Unique LED Lighting is creating some interesting LED aquarium lights right here in the United States and are including color control technology baked in. The surge of Chinese build LED devices have flooded the market and Unique LED is coming at the market by taking the production in-house including developing the company’s own proprietary drivers and circuitry behind the fixtures. The company is also marketing and including its Complete Color Spectrum Control (CCSC) in the LED light fixtures allowing you control of various color channels to get the color temperature you prefer for your system.
The company has released three primary LED aquarium fixtures so far with both active and passive cooling. The passively-cooled Prism AC line is relying on extensive heat sinks for temperature controls and is comparable to a 125W metal halide bulb. The larger systems include a basic and more advance model with the fan-cooled D-Lite and D-Lux systems.
The Prism AC LED Reef fixture is available with either 12 or 18 high output Luxeon Rebel LEDs. These models use dual dimmable color spectrum control that appear to be a pair of dials on top of the fixture to let you adjust the color from a very blue from 460nm up to a 8,500K daylight look. The Prism AC fixtures are being targeted towards nano aquarium owners looking to convert their all-in-one cube into and open top, LED lit tank. These fixtures run $349 for the 12 LED and $499 for the 18 LED model.
The D-Lite and D-Lux models are tucked into fan-cooled, black acrylic housings and use the Cree XP-E line of LEDs. The D-Lite is your basic blue (455nm) and cool white (10,000K) LED fixture. Each color channel is connected to its separate CCSC system. The D-Lite models come in 36, 48, 60 and 72 in. models running $1,099.99, $1,499.99, $1,899.99 and $2,299.99 respectively.
The D-Lux system integrates Cree XP-E LEDs in four channels — red, royal blue, green, and crisp white. Each color channel connects to the CCSC system to give you RGB control on a larger scale. The D-Lux fixtures come with a power cord for each color of LEDs to let you set up the lights using timers or an electronic controller. The D-Lux is also available in 36, 48, 60 and 72 in. models running $1,799.99, $1,999.99, $2,499.99 and $2,999.99 respectively.
LED + T5 hybrid lovers also have the option to add T5s with the T5 D-Lux line of lights. Each fixture adds a pair of T5HO bulbs into the fixture. Coming in 24, 36, 48, 60 and 72 in. models the hybrid runs between $1,999.99 and $3,499.99. We are concerned though that even with fans, tucking a pair of T5HO lamps inside the same case as the LED circuitry will cause heat issues. It would seem to be more practical to have the LEDs and T5 lamps enclosed in separate, vented and cooled compartments.