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.
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.
| Energy | Cost | Consumption | Energy/€ | Energy/w | |
| AI Hydra 32 HD at 17 cm | 560.000 | 430 | 90,50 | 1.303 | 6.190 |
| AI Hydra 32 HD at 37 cm | 563.000 | 430 | 90,50 | 1.310 | 6.224 |
| AI Hydra 32 HD at 57 cm | 463.000 | 430 | 90,50 | 1.076 | 5.112 |
| Aqamai LRM at 17 cm | 643.000 | 465 | 90,88 | 1.382 | 7.071 |
| Aqamai LRM at 37 cm | 722.000 | 465 | 90,88 | 1.552 | 7.941 |
| Aqamai LRM at 57 cm | 616.000 | 465 | 90,88 | 1.326 | 6.783 |
| Aqamai LRS at 17 cm | 276.000 | 289 | 47,59 | 955 | 5.797 |
| Aqamai LRS at 37 cm | 312.000 | 289 | 47,59 | 1.078 | 6.547 |
| Aqamai LRS at 57 cm | 254.000 | 289 | 47,59 | 880 | 5.343 |
| ATI Straton at 17 cm | 2.018.232 | 890 | 211 | 2.268 | 9.565 |
| ATI Straton at 37 cm | 1.409.595 | 890 | 211 | 1.584 | 6.681 |
| ATI Straton at 57 cm | 957.209 | 890 | 211 | 1.076 | 4.537 |
| Cetus 2 at 17 cm | 410.000 | 215 | 60,68 | 1.906 | 6.756 |
| Cetus 2 at 37 cm | 291.000 | 215 | 60,68 | 1.353 | 4.793 |
| Cetus 2 at 57 cm | 174.000 | 215 | 60,68 | 807 | 2.861 |
| Ecotech Marine Radion G5 XR30 Blue at 17 cm | 1.535.561 | 949 | 203 | 1.618 | 7.564 |
| Ecotech Marine Radion G5 XR30 Blue a 37 cm | 1.097.933 | 949 | 203 | 1.157 | 5.409 |
| Ecotech Marine Radion G5 XR30 Blue at 57 cm | 647.940 | 949 | 203 | 683 | 3.192 |
| Orphek OR2 Blue Plus 120 cm at 17 cm | 323.000 | 180 | 54,69 | 1.794 | 5.906 |
| Orphek OR2 Blue Plus 120 cm at 37 cm | 291.000 | 180 | 54,69 | 1.616 | 5.321 |
| Orphek OR2 Blue Plus 120 cm at 57 cm | 259.000 | 180 | 54,69 | 1.438 | 4.736 |
| Orphek OR2 Reef Day Plus 120 cm at 17 cm | 255.000 | 180 | 54,69 | 1.418 | 4.667 |
| Orphek OR2 Reef Day Plus 120 cm at 37 cm | 233.000 | 180 | 54.69 | 1.292 | 4.252 |
| Orphek OR2 Reef Day Plus 120 cm at 57 cm | 225.000 | 180 | 54.69 | 1.251 | 4.117 |
| Philips CoralCare at 17 cm | 1.859.000 | 749 | 190,5 | 2.481 | 9.756 |
| Philips CoralCare at 37 cm | 1.341.000 | 749 | 190,5 | 1.790 | 7.037 |
| Philips CoralCare at 57 cm | 933.000 | 749 | 190,5 | 1.246 | 4.899 |
| Philips CoralCare Gen2 at 17 cm | 1.330.430 | 749 | 168,5 | 1.780 | 7.914 |
| Philips CoralCare Gen2 at 37 cm | 920.277 | 749 | 168,5 | 1.229 | 5.461 |
| Philips CoralCare Gen2 at 57 cm | 631.087 | 749 | 168,5 | 843 | 3.745 |
Both for what concernes the produced energy per watt and the produced energy per euro, considering the PAR, the values are in the average. What’s incredible is that these ceiling lights have a perfect coverage even if they’re rather small. This means that you can use a couple for an aquarium of 120 cm, but you can also choose to use four for an amazing lighting, and this isn’t possible with other ceiling lights that have a bigger shell. Even the particular lens that you can see in the following picture help to spread the light better.
