I was impressed that AI delayed the Vega to completely retool it after they first announced it. Definitely the right choice when a lot of companies would “stay the course.” Maybe JBJ will do the same.

lol

1) RB has had substantial praise for the company in the past, so the word “vendetta” is clearly wrong.

2) RB is not a newspaper or trade magazine. It’s a blog. I’ve been reading for nearly five years and don’t expect hard hitting journalism, but rather analysis and opinion. Occasionally Jake will even accuse someone of being on crack.

3) This product is way overpriced for what it is. That’s an objective fact. Smoke and mirrors are the number one problem in this industry. Calling out companies when they release a questionable product helps. Fawning over a lousy product makes it worse.

If anyone has marketed an already existing product from another competitor it is Innovative Marine, but that is neither here nor there. RB can like or dislike a product, that is there own personal opinion, but they need to write from a disposition where the company in word is not being attacked, which it clearly was in this case. And entertaining is not what I look for when seriously considering a product for any project I progress, whether aquatic or not. Their main photo to this article is completely unprofessional. If they wrote in a different fashion maybe I can take it a bit more seriously. But if it suits you, by all means be content. Have a good day.

I agree 100%. It’s hard to review a product that fails on so many levels. But, these are the products that need the most review. Especially by their manufactures.

Back to the drawing board JBJ.

Hello all.

First and foremost we would like to thank Reef Builders and Jake Adams for their earnest and timely preview of the new Pacifica Lighting system. If you look at the history of JBJ from the inception of our first lighting system and AIO aquariums we have always welcomed constructive criticisms and mature open dialogue, which is evident in the progression of our products. In regards to this blog post and many inquiries over the holidays from our diehard JBJ family and fans in the aquarium world we would like to offer some clarification regarding the new product.

Initially we would like to address the relationship between the Pacifica lighting series and the largely acclaimed JBJ Unibody, which was even recently an “editors choice,” here on Reefbuilders. The first fear and rumor we wish to eliminate is that the PACIFICA is the replacement unit for the USA made, CNC milled LED Unibody series currently produced by JBJ. Not only will the Pacifica not impact the current Unibody line but quite contraire we are currently in the R&D process of expanding the Unibody line. We will continue to produce the 54 watt series and in the next few weeks we will be issuing a soft release of the Unibody 108. Both the 2013 series of the 54 watt and 108 watt will also debut a smaller and more intuitive dimmer which offers better control. JBJ-USA is committed to supporting the local economy and will continue to expand the division of our locally manufactured products this year, which include but are not limited to the Unibody series and Custom stands for our entire aquarium series.

As far as the timeline for the Pacifica, it’s inception actually precedes many of the LED units that it is currently being compared to. We requested and received the first prototype for it in the first quarter of 2010 (it was initially called the tablet), at that time while we were pleased with the overall look we found the internal structure underwhelming, in particular the heat sink and the fan arrangement went through methodical and continual improvements. This occurred while we simultaneously worked on other projects as well. One of those noted projects, that is currently our best selling product, is our all-in-one 30 gallon Rimless model. As the product continue to became popular there was a demand from our retail customers to release a plug and play lighting system aimed at beginner and casual intermediate aquarists which could be packaged with the tank and stand in a competitive price point. This is where the PACIFICA finds its niche in our product line, as the Unibody series will continue to be developed and sold separately and marketed toward the crowd of advanced aquarists who want feature rich systems. Regarding pricing, the one listed here is only the projected MSRP pricing, not the MAP pricing, not the incentive price of package deals (such as tank, stand, lighting system, live rock, and necessary peripherals that go into creating a sucessfull enclosed biotope). Here are the exact stats we provided to Reefbuilders last week:

“Hello all you are privy to a sneak peek at our new lighting system, the PACIFICA. This one falls outside of the Unibody family (which we still plan to continue updating as well and we will have more info on that line soon too) This fixture was designed specifically for packaging with our 30 Rimless so that retailers can offer you a “complete package” backed up by the JBJ name and service. This unit will be 108 watts, and in the next few months optional controllers and canopy/ceiling mounting kits will become available soon. The fixture boasts a basket-less fan and a slim heat sink to keep the desired low profile look over the popular Rimless tanks. Each diode has its own individual aluminum reflector, half of which are approximately 12,000k and the other half are 20,000k. We know you’ll have a a lot of questions and we’ll have all the answers soon. The fixture was released in a soft release of less than 50 pieces last week to local fish stores but the full launch and wide availability is slated for mid January 2013. This is a plug and play fixture that is meant to be useable right out of the box without any guess work or being compounded by confusing features that new reef aquarists don’t want or understand yet it remains a viable option for the advanced aquarist looking for a great value;

Color temperature, measured on the Kelvin scale simply indicates the color of light. We offer the PACIFICA LED PAD in an extreme cool white [12,000K] & blue [20,000K] combination which our research shows meets the needs of most photosyntheitc cnidaria kept in tropical marine reef aquariums while providing an extremely appealing aesthetic appearance.

16, 3 Watt Diodes of…

12,000K – High performance Extreme Cool White 12K lamps provide proper light necessary for healthy growth of photosynthetic corals that is also appealing to the human eye. Ideal for all marine applications including reef aquariums, help to replicate a tropical lagoon.

16, 3 Watt Diodes of…

20,000K – Ideal for Marine corals and Marine fish only systems. Produces a beautiful crisp blue light spectrum. These wavelengths help to penetrate deeper into the aquarium and provide the appropriate PAR for your photosynthetic organisms.

4, 3 watt Diodes of…

456nm Actinic – Moonlighting, allowing you to create a 24 hour lighting cycle for your aquarium, your aquarium can be enjoyable even in the middle of the night! Observe the cryptic creatures you wouldn’t be able to under daylight lighting.

Further Explanation

PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) is the common measurement used to help determine the photosynthetic amount of light needed by corals and plant life for growth and vitality. PAR measures the electromagnetic radiation between 400-700nm, which is necessary for photosynthesis for live animals. The JBJ PACIFICA LED PAD is engineered to handle the PAR needs from novice to expert levels of coral needs.

We’ve designed our LEDs with both primary and secondary reflectors to cast the most light for wider coverage while maintaining stronger PAR values not only in the center but effectively over a 24” x 24” surface area. The Pacifica contains both 60 degree optics in the center and 100 degree optics around the perimeter, at 6” it boasts a 1,000+ par reading.

-Adam Jackson, Lead Publicist and Staff Biologist for Transworld Aquatics/JBJ Lighting”

Again for the most updated and accurate information about our products, please stay tuned by visiting JBJLighting.com as well as Facebook.com/JBJAquariums. Any comments or questions you wish to have answered should be forwarded to [email protected]. As a company in it’s second decade of business you have our guarantee that we will continue to grow and meet the concerns, needs and wants of the aquatic community. This currently stands as the only official statement we will be making here at this time. We also encourage those to look at the previews of the Pacifica in other media as well as stay tuned for reviews. Thank you all, and happy reefing.

~JBJ-USA PR Team