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Saltwater Aquarium Lighting LED Comparison
Last updated on November 17th, 2023
Which LED Saltwater Aquarium Light is "Best"?
As high end LEDs have taken over the saltwater aquarium lighting market, it only makes sense to spend some time to compare the different options available, and and their best use cases. There are many options on the market, however I believe we can all agree that there are only a select number of top contenders. This article is intended to compare high end saltwater aquarium lighting options. As such, we will look at the Ecotech Radion, Neptune SKY, Orphek Atlantik, AI Hydra, Kessil, and Reef Breeders Photon V2 Pro.
Before we get started, most of these saltwater aquarium lighting options will have their own review articles available, which will dig deeper into the specifics of PAR, coverage, and other details. I will do a high level summary here, however, if you would like to know more details before buying, I strongly encourage you to read the review articles linked in each of the lights' summarys.
Saltwater Aquarium Lighting Comparison Table of Contents
Due to the length of this guide, feel free to jump around as needed!
- Comparison of LED Saltwater Aquarium Light Fixtures
- Ecotech Radion G5
- Neptune SKY
- Orphek Atlantik Lighting
- Kessil AP9X
- AI Prime and AI Hydras
- Reef Breeders Photon V2 Pro
- LED Comparison Summary
Comparison of LED Saltwater Aquarium Light Fixtures
As mentioned above, we will be looking at a summary of these different saltwater aquarium light fixtures. The key areas I intend to review are PAR, coverage, spectrum, setup, and price. I will also make recommendation about how many of the specific light I recommend, and why I believe that number is necessary.
Ecotech Radion G5
The Ecotech Radions are frequently seen as one of the best Saltwater Aquarium Lighting options, but this comes at a price. As I'm sure you've noticed, the price is just as high as the quality.
PAR
In terms of PAR, I'm sure nobody has any concern. At a height of 8 inches above the water, the Radion XR15 Blue has a PAR of up to 280 in the center and roughly 200 at 12 inches away from the sides of the light. With 1 Radion XR15 Blue per foot of tank, you can see PAR from 400 to 500 depending on the spacing. Making this light plenty sufficient for SPS coral.
Ecotech Radion G5 Pro PAR
Color Spectrum
Ecotech Radions come in 2 different color options. Ecotech Radion Pro and Ecotech Radion Blue. Both of these options allow full color spectrum customization of your saltwater aquarium lighting. The difference is in which color LEDs the fixture contains. Most of the time, those of us that use the Ecotech Radion for saltwater aquarium lighting tend to use the Corallab AB+ light spectrum, because it's ideal for coral growth. The Ecotech Radion Blue has the exact LEDs needed so that you can just turn up the intensity and the spectrum will already be set for you!
With the Ecotech Radion Blue saltwater aquarium light, plug it in and set the overall intensity. No need to modify the color spectrum. You still have the flexibility to modify these colors to meet your needs if you choose. It is built to simply prevent leaving LEDs unused, as was the case with the previous generations as well as the "PRO" option.
Ecotech Radion G5 Pro Color Spectrum
Light Coverage - How many Ecotech Radions do I need?
The Ecotech Radion line has 2 different sizes, the XR15, and the XR30. The manufacturer suggests the following.
- Radion XR15 - Coverage 24" x 24"
- Radion XR30 - Coverage 36" x 36"
For the best, SPS focused saltwater aquarium lighting spread and intensity, I recommend 1 Radion XR15 Saltwater Aquarium Light per foot of tank. This will give you the best coverage and more uniform PAR across the tank. If you don't have SPS corals on the sides of the tank, you don't need as much light in that location. In that case, you may only need 3 Radion XR15 Light Fixtures. The light will still reach the sides, it just won't be as bright as the center of the tank.
Using more spaced out Radion XR15s instead of the Radion XR30 will give you better coverage, or more even PAR.
