LED Fixture Sel Orphek

Orphek’s Tips for Buying an LED Fixture

Article courtesy of Orphek LED Lighting, www.orphek.com

by James Gasta

With the growing number of LED fixtures available to the hobbyists, selecting one to purchase can be a difficult decision and one that needs careful consideration. Below are a few items you should be aware of when shopping for a LED lighting system.

1. Make sure the fixture will emit enough intensity for the types of animals you plan on keeping. Depth of tank is especially important as there are not too many LED fixtures that are capable of providing sufficient PAR at depths over 24 inches. SPS corals and the more attractive clams will require high intensity lighting.

2. The spectral quality of the LED fixture is equally as important as intensity. High intensity (PAR) is not much benefit if the wavelength is not tuned for the coral’s needs. Yellow and green wavelengths encourage nuisance algae growth, lower PUR value, and of are no benefit to corals. DO NOT purchase a LED fixture without looking at a spectrograph of that particular unit. If none is available, cross that fixture off your list. A spectral range similar to the one shown below would be ideal.

orphek-DIF-XP latest spectrograph.jpg

Spectrograph of Orphek’s XP series Pendant

3. Look for a nice calming shimmer effect and not a rapid flicker that some LED fixtures exhibit.

4. CRI (Color Rendering Index) is also important. Look for at least 80 CRI and above. Fish and corals should look natural and the sand bed should appear whitish and not have any unnatural tint to it.

5. Look for color “hot spots” where one color is more pronounced than others in a given area. This can indicate poor lens quality which inhibits diffusion of light. Multi-chip LEDs are generally the best at spreading individual colors evenly. Pendants with excellent optics also fair very well in this regard.

6. One trick some manufacturers may employ is the use of low degree optics to give a higher PAR reading by tricking the Quantum meter and then use higher degree optics on the outside to widen the light spread. This lowers the overall intensity of the system.

7. Look for fixtures with a high Kelvin temperature. A 7,000K fixture is not much better than a 7,000K metal halide/HQI lamp.

8. Efficiency; Look for a high lumens per watt fixture to ensure you are getting the most light per watt. Bargain fixtures generally have a low lumens per watt rating.

9. Choose a manufacturer who is constantly developing new technology, not one who rebrands generic fixtures with standard industry LED components.

10. Choose a fixture where the manufacturer provides upgrades such as drivers and emitters which allow you to have the latest technology without needing to purchase a new fixture.

11. Aesthetics and mounting options are important. Choose a fixture that allows you to mount it for your specific application.

12. Avoid feature rich LED fixtures such as those having the ability to change intensity of colored LEDs or other disco like gimmickry. You will soon learn that you have paid for features you will not care to use.

The above should help you immensely in choosing a LED fixture to fit your needs. Or you can save time and money by just buying an Orphek LED lighting fixture as all Orphek products meet or exceed all of the above goals or requirements.

This article is provided by James Gasta (sales-3@orphek.com ) who is employed by Orphek LED and generates blogs and articles for the Orphek website, www.orphek.com . James also volunteers his time as a crew member for wet web media (crew@wetwebmedia.com ).

