Inside the Mitras LX8: the engineering behind

[Matthias Gross]

Read more about the current pre-order promotion further below…

Most product announcements list what a light has. This one is about why the Mitras LX8 is built the way it is — a few of the decisions behind it, and what they mean once the fixture is running over your tank.

132 LEDs, run gently​

The LX8 carries 132 high-power LEDs, but it rarely asks much of any single one. In normal operation each runs at roughly a half of its rated current. Driving many LEDs softly instead of a few hard keeps junction temperatures low — which extends LED life, holds color stable over the years, and lets the fixture stay quiet and cool even at full output. It also means light from many small sources, blending into one even field rather than separate bright points.

A spectrum for the eye and for the tank​

The LX8 produces a broad, continuous spectrum across 12 independent channels, and that works in two directions at once. Corals and fish look their best under light that actually contains the wavelengths their pigments reflect and fluoresce — so a complete spectrum renders their color honestly instead of pushing everything blue or washing it flat. The same completeness feeds photosynthesis, which draws on wavelengths right across the visible range, not just a few peaks. Because the spectrum is both wide and filled in, the same light serves appearance and growth. The 12 channels then let you shift the balance to taste — warmer, bluer, more or less of any band — without ever losing that completeness.

A moon that behaves like one​

A convincing moonlight needs very little light, and that turns out to be the harder thing to deliver well. Dimming a 250 W array down to a sliver of its output is inefficient, and high-power LEDs don't dim cleanly that far down — at their lowest they still tend to be brighter than a real moon. So the LX8 gives moonlight its own dedicated channel: low-power by design, efficient where the main array would only waste energy, and able to hold a genuinely dim, believable night light. Its color is adjustable too, so the night scene looks the way you want it.

The quiet parts​

A few things you will notice: dimming is fully analog and flicker-free, which both the eye and the camera appreciate. The fixture manages its own power internally, so you can configure channels freely without driving it past its limits. And the optics — each LED in its own microreflector, set within a larger field reflector — balance spread against penetration, so the light reaches the floor of a deeper tank while still covering its footprint evenly.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LX8

Pre-orders are open through 31 August, with delivery from 1 October.​

The Mitras LX8 is now open for pre-order — from the limited first batch, first come, first served.

Introductory price:
USA: $999.90 € instead of $1,259.90 — $260 off
Europe and all other regions €949.90 instead of €1,199.90 € — €250 off

For the first production batch only. Once the batch is gone, the regular price applies, and the introductory price won't return.
The window closes when the batch sells out, at the latest on August 31.
Shipping from Germany starts October 1st. Shipping from the US warehouse is expected to start approx. 3 weeks later.

PREORDER LX8 (for US customers)

PREORDER LX8 (for customers of all other regions)

 

[ReefJunky]

Read more about the current pre-order promotion further below…

Most product announcements list what a light has. This one is about why the Mitras LX8 is built the way it is — a few of the decisions behind it, and what they mean once the fixture is running over your tank.

132 LEDs, run gently​

The LX8 carries 132 high-power LEDs, but it rarely asks much of any single one. In normal operation each runs at roughly a half of its rated current. Driving many LEDs softly instead of a few hard keeps junction temperatures low — which extends LED life, holds color stable over the years, and lets the fixture stay quiet and cool even at full output. It also means light from many small sources, blending into one even field rather than separate bright points.

A spectrum for the eye and for the tank​

The LX8 produces a broad, continuous spectrum across 12 independent channels, and that works in two directions at once. Corals and fish look their best under light that actually contains the wavelengths their pigments reflect and fluoresce — so a complete spectrum renders their color honestly instead of pushing everything blue or washing it flat. The same completeness feeds photosynthesis, which draws on wavelengths right across the visible range, not just a few peaks. Because the spectrum is both wide and filled in, the same light serves appearance and growth. The 12 channels then let you shift the balance to taste — warmer, bluer, more or less of any band — without ever losing that completeness.

A moon that behaves like one​

A convincing moonlight needs very little light, and that turns out to be the harder thing to deliver well. Dimming a 250 W array down to a sliver of its output is inefficient, and high-power LEDs don't dim cleanly that far down — at their lowest they still tend to be brighter than a real moon. So the LX8 gives moonlight its own dedicated channel: low-power by design, efficient where the main array would only waste energy, and able to hold a genuinely dim, believable night light. Its color is adjustable too, so the night scene looks the way you want it.

The quiet parts​

A few things you will notice: dimming is fully analog and flicker-free, which both the eye and the camera appreciate. The fixture manages its own power internally, so you can configure channels freely without driving it past its limits. And the optics — each LED in its own microreflector, set within a larger field reflector — balance spread against penetration, so the light reaches the floor of a deeper tank while still covering its footprint evenly.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LX8

Pre-orders are open through 31 August, with delivery from 1 October.​

The Mitras LX8 is now open for pre-order — from the limited first batch, first come, first served.

Introductory price:
USA: $999.90 € instead of $1,259.90 — $260 off
Europe and all other regions €949.90 instead of €1,199.90 € — €250 off

For the first production batch only. Once the batch is gone, the regular price applies, and the introductory price won't return.
The window closes when the batch sells out, at the latest on August 31.
Shipping from Germany starts October 1st. Shipping from the US warehouse is expected to start approx. 3 weeks later.

PREORDER LX8 (for US customers)

PREORDER LX8 (for customers of all other regions)

I've tried placing an order through the GHL USA website and it's refusing any payment options. I've contacted my bank and they say there are no problems on their end. Is anyone else having problems placing a pre-order for the Mithras LX8 lights? Is the German website only accepting pre-orders? The German GHL website says there's no shipping options for addresses in the United States so that's what is confusing. Does anybody have any ideas? Please help. Thanks!

 

[Matthias Gross]

Hi, thanks for pre-ordering - I just saw you email to GHL USA Sales, let us fix this over that channel, you will receive a reply any minute.

But yes, the LX8 can be ordered from either store, we have already lots of pre-orders in both stores, so in general it seems to work. Give me a minute to look into this.