Connected Apps and Control
I'm sure you expect nothing less than full control from an app when buying SMART Saltwater Aquarium Lighting. The Ecotech Radion delivers just that! The Radion G5 Light fixture connects to the mobius app via bluetooth. Unfortunately, being bluetooth, means you cannot access the lights when you're away from your aquarium. Let's be realistic though, when is the last time you needed to adjust your aquarium lighting when you weren't home?
The Ecotech mobius app provides the ability to adjust timing and spectrum. However, there does not seem to be a way to access these controls from a computer at this time.
Read more about the Ecotech Radion Gen 5.
Overall Ratings for the Ecotech Radion G5
- PAR: 4 out of 5 - I am giving this 4 out of 5 because a single Radion XR15 only produces about 280 par, meaning multiple are needed for SPS, beyond just the needs for spread.
- Color Spectrum: 5 out of 5 - The Radion G5 Blue is literally made for this!
- Spread: 3 out of 5 - The Radions are a small form factor saltwater aquarium light. Unfortunately, this leads to more hot spots and not as good of spread.
- Control/Setup: 4 out of 5 - Ecotech has always been a standard for control and setup. Sadly, with the move to mobius, they left wifi behind. Meaning you have to be close to the lights to make changes.
- Price: 3 out of 5 - Using a 4 foot tank as an example, you would need 4 Radion XR15s to meet the required standards I would like to see. Meaning the price would be $1,847.96.
Overall, the Ecotech Radion G5 gets a 19 out of 25! The Radions are an ideal option for most reef keepers as a high powered light looking to keep SPS coral. The ecotech radion line is reliable, and customer service is top notch. If you want something that you know will work, is easy to set up, and control over the internet (from anywhere) is not a priority, the Radions are for you!
Neptune SKY
The new kid on the block has surely made their mark! Neptune Systems is known for making easy to set up devices that control every aspect of your reef tank! With PAR rivaling that of the best in the market, and spread that cannot be beat, the Neptune SKY may be the saltwater aquarium lighting fixture to beat!
PAR
As we would expect from Neptune Systems, the SKY saltwater aquarium light is nothing short of CRAZY HIGH PAR! At 6 inches, you'll see PAR as high as 400 to 580 PAR! Realistically, at a depth of 18 inches, you will still see PAR from 240 to 330! Meaning the Neptune SKY can grow SPS coral even deep within the saltwater aquarium.
Neptune Systems SKY Reef Tank Light PAR
Color Spectrum
With the hobby standard Corallab AB+ light spectrum, being the target, the Neptune SKY saltwater aquarium light hits the mark! When tested by Dana Riddle, he shows the spectrum hits the target and does a great job mimicking the color spectrum known for the best coral growth!
With the Ecotech Radion Blue saltwater aquarium light, plug it in and set the overall intensity. No need to modify the color spectrum. You still have the flexibility to modify these colors to meet your needs if you choose. It is built to simply prevent leaving LEDs unused, as was the case with the previous generations as well as the "PRO" option. Even better? As you expect from Neptune Systems, simply pick the spectrum you want and you're good to go!
Light Coverage - How many Neptune SKY lights do I need?
The recommended coverage for the Neptune SKY is 24" x 30". I admit, this is very close to what I suggest! I would encourage 1 Neptune SKY per 2 feet of tank. This way there is a bit of overlap to ensure consistent PAR coverage across the tank!
Connected Apps and Control
Yet again, exactly as you would expect! The Neptune SKY can connect to Apex Fusion (The App) via bluetooth if you do not have an Apex set up! If you do have an Apex, it can be connected to the Apex system and controlled from ANYWHERE over the internet! The setup for the SKY saltwater aquarium light is about as simple as can be! Matching (or seemingly beating) the Radion in my opinion.
Read more about the Neptune SKY.
Shop Neptune SKY Aquarium Lighting
Overall Ratings for the Neptune SKY
- PAR: 5 out of 5 - Not much to say. High Par over a wide area.
