by AquaNerd | Oct 3, 2013 | Equipment
Image Credit: Bulk Reef Supply If you’ve been holding off on upgrading the lighting scheme over your aquarium, here’s a great opportunity to save a few bucks. EcoTech Marine is allowing various online vendors to sell their Radion XR30w and XR30w Pro LED fixtures at discounted prices. Normally, EcoTech employs a minimum advertised price (MAP) campaign that forces all retailers to sell their products at the same price, regardless of whether the store is online only or a brick-and-mortar. So, we were pleasantly surprised to see this price drop. Unfortunately, it won’t last forever. There’s no word on when it will end, but it has been going on for a couple of weeks now, and who knows when the prices will return to normal. The price drops on the XR30w and XR30w Pro are $100 and $150, respectively. If you’re looking to buy the fixture at the discounted rate, we recommend hitting up Bulk Reef Supply, who seems to be the most vocal about the sale, or our friends at Aquarium Specialty . Both companies offer a pionts based rewards program, so it’s a win win either way. by AquaNerd | Sep 27, 2013 | Equipment, MACNA, Technology
When it comes to good looking and well designed aquarium lighting products, there are few out there that rival the Giesemann Teszla LED fixtures. Besides their stunning design, the lights are also loaded to the brim with features, and it looks like they’ll be getting a key accessory to make their use so much easier. Announced at MACNA, Giesemann is releasing a Bluetooth interface, simply called the BT-Interface, that allows users to control up to four Teszla or Teszla-XT LED fixtures with their PC, Mac, smartphone or tablet. With the software interface, aquarists can fully adjust all three color channels using the multi-point time and intensity plot system, create elaborate storm and cloud simulations, and enact a 28-day real-time lunar cycle. The BT-Interface does require a physical connection to each of the fixtures that it controls. This is done through any of one of four on-board USB sockets and their associated cables, but once connected, the lights can be controlled via Bluetooth connection with any capable device. The LEDs in the Teszla lights are controlled by microprocessors, which receive their operating instructions from the interface system. The BT-Interface has a European price tag of € 199.00, and we haven’t seen an official price for the US Market. The software, on the other hand, is available free of charge. Giesemann’s use of Bluetooth instead of WiFi has both its ups and downs by AquaNerd | Sep 25, 2013 | Equipment, Industry, MACNA
AquaticLife had a great showing at MACNA this year, and we managed to get some serious one on one time with a brand new, yet to be released product called the Halo. This LED pendant is still in the prototype phase, but it’s already fully functional and shows great promise. The fixture sports a single multi-chip LED that is loaded with three different controllable color channels. These are broken down into your typical blue, UV, and white emitters. Each channel is manually controllable via dials on the top of the pendant, and users can set up custom lighting schedules with the on-board timer. All in all, the Halo consumes somewhere around 90 watts total, with the LEDs chewing up about 75. While there is no release date or price that has been settled upon, we were told that AquaticLife is toying around with the idea of offering two different models by AquaNerd | Sep 24, 2013 | Equipment, Industry, MACNA
The guys from across the pond were out and about at MACNA this year showing off some great new gear from Giesemann. Of course, LED lighting is all the rage, so it was no surprise to see a booth full of gorgeous LED hardware. Included in that bunch was a black version of the sleek looking Teszla, which we really liked, along with a much longer version if the same light, called the Teszla-XT. The Teszla-XT has all of the same features of the standard Teszla model, but just packs in more of it. Instead of a single circuit board full if diodes, it has two, effectively doubling the length of the fixture. This boost in size allows it to cover larger tanks more effectively, and is great for those ultra deep (front to back) tanks. Priced at $799, the Teszla-XT has loads of features, including: 0-100% adjustable intensity on all three color channels Three different color LEDs: white, blue, and royal blue channel Built-in 24hr timer Built-in moonlight cycle Sunrise/sunset feature Computer interface Bluetooth remote control via tablet/PC/Smartphone (requires external kit) Active temperature control system As for the black model, none of the hardware is different from the white, standard sized Teszla, but that black housing sure does look great. It gives users just one more way to make their aquariums look their best, and the choice between iPod white (Giesemann calls it Polar White), anodized silver, and piano black should allow the Teszla to just about fit into any design scheme. Like the white and silver models, the black Teszla will retail for $499. by AquaNerd | Sep 23, 2013 | Equipment, Industry, MACNA
MACNA is always a playground for new products, and the high end aquarium equipment manufacturers from Elos didn’t disappoint. Although their typical vehicle for new product releases has traditionally been the internationally renowned aquarium show, Interzoo, they treated MACNA attendees to their latest developments in the LED world. Elos unveiled their Plant PRO while shacking up with CoralVue in one sprawling booth. CoralVue recently took over exclusive distributorship of the entire Elos line for North America, hence the announcement at this year’s show, but I digress. The new Planet PRO is absolutely packed with features, including impressive modularity of the LED components, programmable NFC tags (a first for the aquarium industry as far as we are aware), an on-board timer, WiFi connectivity, and Bluetooth. It’s basically got all of the most popular methods of wireless control, and the fixture looks oh so sexy to boot. The new Elos Planet PRO comes packed with 24 LEDs, but that number can be tripled (up to 72 LEDs total) by swapping out the LED strips. With this option, users can not only customize the intensity of the fixture, but they can also pick and choose which colors to use to give you the most control over how the aquarium looks. The color options include white, red, blue, green and UV. The fixture comes stock with 120 degree lenses, but they can be easily exchanged with a variety of available lenses that include 15, 25, or 80 degree optics
