So after researching most of the LED fixtures on the market, I decided on two of the 160 Watt Pacific Sun Black Python LED fixtures to light my 60" long, 24" deep and 30" wide tank. The units use 3 watt Cree LEDs and are built in Poland. They use a combination of White leds Cree XP-G 3W – 140lm/W, Blue leds Cree XP-E 3W Royal Blue 500mW @ 350mA, and XP-E Blue 475nm 3W with and output of roughly 160 watts. The master unit contains a built in computer that allows the unit to be programmed via bluetooth on your laptop or your smart phone. One of the main selling points for me was that you can change the kelvin output of the LEDs from 13,000-24,000k and change the par output from 0-100%. Additionally, you can program the lights to change their output and kelvin rating for 40 different amounts throughout the day. You could have the lights programed to be 13,000k during the day and then shift to 21,000k by the time you get home. The lights also have a lunar phase that mimics the natural cycle of the moon. Another nice feature is the sunrise/sunset function that allows you to set the brightness to come up to your pre-determined percentage over a period of time up to 90 minutes. The warranty is 12 months for the unit and 18 months for the LEDs. The Pacific Sun website lists the price at $1,300 for the master unit and $1,049 for the slave unit, but I was able to get them for about $2,000.
Video of the lights changing from 13,000-24,000k and back to 13,000k:
So far so good with these lights, they replaced two 250 watt Lumenmax metal halides and the light spread is more uniform throughout the tank. I keep ricordea and palys/zoas and all seem to be happy. The chiller has not come on once but the heater has for the first time since last winter. The room the tank is in is much cooler since they were installed.
Justin
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