- Color Spectrum: 5 out of 5 - With a preset selection for the different color spectrums, another light made to get top marks!
- Spread: 5 out of 5 - Literally the sales pitch for the Neptune SKY! This saltwater aquarium light is designed with spread in mind and the diffusion is almost perfect as well.
- Control/Setup: 5 out of 5 - Neptune Systems really thought through the control and setup piece! Preset spectrums, adjustability if you want it, bluetooth connection, and the ability to link it to the internet via the Neptune Apex. This light seems to have it all!
- Price: 3 out of 5 - Using a 4 foot tank as an example, you would need 2 Neptune SKYs to meet the required light for the full reef. Meaning the price would be $1,739.90.
Overall, the Neptune SKY gets a 23 out of 25! The SKY light offers PAR, Spectrum, Spread, Control, but at a high price. Realistically, this is not out of the question for price at all. In fact, it is cheaper than using Radion XR15s for the same results. However, being as new as it is, there is always some risk. The Neptune SKY is the ideal saltwater aquarium light for anyone looking to keep a high end reef, with an emphasis on PAR and spread. I will note, that if you are looking for the top notch solution, the Neptune SKY has really hit the marks across the board and is what I currently recommend!
Orphek Atlantik Lighting
Orphek saltwater aquarium lighting seems to be under the radar. Though there are a lot of successful reefs that use Orphek lighting, they don't have the publicity that Ecotech and Neptune do. Regardless of why Orphek may not be as popular, this reef tank light is more than worth considering!
Much like Ecotech, there are two varieties of Orphek Atlantik Aquarium Lights, the Orphek Atlantik V4 Gen 2 and the Orphek Atlantik Compact V4 Gen 2. As you likely guessed, the compact version is a smaller (nearly half) sized version of the Orphek Atlantik for smaller aquariums.
PAR
At a distance of about a foot, we see a hot spot PAR of 375 and on the sides it can dim down to the 100 PAR range. This tells us that the light is strong enough to support growing SPS coral, though the PAR drop-off tells us that we will need to mount lights directly next to each other to get the high PAR and spread we are looking to achieve.
Orphek Atlantik Icon Saltwater Aquarium Light PAR
Color Spectrum
The Orphek Atlantic Icon saltwater aquarium lighting fixtures support 6 different lighting channels providing a wide range of color spectrum customization. The focus of the spectrum is to optimize coral growth while minimizing cyanobacteria (Red Slime Algae) growth. That being said, you can adjust the different lighting channels to achieve the AB+ spectrum and customize the spectrum as needed!
Light Coverage - How many Orphek Atlantic lights do I need?
As I mentioned before, the coverage on the Atlantik is not very good outside of the size of the fixture. Thankfully, the fixture is quite large at a length of 24.21 inches and a width of 9.37 inches. So the simple solution is one Orphek Atlantic Icon per 2 feet of reef tank.
Connected Apps and Control
Yet again, exactly as you would expect! The Neptune SKY can connect to Apex Fusion (The App) via bluetooth if you do not have an Apex set up! If you do have an Apex, it can be connected to the Apex system and controlled from ANYWHERE over the internet! The setup for the SKY saltwater aquarium light is about as simple as can be! Matching (or seemingly beating) the Radion in my opinion.
Overall Ratings for the Orphek Atlantik
- PAR: 4 out of 5 - Though it can achieve the PAR needed for SPS coral, the PAR dropoff is quite intense, even under the light. And unfortunately the PAR drops quickly with depth.
- Color Spectrum: 5 out of 5 - The PAR can achieve the AB+ spectrum, but you do have to manually set the spectrum. This is the only reason I give it a 4 out of 5.
- Spread: 3 out of 5 - The lenses on the Orphek Atlantik do not work as well as I would like to see. The spread is very good directly under the center of the light but falls off fast. Meaning that even with multiple lights, the edges will not be lit as well as I would like to see.
