LED Light Comparison: Reef Breeders Photon vs. Ocean Revive Arctic-S026

[AJ]

Well, I have been running a Reef Breeders Photon 32 over my 75 SPS dominated reef for a year and a half.  I have had great growth.  I recently purchased an Ocean Revive Arctic-S026 from Lazy's Coral House for my frag tank build.  After inspecting both fixtures, I noticed that the white LEDs on my Reef Breeders looked quite yellow compared to the ones on the Arctic Fixture.  So, as a curious Electrical Engineer, I inspected the data sheets for both fixtures and figured out that the Arctic fixture uses 10,000K and 12,000K white LEDs while the Reef Breeders use 4500K LEDs.  I just "tested" the Arctic over my tank to test for color.  Coral color seems mostly the same.  On another note, I now wonder whether the 4500K LEDs were causing all my issues with algae growth on my sand bed.  I have decided to order 10,000K LEDs from Reef Breeders and replace the 4500K ones.

For price vs quality I would recommend the Ocean Revive Arctic-S026.  You can get 2 fixtures for $139 each from Lazys Coral House which equals out to $278.
The Reef Breeders Photon 32 is $449, and I think growth will be equivalent. 

[Steve]

But the Photon 32 is fully controllable right? I love that feature on my lights. Have been weighing in on new LED's because I need more coverage.

[AJ]

Yes, the Photon series is controllable, I believe you can get Ocean Revive that are controllable as well, maybe Brian can chime in on that one.

[lazylivin]

Glad you like the light AJ. Yes you can get them with built in controller for a dusk to dawn effect. They have a touch screen where you can set the intensity to slowly ramp up and down intensity of each channel independly as it progress through the day.

[AJ]

Well, I ended up replacing the 4500K LEDs with 10000K LEDs and really like the color change, I almost wish I would have gone with 12000K.  On a side note, I do still prefer the overall color of the Ocean Revive lights.

[lazylivin]

Thanks for sharing AJ. The Arctic has a combination of 10k and 12k. Here is he count by kelvin