We saw a lot a great LED lights at InterZoo 2016 but a few of them stood out for being particularly easy on the eyes. LED aquarium lights are getting sexier and more attractive and for some very good reasons.
Just as we saw with smartphones, at first the race was on to build the LED light with the ‘mostest’; either the brightest, most controllable, most colorful etc. But now that LED technology has plateaued to some degree, we’re finally seeing manufacturers compete on a different front, and that is new battleground is design.
This year more than any other, we’re starting to see some truly beautiful LED lights in a wide range of form factors. Elos, LupyLed and Aqamai introduced their own take on making a sleek, sexy slab, meanwhile Sanrise went fully spherical and Zetlight channeled a legit flying saucer. All of these novel form factors are actually masking some highly capable LED aquarium lights, each with their own suite of very useful features.
Depending on your taste and decor, any one of these fabulously designed LED lights will compliment open top tanks with hard lines or soft curves that could be talking points on their own. Without further ado and in no particular order, here’s our selection of the Top Five Best Designed LED lights introduced at InterZoo 2016.
Elos Stella LED – We can’t tell you how much we enjoy this light, and can’t wait to try it out over some tanks. The Stella reminds us of one of our first favorite LED lights, the Mame Bean light, and look forward to seeing how it lights up live plants and corals.It’s no secret that the LupyLed is in a class of its own when it comes to how it produces light, and how incredibly controllable it is. However if it had a more contemporary LED tech under the hood, the shiny Stainless Steel fixture implores you to look at it even when the light is off.The Sanrise Planet LED is just as swanky in person as it is in these renders. The unique spherical shape and the use of complimentary matte and glossy textures makes this light a cute little powerhouse LED spotlight.You know it took a few encounters for us to get really pulled in by the Zetlight UFO. But once we became familiar with what this light can do, that’s when we really got excited. The UFO LED from Zetlight is more than just a pretty face, and we’ll be seeing a lot more of it in the future.The Aqamai LRM LED is Hydor’s first full fledged LED light and boy are we excited about it. Despite so many different form factors having been carved out already in the aquarium market, we’re impressed with how the Aqamai succeeded in making a mark of its own.
Jake Adams has been an avid marine aquarist since the mid 90s and has worked in the retail side of the marine aquarium trade for more than ten years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and has been the managing editor of ReefBuilders.com since 2008. Jake is interested in every facet of the marine aquarium hobby from the concepts to the technology, rare fish to exotic corals, and his interests are well documented through a very prolific career of speaking to reef clubs and marine aquarium events, and writing articles for aquarium publications across the globe. His primary interest is in corals which Jake pursues in the aquarium hobby as well as diving the coral reefs of the world.
