The Prometheus LED from ReefTech is a new lighting fixture which is a fresh departure from the rebadged LED lights which have been flooding the aquarium market. With some clear design and engineering inspiration from PacificSun LED Phobos/Deimos series, the ReefTech Prometheus LED features actively cooled Cree XPG LEDs driven at 3watts each, tricolor white, blue and royal blue LEDs, no standard secondary optics, onboard controller, active cooling and bluetooth and wifi connectivity which will be interoperable with an iPhone application when it launches.
ReefTech bills the Prometheus LED as a product of no compromises when it comes to modularity, controllability and performance; a tagline we’ve also been hearing from Vertex Aquaristik and their Illumina LED. If you take the physical fixtures out of the equation, the Phobos/Deimos, Illumina and Prometheus are very similar: foregoing secondary optics, built in controller, wireless connectivity, the software’s appearance and even the same plug-and-play modularity.
One strong advantage of the Vertex Illumina is it’s ability to run passively and self regulate it’s output to manage temperature, a desirable feature for those times when the office or living room needs to be a little quieter. The 180 watts of actively cooled, Cree XP series LEDs of the Prometheus LED is a lot of light for such small space, and we have to wonder how much this will cost fully loaded, and whether most corals can even handle such a high power density high-energy visible light (HEV light).
We hope at least the economies of making a larger 180 wattCree LED light fixture help it come in under about $1500, which is a little bit more than the cost of the two AI Sol LED it would take to equal the power output of the ReefTech Prometheus LED light. Pricing and availability of the Prometheus is still unknown but we’ll be sure to let you know.
