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 calculation of the current absorbed, that is the power, is the following one:
The Proten LED Reef Blue 90-120 consumes 27,80 watt. Considering that at 17 cm the light has 11211 μmol m-2 s-1 in the middle, we can say, in perspective, that it has a peak value of 4,03 μmol m-2 s-1 w-1 (PAR per watt). This value is hardly comparable with other lights because it remains more or less costant throughout the length.
We have to consider a Cos(fi) of 0,52: in the average, considering the kind of lamp.
The comparison with other ceiling lights on the market
Here the data collected in the DaniReef LAB with the Quantum Meter MQ-510 by Apogee. We can do an interesting comparison between the power of the ceiling lights:
| Energy | Cost | Power consumption | Energy/€ | Energy/w | |
| ASF Proten LED Reef Blue at 17 cm | 138.000 | 130 | 27,80 | 1.060 | 4.956 |
| ASF Proten LED Reef Blue at 37 cm | 93.000 | 130 | 27,80 | 718 | 3.357 |
| ASF Proten LED Reef Blue at 57 cm | 60.000 | 130 | 27,80 | 464 | 2.166 |
| 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 OR3 Blue Sky at 17 cm | 318.000 | 200 | 62,04 | 1.590 | 5.129 |
| Orphek OR3 Blue Sky at 37 cm | 220.767 | 200 | 62,04 | 1.103 | 3.449 |
| Orphek OR3 Blue Sky at 57 cm | 205.518 | 200 | 62,04 | 1.027 | 3.211 |
| 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 |
| Reef Flare Bar Blue S at 17 cm | 202.000 | 220 | 24,34 | 918 | 8.299 |
| Reef Flare Bar Blue S at 37 cm | 177.000 | 220 | 24,34 | 804 | 7.272 |
| Reef Flare Bar Blue S at 57 cm | 155.000 | 220 | 24,34 | 704 | 6.368 |
The comparison is very interesting. These bars, compared to the competitors, are more cheap and consume less. This also leads to average values for what concerns the technical efficiency, but the economic efficiency is still pretty good.
Maintenance costs
The ASF Proten LED Reef Blue 90-120 bars cos 129,90 euro on ASF’s official site.
The absorbed power is 27,80 watt, so it has a cost/watt ratio of about 4,67 euro per watt. For a comparison with the other ceiling lights you can consult the following chart.
| Lamp | Price | Power consumption | Euro per watt ratio | References |
| Orphek OR3 Blue Sky | 200 USD | 62 w | 3,2 euro per watt | DaniReef LAB |
| 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 |
| ASF Proten LED Reef Blue 90-120 | 130 € | 27,8 w | 4,67 euro per watt | |
| 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 |
| Reef Flare Bar Blue S | 220 € | 24,34 w | 9 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 very well built, and the technical efficiency (PAR per watt) is very good. The cost per watt is great, so much that it has a relative high position in our list of tested lamps. This allows to use one or two of them in a first installation, with maybe fish and soft corals, at low expense, but also having the possibility to choose the channels to be kept on. But you can also increase the number of bars to keep more demanding corals. I really like extruded profiles, as well as the finishing, and that’s very interesting that they can adapt to ceiling lights of different lenght and be inserted in neon lights lamps like the T5 and the T8. The ceiling lights are IP67.
Questions and comments, as usual, are very welcomed.
The ASF Proten LED Reef Blue bar have been provided by Aquarium Systems for this test.