Maintenance costs
The ceiling lights Ecotech Marine Radion G5 XR30 Blue, but also the PRO, costs 949 euro.
The absorbed power is 203 watt, so the relationship cost/watt is 4,67 euro per watt. In order to do a comparison with the other ceiling lights you can refer to the following chart. Notice that the ceiling lights are sorted by decreasing efficiency, so the best ones are at the top.
| Ceiling light | Price | Consumption | Relationship euro per watt | References |
| Orphek OR2 Blue Plus | 180 USD | 54.7 w | 3,3 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Orphek OR2 Reef Day Plus | 180 USD | 54,7 w | 3,3 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Cetus 2 | 215 € | 60,7 w | 3,5 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Philips Coralcare 2019 | 749 € | 190 w | 3,9 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Maxspect Ethereal | 500 € | 126 w | 4,0 euro per watt | Italian test |
| ATI Straton | 890 € | 211 w | 4,22 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Philips CoralCare GEN2 2020 | 749 € | 168,5 w | 4,44 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Ecotech Marine Radion XR30 G5 Blue | 949 € | 203 w | 4,67 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Radion XR30w G2 PRO | 790 € | 170 w | 4,7 euro per watt | Italian review |
| AI Hydra 32 HD | 430 € | 90,5 w | 4,75 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Radion XR30w G4 PRO | 915 € | 190 w | 4,84 euro per watt | Italian article |
| OceanLed Sunrise 600 | 870 € | 180 w | 4,8 euro per watt | Italian test |
| Orphek Atlantik V4 | 1099 € | 226 w | 4,9 euro per watt | Test |
| Radion XR30w G2 | 690 € | 140 w | 4,9 euro per watt | Italian review |
| Radion XR30w G4 | 760 € | 150 w | 5,1 euro per watt | Italian article |
| Aqamai LRM | 465 € | 87,5 w | 5,1 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| Zetlight UFO ZE-8000 | 500 € | 91,5 w | 5,5 euro per watt | Test |
| Aqamai LRS | 289 € | 47,6 w | 6,1 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| CEAB Slide & Led | 2.700 € | 275 w | 9,8 euro per watt | Review |
| Sicce GNC 466 | 1.592 € | 120 w | 13,3 euro per watt | Review |
The ceiling light is perfectly build, lightweight but solid, a confirm signed Ecotech Marine. The programming is great, but it can be easy using the preset available.
The power efficiency and the economic efficiency are in the average but compared to the old configuration the light is much more distributed, even if the peak value is pretty high, among the best measured. The small dimensions allows to use a lot of samples in series for a power similar to the sun light. This isn’t possible with other ceiling lights. So, from now on you can choose if use less lamps with a distributed light or more with their maximum power. I think this versatility can be very useful.
Here it is the spectral power distribution at different depths, in oceanic waters:
| 1 m | 5 m | 10 m | 15 m | 20 m | |
| PFFD (µmoli/M2/s) | 1640 | 958 | 618 | 436 | 316 |
So at 37 cm of distance a Radion obtains 505 µmoli/M2/s, approximately 12 meters under the sea level.
These values are great for nonoreefs until aquariums of 70 cm, both for SPS and anything else. With more ceiling lights you can breed anything with every possible coloration. I suggest 2 ceiling lights in 120 cm and 3 in 180 cm, and respectively 3 or 4 if you want to reach the maximum. The whole energy expressed is quite good and decreases quickly because of the lens.
Questions and comments, as always, are welcomed.
We thank ReefLine, official italian distributor and Ecotech Marine itself that provided us the ceiling light for this test.
