ing fish look good than for
making corals grow. These
brands will certainly attract
bargain-hunting aquarists.
The lights currently marketed by Orphek and Ecoray
use extremely narrow-angle
secondary optics in order to
deliver very high PAR numbers, but with less light diffusion than some of us prefer. As long as buyers have
reasonable expectations and are aware of what the lights
can and cannot do, they might find value in entry-level,
very affordable products.
BOutiquE FixturEs
On the high end of LED light fixtures we have a wide
choice of designs from boutique manufacturers that
bring a little more game to their lights. The extra aesthetic and performance touches may or may not really
help corals grow any better, but the top-shelf price makes
Eco Tech Marine’s all-new Radion XR30 features aggressive
cooling, sophisticated color controls, and an ability to
communicate wirelessly with Vortech propeller pumps.
these high-end LED fixtures as much of a status symbol
as an indication of what future LED lights may look like.
The first LED light fixture marketed to aquarists was
the PFO solaris LED, which had a boutique price until it ceased to be sold in 2009, in part because of legal
wrangles over LED patents. Although relatively few people used the Solaris, and there aren’t that many hanging
over reef tanks anymore, the initial high-performance
design has served as a blueprint for all the high-end
lights that are available now.
The EcoLamps light fixture was the first aquarium
LED light to follow the form factor and price points of
the Solaris, and the name became AcanLighting in the
U.S. The flagship fixture of AcanLighting is the A102,
which is available in sizes from 12 to 48-inches long
with active cooling and a built-in controller for separate timer and dimmer controls for both white and blue
channels. The higher price of the A102 is partly offset by
the good color rendition, spread, and feature set packed
into a good-looking and very slim design.
If you are looking for a boutique LED light that is
packing heat and loaded for bear, then look no further
than the Metis LED by Pacificsun and the illumina LED
