by AquaNerd | May 20, 2014 | Corals, Science
Kessil is making headlines today with the recent announcement of their very own controller, called the Spectral Controller. This new device, which is said to be the size of a smartphone, is designed to work specifically with the Kessil A360 LED light and all future releases. It has the ability to control up to two different sets of lights via two separate 0-10V output ports, but don’t translate that as just two different lights. Instead, the Spectral Controller can program multiple lights spread across two separate “groups”. A prime example would be lights over two different aquariums or if you use a Kessil fixture for your refugium, you could change the lights over the display tank independently of the refugium light. Powering the controller is a micro-USB that can be plugged into a wall outlet or computer USB port. When not plugged in, the controller retains all programs and settings, so all of that hard work isn’t lost when the controller is taken offline. by AquaNerd | Apr 16, 2014 | Equipment, Industry, Technology
Giesemann is one of the few companies out there that isn’t abandoning the tried and true T5HO technology, and in fact, they are still making groundbreaking strides that keep it totally relevant in a time dominated by LED light fixtures. Around a year ago, Giesemann revamped the look of their Matrixx T5HO fixtures to bring their aesthetics in line with their gorgeous Teszla and Futura LED products, and just a week ago they announced even more upgrades. The brand new Matrixx-II DIMTEC will share the same sleek look as its predecessor, but will also incorporate full Bluetooth connectivity that allows it to communicate with a variety of devices including personal computer, Macs, and Android powered devices. The user interface is provided by Giesemann’s own software package, which is very similar to the one used on the Futura LED system. The key selling features of the software include: Point to point multi-plot light cycle programming allowing smooth transitional lighting phases across an available 920 set points. Fully independent channel control over 2 – 4 channels dependent on light unit connected. Transitional color shift dependent on the mix of tubes across each channel. Fully adjustable cloud and weather simulations Fully adjustable lunar phases. Creation of dedicated user profiles by AquaNerd | Nov 26, 2013 | Equipment, Science
The Hydra FiftyTwo, AquaIllumination’s new flagship LED fixture that was announced at MACNA this year, is officially available to purchase from your favorite aquarium equipment retailer. Priced at $599, the FiftyTwo is AI’s biggest and beefiest LED module to date. It sports 52 individual LEDs that are spread across four different clusters, delivering tons of power and color to your reef. The LEDs come in the same colors that are found on the original Hydra, but there are simply a lot more of them. In fact, the original Hydra only had a total of 20 LEDs (five per cluster) where the FiftyTwo ups that number way up 13 per cluster. Like the rest of the fixtures in the AI lineup, the Hydra FiftyTwo uses a variety of Cree diodes, each designed to deliver the perfect amount of light and color. While there are almost three times the LEDs in the FifityTwo than in the original fixture, this beefier version will only draw around 135 watts by AquaNerd | Nov 15, 2013 | Industry, Opinion, Science, Tanks
Several months back, Current USA debuted their Satellite LED lighting for freshwater aquariums, and the whole time we were thinking when they would release a set of stylish, low-profile, tank mounted lights for to the saltier side of the hobby. Sure, they already had the True Lumen and True Lumen Pro strip lights, but these were bare bones setups that, in our honest opinions, sacrificed aesthetics for pure function. Ideally, those lights were meant to hide inside of canopies or tank hoods. Well, the (somewhat) new Orbit Marine LED fixtures is Current USA’s response to that question, as they look pretty sharp, mount over an aquarium with built-in legs, and are loaded to the brim with some really useful features. According to Current USA, the Orbit Marine LED fixtures sports the aquarium industry’s first dual daylight and dual actinic multi-chip LEDs. They accomplish this by combining 8,000K and 12,000K white into one chip and 445nm and 460nm actinic blue into another. by AquaNerd | Nov 13, 2013 | Equipment, Science
BuildMyLED, an Austin-based aquarium equipment manufacturer that specializes in custom LED lighting options for marine and freshwater aquariums, recently announced their latest product, LED refugium lighting. In typical BML fashion, the light fixtures are offered up in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, with several different beam angle options, a couple of different colors, and in three different spectra also being available. While LED refugium lighting isn’t anything new, BuildMyLED is doing something that most others don’t. They really did their homework, and have designed three different versions of their lights to each grow a particular type of algae. Instead of just making a single catch all type fixture, which is one of the options, their refugium lights are designed to specifically grow either red or green macroalgae. The Universal Spectrum refugium LED might seem like the best choice on the surface, but today’s hobbyists are finding that certain types of algae perform better than others in their specific systems. In my personal tank, I’ve found that my Dragon’s Tongue algae does far better than Chaetomorpha or Caulerpa, though in another system that is similarly designed the green macroalgae have done better. So, we definitely see significant value in targeting a specific type of algae. The custom refugium lights come in eight different lengths, with the shortest being 12″ and the longest being six feet