- Control/Setup: 5 out of 5 - The Orphek Atlantik Icon supports both WiFi and Bluetooth and control from a phone app. There are presets, though they are not the AB+ spectrum. Regardless though, A for effort!
- Price: 2 out of 5 - Using a 4 foot tank as an example, you would need 2 Orphek Atlantik Icons to meet the required light for the full reef. Meaning the price would be $1,870.00, making it the most expensive option so far.
Overall, the Orphek Atlantik Icon gets an 19 out of 25! Though this score feels lower than it should be, the Orphek Atlantik Icon missed the mark on PAR and spread. These are areas where the Radions do a little better, but the Neptune SKY really shines (pun intended). I hope to see Orphek focus on these areas moving forward. Until then, I think the Atlantik is fairly even with the Radion G5!
Kessil AP9X
Kessil is one of the leading saltwater aquarium lighting companies around. Most Kessil lighting options are a round, puck like form factor. The Kessil AP9X breaks that mold, however, it is really 2 puck LED lights in a rectangular case. Making it easier to mount and the spacing is pre-determined at 9.5 inches apart.
The Kessil AP9X is a better fit for larger tanks, 2 feet long or more, to properly light your reef. The smaller, round fixtures can light larger aquariums, however, you will need more light fixtures and possibly wider angle lenses.
PAR
At a depth of 12 inches, you can expect PAR as high as 600 under the light pucks, and between 150 and 240 on the front and back of the tank, on a 24 inch square tank. This kessil light has multiple hot spots, one per puck, that actually helps with the spread of light side to side, but not front to back.
Kessil AP9X Saltwater Aquarium Light PAR
Color Spectrum
When comparing the color spectrum to the Coral lab AB+, it is a little more right shifted, or less deep blue, but it's very close. The colors are adjustable as well. In order to hit this color spectrum, you will need to set the CLR to 20, VI to 100, RED to 20 and GREEN is set to 0.
Light Coverage - How many Kessil AP9X lights do I need?
The coverage on the AP9X is not very good at 12 inches under the surface, but the spread quickly improves after that. With the standard 48x24 inch tank size, you can easily grow SPS coral through the majority of the reef tank. The sand bed will likely be about 150 or more, meaning that you really only need 1 AP9X saltwater aquarium light for every 24 inches of reef tank, or 2 for a 4 foot tank.
Connected Apps and Control
The Kessil AP9X has built in WiFi, unlike most of the other Kessil lighting options. Meaning you can control the light from an app on your smart phone. The one thing that I am not very fond of is that there are only 4 color channels to modify. Though this is likely sufficient, other reef tank lighting options have more control channels available.
Shop Kessil AP9X Aquarium Lighting
Overall Ratings for the Kessil AP9X
- PAR: 5 out of 5 - The PAR output from the Kessil AP9X is consistent and high enough to support SPS coral. With the multiple hot spots, it actually helps the consistency of high PAR.
- Color Spectrum: 4 out of 5 - The PAR can achieve color near the AB+ spectrum, but not quite. It's close enough that you may not notice, with an extra bump with the UV. But within the comparison used here, it falls just short.
- Spread: 4 out of 5 - Kessil's AP9X has a surprisingly good spread! It falls a bit short at 12 inches deep, but below that, the spread actually helps increase the PAR.
- Control/Setup: 3 out of 5 - The Kessil AP9X uses WiFi control, but unfortunately, the fact that there are only 4 control channels is the main reason I am only giving this light 4 stars.
- Price: 3 out of 5 - Using a 4 foot tank as an example, you would need 2 Kessil AP9X Light fixtures to meet the required light for the full reef. Meaning the price would be $1,738.00, the same as the Neptune SKY.
