beachsidereefer
Active Member
Checking out the latest press releases from MACNA I saw an article on these new lights and I thought they would be perfect for a problem I was trying to solve. I contacted Scott and he said they were still months away from shipping but I could go ahead and place an order today. Once they are ready to ship I would be at the top of the list. I placed an order placed and I prepared myself for a long wait but Christmas came early!!!!! Scott sent me an email asking if I would like to have a prototype to experiment with and I said ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!
Current set up:
200 G
tank dimensions.
48" Wide
26" Tall
33" Deep
250 10K MH
2 – 48’ 2 bulb 54 watt T5 HO's Actinic bulbs
1 - Reef Radiance Starfire. Should have 2 but one is out for warranty repair.
The problem I wanted to solve is I wasn't getting much pop of phosphorescence from my corals with the current light set up. Plus I’ve always wanted to get rid of my T5's because the fixtures have an internal power supply which produced heat. Along with my MH my chiller runs quite a bit so reducing heat is a constant goal of mine.
Yesterday the package arrived and unpacked the light to inspect the quality. This is my first Orphek light and I know they are considered the premium LED aquarium lighting manufacture but I really wanted to see if they lived up to the hype. First thing I noticed is for a 24 inch light it’s actually quite heavy. The LED unit is very well made, seams are perfect and it’s well put together. It has a large, aluminum heat sink on the top to dissipate heat. Visually it’s a stunning light and the attention to design/ detail is simply amazing. All the connectors are high quality and I like how the power supply is separate so I can locate it away from the hood. The light includes hanging cables which were had a neat way of adjusting and locking in the length so you can easily adjust how high the light is suspended above the water. For now I’m just using zip ties to fiddle with the elevation and will later use the suspension kit to mount it to the ceiling and suspend it above the hood.
I removed one of my T5 fixtures and hung the light, fired it up and I must say I’m really impressed. For a 24 in light it’s doing a excellent job of covering about 60% of the tank. When I get the second one and mount it in the back I should have complete tank coverage. The light penetration is excellent! Looking at the sand I can see a shimmering effect and all the corals are glowing like crazy! Furthermore, This 24in light is putting out way more intensity then the 2 T5 bulbs it replaced. I tried to take a few pics of the corals glowing but my iPhone seems to do a really crappy job but in person it's pretty awesome!
So to sum it up, problem solved and I’m incredibly happy with this new light!
Here's some pics!
Current set up:
200 G
tank dimensions.
48" Wide
26" Tall
33" Deep
250 10K MH
2 – 48’ 2 bulb 54 watt T5 HO's Actinic bulbs
1 - Reef Radiance Starfire. Should have 2 but one is out for warranty repair.
The problem I wanted to solve is I wasn't getting much pop of phosphorescence from my corals with the current light set up. Plus I’ve always wanted to get rid of my T5's because the fixtures have an internal power supply which produced heat. Along with my MH my chiller runs quite a bit so reducing heat is a constant goal of mine.
Yesterday the package arrived and unpacked the light to inspect the quality. This is my first Orphek light and I know they are considered the premium LED aquarium lighting manufacture but I really wanted to see if they lived up to the hype. First thing I noticed is for a 24 inch light it’s actually quite heavy. The LED unit is very well made, seams are perfect and it’s well put together. It has a large, aluminum heat sink on the top to dissipate heat. Visually it’s a stunning light and the attention to design/ detail is simply amazing. All the connectors are high quality and I like how the power supply is separate so I can locate it away from the hood. The light includes hanging cables which were had a neat way of adjusting and locking in the length so you can easily adjust how high the light is suspended above the water. For now I’m just using zip ties to fiddle with the elevation and will later use the suspension kit to mount it to the ceiling and suspend it above the hood.
I removed one of my T5 fixtures and hung the light, fired it up and I must say I’m really impressed. For a 24 in light it’s doing a excellent job of covering about 60% of the tank. When I get the second one and mount it in the back I should have complete tank coverage. The light penetration is excellent! Looking at the sand I can see a shimmering effect and all the corals are glowing like crazy! Furthermore, This 24in light is putting out way more intensity then the 2 T5 bulbs it replaced. I tried to take a few pics of the corals glowing but my iPhone seems to do a really crappy job but in person it's pretty awesome!
So to sum it up, problem solved and I’m incredibly happy with this new light!
Here's some pics!
