The 120R1 LED fixture from Saltwater Aquatics is an interesting light with a fairly tame design but a whole lot of different features. Seven colors of LEDs are distributed across four channels although one channel is all white, two other identical channels support the blue and royal blues and a fourth ‘cosmetic’ channel is a catch all for red, amber, green and a deep blue 420nm shade of LED.
The 99 watts of lighting power is provided by 33 x 3 watt LEDs which are supported by 90 degree lenses. The 120R1 supports automatic dimming and timing function with eight pre-installed programs to choose from, but it’s hard to tell to what degree the controller can be programmed, although it is capable of sunrise, sunset, moonlight and thunderstorm modes.
One thing that is interesting about the 120R1 LED by Saltwater Aquatics is the use of an acrylic housing to reduce weight to under five pounds with the feature set being contained within a body that is 16.4 inches long, 6.2 inches wide and under two inches thick. The basic 120R1 LED with its 99 watts of LEDs costs $450 with middle of the road Bridgelux providing ample amount of power but the fixture can be upgraded to Cree LEDs for $60. Presumably this would only apply to the blue and white LEDs and who knows if these would be of the XPG or XTE variety.
The cost and feature set of Saltwater Aquatics’ 120R1 LED is a reasonable one and it has a little bit of everything include multicolor, timer and controlling options. This light is obviously an OEM device which doesn’t necessarily undercut the established brand name players with more market share and industry presence. However, the simplicity of the 120R1 LED light might appeal to some users who want to tinker with the diodes, lenses or the controller. [Saltwater Aquatics]
