Virtually every LED light system for reef tanks will be featured at this year’s Reefstock. So it is my pleasure to introduce the Ecoray High Power LED light from Naxandra Inc. This light has been in development over the last year. Naxandra will be releasing Ecoray 60 starting in March. The light will retail starting at $299.99 and includes a one year warranty. It is available wholesale through Underwater World Enterprises, and will be available for purchase at local retailers.
The intent of designing and building this light is to offer an affordable alternative for LED lighting that will allow hobbyist see a return on their investment measured in months instead of years. Ecoray has custom features designed specifically for Naxandra including high power LED, all aluminum casing, light boards and fan. The spacing and angle of the lenses was altered to best light up standard aquarium sizes for most reef denizens. By engineering certain components of the system we were able to increase the overall lighting area, while using the same wattage. Also the spotlight affect has been reduced to replicate a more natural spread of light, while still inducing glimmer lines. The Ecoray 60 is 60 watts and is rectangular (8.5” x 14”) and is designed to fit inside most commercially available tank canopies. The Ecoray 64 is 64 watts and is 10.5 inches square. They both come with mounting brackets for installing in a canopy and wire for hanging installation. We will also offer a two cord option, one for independent control of white and actinic lights.
I have successfully grown coral using components of the system over the last year. In fact our initial design had half the power, yet is still able to grow every kind of coral including Acropora. The decision was made to increase the wattage of the unit as well as using more expensive high power LED so that hobbyists could grow any coral of their choosing, including SPS, in a variety of installations.
The lights come in a 1 to 1 ratio of Blue to White. Naxandra chose this lighting ratio because they found that the coral fluoresced stronger with the same general color temperature (14,000K) if they used more blue and more natural colored white (7,000-10,000K). This gives the overall affect of a 12,000 to 14,000k bulb, yet with much brighter fluorescence from the coral.
I would recommend one at least every 18 inches for most tanks to achieve lighting as strong as a 250 metal halide. So for most applications this will replace a 250 MH, when trying to light your tank to 150-400 micromoles, covering the range of most coral kept in aquariums.
The next step in reef light is here and it is exciting to see all the new choices available to hobbyists. The future bodes well for energy efficient lighting. See you in Denver my friends.
Justin Credabel
Director of Aquaculture
Underwater World Enterprises
Justin Credabel is a co-designer of the Ecoray LED light and a stakeholder in Naxandra Inc.
