Just ordered a Current USA Orbit Marine LED fixture. Thoughts on the lamp?

[Electus unus]

Hi all. I just ordered the light in the title from petco's a website. I'm super excited about it! I had 25 dollars worth of pals rewards points, and a 20dollar off + free shipping promo code! Good deal on that imo.

Anyways, Ive seen it at the LFS. The owner demonstrated the different intensities. I'm trying to find a video online showing the different white/blue intensities, but all I can find are videos of presets and the dynamic modes... Anybody with this fixture that can maybe get a video of what I'm describing?:beer:

 

[Electus unus]

Nobody?

 

[solarwrx]

will not work for corals, great for fish only tanks,

 

[Mark426]

What solarwrx said is correct.

 

[kzooreefer]

The light works just fine with corals, softies and LPS. I replaced T5's, an AquaticLife with all ATI bulbs, two months ago and prefer it over T5's as do my corals. As far as a video for you goes I don't have the time to provide one, I just use the presets. I attached a pic of how it looks so you can get an idea of what to expect.

 

[Electus unus]

I've done my research, and this will do just fine with corals. Maybe not in a deep tank. This is meant for my 30g long tank. I believe it's 18 inches high? Maybe 24.... Might have it confused with the 20 long. (Which are both the same length)

For my 55, I have plans of combo t5/led's > gonna look sick.
Anyways. None of this it's no good for coral nonsense. I just need to place them accordingly and they will all be nice and happy

 

[Electus unus]

I also love the slim design. And for it's price range, it really is probably the best led out there based on the plethora of reviews I've seen. Two of which demonstrated what I'm looking for (intensity demos) but I can no longer find them.

 

[moondoggy4]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2351611 HTH

 

[Red Eyed Reefer]

I have the 48".... Still looking for a video?

I can upload one later tonight for you if needed when I get home from work.

Personally, I like the light (I'm running a 55 gallon [48x13x20] and the coverage is great).

Only thing that kind of annoys me is that the remote for the controller, about half of the buttons, match the same frequencies as my TV. :mad2:

LOL not too bad, but it took me awhile to figure out why my TV kept switching inputs and channels on me

*Also, TV will randomly turn off now for no reason at about the same time every night. Not sure if I changed a setting without knowing it or if the controller pumps out a signal that turns off the TV? :facepalm:

 

[EllisJuan]

.25w LEDs...

 

[Red Eyed Reefer]

.25w LEDs...

Yes?

I am an engineer, I know how to read spec sheets.

What is your point?

...or is that all you could exert yourself to type?

If you are going to add comments like this, at least provide some insight as to why you feel the need to do so.


(If your rebutle is to say this won't be capable of growing corals, then don't bother responding. To say that this light cannot grow or support any corals, would be one of the most moronic blanket statements I have ever heard. Will you be getting any SPS or high light requiring LPS growth/success out of this set-up... probably not on the LPS, definitely not on the SPS. But to say none? Mushrooms, zoa's, low light LPS will be fine if positioned correctly. I am of course assuming that was the reasoning behind your ".25w LED's..." reply.)

For the price, controllability, decent PAR values for beginner coral species, and low power consumption.. this fixture is a great entry level light for small systems.

FWIW:
I will not be using these on my 72"x36"x24"T upgrade down the road...


:smokin:

 

[EllisJuan]

Yes?

I am an engineer, I know how to read spec sheets.

What is your point?

...or is that all you could exert yourself to type?

If you are going to add comments like this, at least provide some insight as to why you feel the need to do so.


(If your rebutle is to say this won't be capable of growing corals, then don't bother responding. To say that this light cannot grow or support any corals, would be one of the most moronic blanket statements I have ever heard. Will you be getting any SPS or high light requiring LPS growth/success out of this set-up... probably not on the LPS, definitely not on the SPS. But to say none? Mushrooms, zoa's, low light LPS will be fine if positioned correctly. I am of course assuming that was the reasoning behind your ".25w LED's..." reply.)

For the price, controllability, decent PAR values for beginner coral species, and low power consumption.. this fixture is a great entry level light for small systems.

FWIW:
I will not be using these on my 72"x36"x24"T upgrade down the road...


:smokin:

Well damn, I guess you told me. So sorry if my post offended you. If you own the light and like it, awesome. I am thrilled for you. I am glad you are having such success growing coral with it. How long have you had it? How long have you been growing coral under it? I was just wanting to make the OP aware that they used .25w LEDs in the fixture. I guess I should have said; "This fixture uses .25w LEDs. For the most part the industry standard has become 3w."

 

[scott3569]

I have the 48".... Still looking for a video?

I can upload one later tonight for you if needed when I get home from work.

Personally, I like the light (I'm running a 55 gallon [48x13x20] and the coverage is great).