Current state of LED 9/1/2013
Greetings Bob, Crew et.al.,
<Hello Sam. James with you today>
About a decade ago, you all were instrumental in my original reef set up, which was designed around happy Mandarin keeping. I can report that with your help, I was able to keep my 'little green guy' for just under 10 years and that he would have likely continued happily in captivity but for an unfortunate, prolonged power outage.
I'm sure I'm not alone in that there are several things I have learned along the way that I would change about my current set up (different plumbing set up, etc). I'm fortunate to find myself in the position to be remodeling the area that the tank lives in, and have received the go-ahead from the Domestic Financial Officer to replace our tank.
<Hee>
So, my plan is to go again with a 4x2x2 125 gallon main display. To this point, I've run a pair of 250w metal halides, which, I'm relatively content were capable of lighting just about anything I could have put into the tank (clams were quite happy in the long term, as were my predominantly LPS corals). That said, there was often a heat issue, especially in the summertime.
<Yes, one of the drawbacks of metal halide lighting.>
I know that the LED technology has grown by leaps and bounds, especially over the past 24 or so months.
<Oh much so.>
I'm thinking that this time around, I may want to lean more towards SPS, specifically Acropora
varieties. In the grand American tradition, I'm hoping to be able to have my cake (SPS) and eat it too (under LEDs).
<You will be able to have all the cake you want and not gain a pound.>
So, I'd be really appreciative of an opinion as to whether the current technology is reasonably suited to what I want to do. I've read through several pages of FAQs, which seem to lean towards being able to make this change but was just hoping for the most current thinking in this direction.
<Sam there are several benefits with LED lighting, heat as you mentioned is one of the benefits, but there are a few others as well.
Low energy cost compared to other lighting technologies.
Ability to fine tune the PUR spectrum and/or any spectrum.
Very low maintenance, no lamps to replace on a yearly basis.
High PAR depending on the brand.
More and more people are changing to LEDs on a monthly basis because of the above benefits.
There are several advanced hobbyists with deep tanks who are using LED lighting and report excellent color as well as coral growth. I have attached a few photos from our (Orphek) customers tanks.
You must be careful in choosing LED fixtures, do not compare price alone, compare area covered per cost and PAR/PUR performance and not from one foot away but in realistic figures.
You must also understand that with LED lighting, spectrums are finely tuned to the PUR spectrum of which corals benefit by (400-550nm and 620-700nm).
Having spectrums in other nm ranges is just a waste of energy and offers no real benefit to corals. I wrote an article regarding LED selection and I will attach it for you. You can use this as a guideline for choosing your LED fixture(s). Bob, you are welcome to post this on your site if you wish, no charge.>
<<Ah, will do so; and include in-text here today on the Dailies on WWM>>
Thanks in advance,
<You're welcome Sam. James (Salty Dog)>
Sam

Orphek’s Tips for Buying an LED Fixture

Make sure the fixture will emit enough intensity for the types of animals you plan on keeping. Depth of tank is especially important as there are not too many LED fixtures that are capable of providing sufficient PAR at depths over 24 inches. SPS corals and the more attractive clams will require high intensity lighting.

The spectral quality of the LED fixture is equally as important as intensity. High intensity (PAR) is not much benefit if the wavelength is not tuned for the coral’s needs. Yellow and green wavelengths encourage nuisance algae growth, lower PUR value, and of are no benefit to corals. DO NOT purchase a LED fixture without looking at a spectrograph of that particular unit. If none is available, cross that fixture off your list. A spectral range similar to the one shown below would be ideal.

Spectrograph of Orphek’s XP series Pendants

Look for a nice calming shimmer effect and not a rapid flicker that some LED fixtures exhibit.

CRI (Color Rendering Index) is also important. Look for at least 80 CRI and above. Fish and corals should look natural and the sand bed should appear whitish and not have any unnatural tint to it.

Look for color "hot spots" where one color is more pronounced than others in a given area. This can indicate poor lens quality which inhibits diffusion of light. Multi-chip LEDs are generally the best at spreading individual colors evenly. Pendants with excellent optics also fair very well in this regard.

One trick some manufacturers may employ is the use of low degree optics to give a higher PAR reading by tricking the Quantum meter and then use higher degree optics on the outside to widen the light spread. This lowers the overall intensity of the system.

Look for fixtures with a high Kelvin temperature. A 7,000K fixture is not much better than a 7,000K metal halide/HQI lamp.

Efficiency; Look for high lumens per watt fixture to ensure you are getting the most light per watt. Bargain fixtures generally have low lumens per watt rating.

Choose a manufacturer who is constantly developing new technology, not one who rebrands generic fixtures with standard industry LED components.

Choose a fixture where the manufacturer provides upgrades such as drivers and emitters which allow you to have the latest technology without needing to purchase a new fixture.

Aesthetics and mounting options are important. Choose a fixture that allows you to mount it for your specific application.

Avoid feature rich LED fixtures such as those having the ability to automatically change intensity of colored LEDs or other disco like gimmickry. You will soon learn that you have paid for features you will not care to use.

Most importantly, how many fixtures of a manufacturer’s particular model will it take to cover your tank? Some fixtures that appear to be bargains generally require two units to put out the same amount of light and coverage as one fixture of a reputable brand like Orphek.

The above should help you immensely in choosing a LED fixture to fit your needs. Or you can save time and money by just buying an Orphek LED lighting fixture as all Orphek products meet or exceed all of the above goals or requirements.

Article (and pix below) courtesy of Orphek LED Lighting, www.orphek.com

PR72 in large tank

Pieter's Atlantiks

PR72 Orphek LED planted aq. Discus tank

Re: Current state of LED 9/2/13
Thanks James.
<You're welcome Sam.>
This was just the type of endorsement I was looking for. Looks like I have some new research to be doing :)
Much obliged,
Sam

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