by AquaNerd | May 27, 2014 | Science
Ecoxotic is bringing a new product to the table, bolstering their LED striplights to now include a full spectrum model in the E-Series. This new series of striplights uses RGB technology, tossing in a daylight white LED to further beef up the spectrum to meet the needs of all your aquatic livestock as well as give more color options for fine tuning. Speaking of which, the fixture can be contolled wirelessly through an infrared remote, allowing for a huge assortment of colors and even simulated cloud cover, thunderstorms, a robust sunrise/sunset sequence, and an after hours moonlight. The LEDs are split across two channels, which Ecoxocit says was done to allow the color and growth capabilities to be separately tuned. Along with the RGB and wireless control, the E-Series features a sleek aluminum housing, polished reflector, 120 degree optics, and adjustable mounting arms that can be made to fit aquariums of various sizes. If mounting the lights directly on the tank aren’t an option, a set of canopy brackets is also included. The Ecoxotic E-Series lights are available in lengths of 12″, 18″, 24″, 36″, and 48″ with the prices starting at $140 and climbing to $330. The adjustable legs add another 6-12″ of reach depending on the light fixture. by AquaNerd | Apr 28, 2014 | Equipment, Industry, Tanks, Technology
It’s been almost a year since it’s MACNA 2013 debut to the aquarium keeping world, but the Maxspect Celestial LED spotlight is finally close to a public release and its announcement is being accompanied by a whole bunch of new information. What we already known over the past several months was that the Celestial was a pendant-style LED light that incorporated the tiny Maxspect controller right into body of the light. What we weren’t expecting, however, was the fact that it would be available in three different models. The Celestial C35, so named for its 35watts of power consumption, will come in a full-spectrum RGB model that has a total of four channels of independent control, along with a dual-channel actinic version and a dual-channel algae friendly version for growing algae in a refugium. The flagship model, in all likelihood, will the be Celestial C35-F, the full spectrum version. The full-spectrum nature of the light will make it a great choice for illuminating just about every marine aquarium out there, and the robust control will let users fine tune the color to their liking. Across its four channels, this multi-chip LED light features: Channel A: Super Actinic (x2)410nm, (x2)420nm, (x2)430nm Channel B: Blue (x2)445nm, (x2)465nm, (x2)485nm Channel C: White (1)5000k Cool White, (1)3000k Warm White, (1)660nm Hyper Red Channel D: White (1)5000k Cool White, (1)3000k Warm White, (1)500nm Cyan The other sure-to-be popular model is the Super Blue Actinic C35-S. As its name suggests, it emits a whole bunch of blue light by AquaNerd | Jan 10, 2014 | Science
Here’s a bit of a surprise from EcoTech Marine. They just announced the imminent release of the 3rd generation of the wildly popular XR30w and XR30w Pro LED fixtures. The fixtures will be available to the public starting next week, via your favorite authorized retailer of course, and there are plenty of new features for us to gush over. The big updates come in both form and functionality. The XR30wG3 and XR30wG3Pro will come with an updated look that is sleeker than previous generations, and part of that visual updates is illuminated tactile buttons, which make them a lot easier to see. In terms of performance, the new generation Radion XR30w will now include indigo/UV LEDs that will allow for greater output and a wider spectrum. by AquaNerd | Dec 16, 2013 | Equipment, Industry
In a world seemingly fixed on LED lighting and little else, it’s nice to see that T5 fluorescent technology is still developing and hasn’t been cast to the wayside. Pacific Sun, a company that specializes in aquarium illumination, must follow the same train of thought, as they have a brand new offering of specially designed T5 lamps coming out in January. Specifically designed for even the most demanding of aquaria, the lamps will be offered in five different color choices and in all of the standard sizes (24″ to 60″). Interestingly, Pacific Sun is describing these T5 lamps as being “very high output” or VHO. Based on the wattage of each lamp and their intensities (see spectra below), we would actually not consider these to be true T5 VHO lamps, which are typically driven to much higher wattages. For example, a traditional four foot T5HO bulb runs at 54watts resulting in 5000 lumens of intensity. A VHO bulb, on the other hand, peaks at 95watts with an output of 7200 lumens. 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
