I found that is easily penitrates over a foot deep and covers up to about 24″ X 24″, but the mounting arm looks most at home over a smaller tank, such as the AquaMedic Yasha it’s currently over.

Get in depth with the AI nano after the break.

Three channels at 100%

The mounting arm may be simple, but that’s where is shines through. Two simple screws tighten to hold the arm on the tank back, and screws suspend the AI nano below to allow fan air flow. Overall, the whole rig is very sleek and well built, but it’s when you fire it up and touch the controls that it gets really amazing. The built in touch controls are the perfect solution to total color control without needing an external controller. With just a couple touches each of the three channels, Cree XM cool white, Cree XP blue and royal blue, can be tuned to and intensity from 0 to 100%. To say the color is adjustable would sell this one short. With just a few minutes of playing, I managed to recreate just about any lighting conditions you could think of.I found for this zoa tank application full blue and about 30% white made corals pop extremely well while still preserving natural colors. This fixture truly brings big fixture functionality right down to the nano level, and with the AI controller, it will only get better.

Check back soon for further testing with an AI controller.

Update: 9-16-2011:

I finally shot a video of how the touch controls work today, and as you can see, it’s extremely adjustable.