How to value these numbers in aquarium?
This is a good question. At first we thought that we could transport these values to the aquarium tout-court. Than we filled the aquarium, insert the probe and redone the measurements. We fazed but, as we have already said in elsewhere, we’re going to talk about this in another article. Basically, while at 20 cm the result is practically the same, as we progressed, thanks to the glass and the water itself reflecting the light, we found even the double of the values measured in air. Obviously this isn’t a detail that can be standardized, so we think that our method of calculation is the most correct, and the best for the comparison of coverages of different ceiling lights.
Power Consumption
The measurement of the consumption was made possible thanks to the useful device RCE PM600 that can also measure the Cos(fi) (or power factor). The result is already given in watt.
Here above there’s the maximum power and below the Cos(fi).
The calculus of the absorbed current, that is the power, is the following one:
AquaIllumination Hydra 32HD ceiling light: 90,5 watt. Considering that from 17 cm the ceiling light has at the middle 1908 μmol m-2 s-1, we can guess that it will have a peak value of 21,08 μmol m-2 s-1 w-1 (PAR per watt).
The power consumption is in line with what declared and indicated by the app. But we are more interested in the PAR value rather than the similarity with the declared data, because we want to understand what this ceiling light allows us to breed.
The comparison with other ceiling lights on the market
Recently we started to use the new Apogee’s Quantum Meter MQ-510. For this we can’t completely compare the data of other ceiling lights because before we used the probe Seneye.
But considering the first celing lights we managed to test we can do an interesting comparison about their produced energy:
| Energy | Cost | Consumption | Energy/€ | Energy/w | |
| AI Hydra 32 HD at 17 cm | 560.185 | 430 | 90,50 | 1.303 | 6.190 |
| AI Hydra 32 HD at 37 cm | 563.232 | 430 | 90,50 | 1.310 | 6.224 |
| AI Hydra 32 HD at 57 cm | 462.614 | 430 | 90,50 | 1.076 | 5.112 |
| Aqamai LRM at 17 cm | 642.649 | 465 | 90,88 | 1.382 | 7.071 |
| Aqamai LRM at 37 cm | 721.676 | 465 | 90,88 | 1.552 | 7.941 |
| Aqamai LRM at 57 cm | 616.470 | 465 | 90,88 | 1.326 | 6.783 |
| Cetus 2 at 17 cm | 409.993 | 215 | 60,68 | 1.906 | 6.756 |
| Cetus 2 at 37 cm | 290.866 | 215 | 60,68 | 1.353 | 4.793 |
| Cetus 2 at 57 cm | 173.651 | 215 | 60,68 | 807 | 2.861 |
| Philips CoralCare at 17 cm | 1.858.572 | 749 | 190,50 | 2.481 | 9.756 |
| Philips CoralCare at 37 cm | 1.340.533 | 749 | 190,50 | 1.790 | 7.037 |
| Philips CoralCare at 57 cm | 933.246 | 749 | 190,50 | 1.246 | 4.899 |
The energy per watt is lower than the similar Aqamai LRM, we think it depends on the additional LED channel (not counting the moonlight channel), that pays in less efficiency. So, the more the LED are white the more will be the efficiency, the more you consider the sides, expecially UV and Purple, the less will be the efficiency. It’s the price for a wider spectrum.
| Ceiling light | PAR | Watt | Price | PAR/watt | euro per watt | euro per PAR |
| GNC 466 | 696 (Seneye) | 120 | 1.400 euro | 5,8 spread | 11,7 | 2,01 |
| Orphek Atlantik V4 | 1.515 (Apogee) | 226 | 1.099 euro | 6,7 spread | 4,9 | 0,73 |
| Philips CoralCare 2019 | 2.088 (Apogee) | 190 | 749 euro | 11 spread | 3,9 | 0,35 |
| Maxspect Ethereal | 689 (Seneye) | 130 | 500 euro | 5,3 semi-spread | 3,8 | 0,72 |
| Barra Led Askoll Pure Marine | 237 (Apogee) | 28 | n.d. | 8,4 | ||
| Zetlight UFO ZE-8000 | 791 (Seneye) | 91,5 | 500 euro | 8,6 cluster | 5,5 | 0,63 |
| Aqamai LRM | 2.285 (Apogee) | 90,88 | 465 euro | 25,14 double cluster | 5,1 | 0,20 |
| AI Hydra 32 HD | 1.908 (Apogee) | 90.50 | 430 euro | 21,08 double cluster | 4,75 | 0,23 |
| Cetus 2 | 746 (Apogee) | 60,68 | 215 | 12,29 cluster | 3,5 | 0,28 |
Devices in hand, the AI Hydra 32 HD has a very low value of euro per PAR, passed only by the Cetus 2. The efficiency is the highest. It’s one of the most efficient ceiling lighs, for 432 euro it’s hard to ask more.
Mantaining costs
The AI Hydra 32 HD ceiling lights cost 429,90 euro.
The absorbed power is 90,50 watt, so the relationship euro per watt is 4,75 euro for each watt. In order to do a comparison with the other ceiling lights you can refer to this chart:
| Ceiling light | Price | Consumption | Relationship euro/watt | References |
| Cetus 2 | 215 euro | 60,68 watt | 3,5 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Philips Coralcare 2019 | 749 euro | 190 watt | 3,9 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Maxspect Ethereal | 500 euro | 126 watt | 4,0 euro per watt | Italian test |
| Radion XR30w G2 PRO | 790 euro | 170 watt | 4,7 euro per watt | Italian review |
| AI Hydra 32 HD | 430 euro | 90,5 watt | 4,75 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Radion XR30w G4 PRO | 915 euro | 190 watt | 4,84 euro per watt | Italian article |
| OceanLed Sunrise 600 | 870 euro | 180 watt | 4,8 euro per watt | Italian test |
| Orphek Atlantik V4 | 1099 euro | 226 watt | 4,9 euro per watt | Test |
| Radion XR30w G2 | 690 euro | 140 watt | 4,9 euro per watt | Italian review |
| Radion XR30w G4 | 760 euro | 150 watt | 5,1 euro per watt | Italian article |
| Aqamai LRM | 465 euro | 87,5 watt | 5,1 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Zetlight UFO ZE-8000 | 500 euro | 91,5 watt | 5,5 euro per watt | Test |
| CEAB Slide & Led | 2.700 euro | 275 watt | 9,8 euro per watt | Review |
| Sicce GNC 466 | 1.592 euro | 120 watt | 13,3 euro per watt | Italian review |
The ceiling light is very well built, heavy and solid. Easy to be programmed, with a very fast and direct program. The efficiency is very high even if it lacks a bit in power compared to other ceiling lights. The perfect coverage is about 30-40 cm of distance, then it decreases. The values are perfect for nanoreefs and tanks until 60 cm of width, both for easy SPS and other animals. The global energy expressed is very good and linear. The dispersion on the sides in minimal within 60 cm.
Questions and comments, as always, are welcomed.
The ceiling lights by AquaIllumination are distributed in Italy by ReefLine, warranty of competence and assistance, that we thank for the ceiling light they provided us.