Only thing that kind of annoys me is that the remote for the controller, about half of the buttons, match the same frequencies as my TV. :mad2:

LOL not too bad, but it took me awhile to figure out why my TV kept switching inputs and channels on me

*Also, TV will randomly turn off now for no reason at about the same time every night. Not sure if I changed a setting without knowing it or if the controller pumps out a signal that turns off the TV? :facepalm:

oh now thats is just funny!!!!

 

[Red Eyed Reefer]

Well damn, I guess you told me. So sorry if my post offended you. If you own the light and like it, awesome. I am thrilled for you. I am glad you are having such success growing coral with it. How long have you had it? How long have you been growing coral under it? I was just wanting to make the OP aware that they used .25w LEDs in the fixture. I guess I should have said; "This fixture uses .25w LEDs. For the most part the industry standard has become 3w."

Yup, that would have been a MUCH better post, and more informative.

:beer:


Not offended, just don't like slackers

 

[EllisJuan]

Not offended, just don't like slackers

Me either. Such as people that are asked questions and don't answer them.

How long have you had it? How long have you been growing coral under it?

 

[Red Eyed Reefer]

Me either. Such as people that are asked questions and don't answer them.

How long have you had it? How long have you been growing coral under it?

I figured your questions were not sincere, considering the statements you made prior to them.

Well damn, I guess you told me. So sorry if my post offended you. If you own the light and like it, awesome. I am thrilled for you. I am glad you are having such success growing coral with it. How long have you had it? How long have you been growing coral under it? I was...

Never stated I was succesfully growing corals. I have none at the moment.

My tank has only been up and going for about 5 weeks and just finished cycling recently. Have had the light for 3 weeks.


Other people have had success with this unit, including (in this thread)

kzooreefer:

The light works just fine with corals, softies and LPS. I replaced T5's, an AquaticLife with all ATI bulbs, two months ago and prefer it over T5's as do my corals. As far as a video for you goes I don't have the time to provide one, I just use the presets. I attached a pic of how it looks so you can get an idea of what to expect.

What do you use for lighting? Can you explain the differences of PAR values in lighting systems that utilize .25Watt LED's versus 3Watt or 5Watt CREE LED's, that equal the same total operating wattage? Just curious...

 

[sfbayview]

They have the par spec on there site ... not sure they are trying to hide anything

 

[kzooreefer]

Yes, like my post earlier says I've had the fixture for 2 months and am successfully growing corals under it. LPS and softies. The LPS are mostly at the bottom of the tank and most are low light LPS. This light is perfect for what I've been doing for the past 7 years, I'm not into SPS, high light or difficult to keep corals.

 

[stingeragent]

I ordered this light in the 36-48 " variety for a standard 55 gal tank. Fit nicely, and all the effects, timers, etc are very cool. I had it on for a few days and I felt it just wasn't bright enough for me. In comparison the only other salty tank I have is a 30" long with 50 watt T5 HO's and those are much brighter. The 55 is a FOWLR so I decided I liked everything about the light and features enough, i returned it and ordered the 48" fixture, figuring 40 something more LED's should fix the brightness issue. UPS will be dropping it off sometime today. No clue on growing corals with it though or anything like that, but its feature set is very very very hard to beat for the price. I think if they upgraded to 1w or 3w led's and kept all the same features , they would be a very tough product to beat for the price, as most fancy LED fixtures with high wattage are anywhere between 400-1000. It makes me wonder why aren't some of the other manufactures doing something simliar as far as features go? I've seen 500 dollar high wattage led fixtures that aren't even dimmable.

 

[EllisJuan]

What do you use for lighting?

Currently I am using a Lumentek Pro 240 LED setup built by Reef Radiance over my 65g. It uses 80 3w Bridgelux LEDs. Before that over my 65g I was using 2x150w Metal Halides with 2x39w T5HO for supplementation. Before that I was using 18 3w crees in a setup a built and installed in the hood of a 14g Biocube.

Can you explain the differences of PAR values in lighting systems that utilize .25Watt LED's versus 3Watt or 5Watt CREE LED's, that equal the same total operating wattage? Just curious...

I think what you are asking is how would the PAR value of two systems using equal total watts but different wattage LEDs differ. Lets use the example of a 12 watt system. One using 48 .25w LEDs and one using four 3w LEDs. The fixture using 48 .25w LEDs will have a larger more uniformed coverage area but will lack intensity compared to the system using 3w LEDs. The fixture using four 3w LEDs will inherently cover less area uniformly because there are fewer points of light. However, each point of light will have a higher level of intensity. Intensity comes from wattage and is what is needed to penetrate the water and provide higher levels of PAR at depth.

Imagine if you are trying to light a wall 100 yards away. Put 100 small flashlights next to each other, turn them on, and point them at the wall. Now take one large spotlight, turn it on, then point it at the wall.

One way to make LEDs penetrate water better is through use of optics to focus the intensity, but that is another topic entirely and note pertinent to this discussion.