Overall, the Kessil AP9X gets a 19 out of 25! Though this score feels lower than it should be, the Kessil AP9X is a good saltwater aquarium lighting option. The price point is very close to the Neptune SKY, and the PAR is very similar to other high end aquarium lighting. If you are looking for a high end lighting fixture, and are not comfortable with the Neptune SKY, the AP9X is slightly cheaper than the Radions, and similar ratings. Though I would lean toward the Radion XR15s because you have more control over placement, but this light fixture is slightly lower cost and very similar performance.
AI Prime and AI Hydras
Aqua Illumination, or AI, is yet another very popular reef tank lighting option available today. As you can see by the names, the AI Prime 16HD, AI Hydra 32 HD, and the AI Hydra 64 HD are nearly the same light. The number in the saltwater aquarium lights' names are the number of LEDs in the light. In fact, the Hydras appear to be the same puck, dispersed across the LED fixture.
As with the Ecotech Radion, I will be focussing on the AI Prime 16 HD. Though it is a little more expensive, this gives you much more flexibility for coverage. Additionally, you can easily add or remove light fixtures as you change tanks down the road.
PAR
At a depth of 12 inches, you can expect PAR around the 200s if you are hanging the light at 10 inches, or in the 300s at 8 inches. These lights are not optimized for larger reef tanks. With enough lights though, we can see plenty of PAR to grow SPS coral. Now, you won't see the 500 - 600 PAR that some saltwater aquarium lighting options may offer.
AI Prime Saltwater Aquarium Light PAR
Color Spectrum
When comparing the color spectrum to the Coral lab AB+, the AI series of aquarium lighting is able to hit the mark! No surprise with AI being owned by Ecotech, however, this light's LEDs are not utilized as well as the Ecotech Radion Blue's. That aside, the AI lighting can hit the mark, and even give you a little bump in the UV spectrum.
Light Coverage - How many AI Primes do I need?
The AI Prime 16 HD is really designed for tanks 18" x 18" or smaller. Outside of that, you need to start adding more to create a grid. I encourage you to use 1 AI Prime per square foot of tank, hung at roughly 8 inches. for a 2x4 tank, that would be 8 AI Primes. In this case, you could use 4 AI Hydra 32 HD fixtures instead. The same math applies. Though the Hydra 64 is rather limiting due to the form factor. As such, I would not recommend them over the Prime 16HD and Hydra 32HD options unless you have a tank that is 8 ft long.
Connected Apps and Control
AI products are controlled via the myAI app, which connects to the reef tank lights via bluetooth. With 7 different color channels, and moonlight adjustments, the AI prime is very adjustable. The control seems to feature all of the benefits offered by the Ecotech line, but the light itself is not quite as strong. Mainly because it is designed for smaller or shallower reef tanks. In those applications, the AI Prime really shines!
Overall Ratings for the AI Prime
- PAR: 3 out of 5 - The PAR from AI really doesn't pack much of a punch... But if you have a shallower reef tank, or smaller aquarium, the AI Primes will more than suffice.
- Color Spectrum: 5 out of 5 - The PAR can achieve the AB+ spectrum, so I give it a 5/5. Though I would like to see it be a preset...
- Spread:3 out of 5 - The AI Prime are a small form factor saltwater aquarium light. Unfortunately, this leads to more hot spots and not as good of spread.
- Control/Setup: 4 out of 5 - Much like ecotech's Mobius, myAI offers great control. Sadly the control only offers bluetooth, where offering both bluetooth and wifi is preferred.
- Price: 4 out of 5 - Using a 4 foot tank as an example, you would need 8 AI Primes totalling $1847.92, or 4 AI Hydra 32HD Fixtures for $1599.96. I'm going to average this at a 4/5 because the Hydra option is better in this case.
Overall, the AI Prime/Hydra gets a 19 out of 25! This is mostly due to the pricing and control, not the light' performance itself. The AI Prime and Hydra are ideal for smaller tanks like cubes where you don't need the high par for deep tanks. This case would allow you to have SPS growing light for a low cost. However, for larger tanks, it doesn't really have enough punch to get PAR deep into the tank.
Reef Breeders Photon V2 Pro
Before trying out the Reef Breeder Photon V2, I thought it was just another low cost, low quality light saltwater lighting option. I was VERY WRONG! The Reef Breeder Photon V2 Pro can put out more PAR than most reef tank lights in it's price range, and even many that are more expensive! This reef tank light is both a powerhouse and a budget friendly choice that you should look into more!
PAR
The Reef Breeders Photon V2 Pro PAR is FAR higher than you would initially expect. When mounted 8 inches above the water, the PAR at 12 inches below the water (with all colors at 100%) can be as high as 450-550 and at 24 inches below the water, you can see roughly 325 PAR at full strength. Using the suggestions from Bulk Reef Supply, and a mounting height of 18 inches, at 12 inches the Reef Breeder Photon V2 Pro will give you roughly 200 to 300 PAR and at 18 inches below the water, you will see 170 to 280 PAR. Meaning the Reef Breeders Photon V2 is more than good enough for growing SPS coral!
Reef Breeders Photon V2 Saltwater Aquarium Light PAR
Color Spectrum
When comparing the color spectrum to the Coral lab AB+, the Reef Breeders saltwater aquarium lighting is close, but not exactly on "par". Pun intended. The blue band is not quite as wide as the Coral Lab AB+, but it still hits all the needs in terms of appearance. Though not perfect, it is still very good!
Light Coverage - How many Reef Breeder Photons do I need?
I strongly encourage using lighting the same width as the tank itself. That being said, I would recommend splitting the lighting up into at least 2 different fixtures just in case something goes wrong or you decide to upgrade tanks later on. The cool part with Reef Breeders Photon is that it comes in a number of lengths! Including 16", 24", 32", 48", and 50"!
Connected Apps and Control
With the upgrade to V2 Pro (not V2+), the Reef Breeder Photon V2 Pro has built in wifi that lets you connect to your reef breeder via the Nexus App! The programming of the lights does require each channel to be set individually instead of picking a time and all of the channels. This makes it take a little more time on initial setup, but its SIGNIFICANTLY faster than the V2+ model!
Read more about the Reef Breeders Photon.
Shop Reef Breeders Saltwater Aquarium Lighting
Overall Ratings for the AI Prime
- PAR: 5 out of 5 - The PAR from the reef breeder packs a punch and penetrates the water column! It's a true winner in this department!
- Color Spectrum: 4 out of 5 - The light can't quite achieve the AB+ spectrum, but it does come close. I would like to see more in the blue spectrum though.
- Spread:4 out of 5 - Because of the high PAR, the Reef Breeders light can be hung much higher above the tank. Giving exceptional spread! Though I am taking off a point because it requires hanging it so high which causes light spill into the room.
- Control/Setup: 3 out of 5 - Even though it has wifi and is MUCH better than the previous remote control, there are still extra steps with initial setup.
- Price: 5 out of 5 - Using a 4 foot tank as an example, you would need 2 Reef Breeder Photon V2 Pro 24, totalling less than $1,038. Otherwise you could use 1 of the Reef Breeder Photon V2 Pro 48 for $815. Making this a clear budget winner!
Overall, the AI Prime/Hydra gets a 21 out of 25! The Reef Breeder Photon is climbing the charts in my opinion as a great choice for a powerful reef light as well as a budget reef light. With the new app control, the Reef Breeders Photon is now easy to control and with wifi, it can be modified from anywhere!
LED Comparison Summary
For most cases, the Ecotech Radions and Neptune SKY are the simple, obvious answer. If you have a large tank, 4 feet or more, the most cost effective option is the Reef Breeders Photon V2 Pro. If you have a small cube tank, such as the biocube, that is 18"x18" or smaller, the AI Prime is a great choice!
I hope this lighting comparison guide helped you pick a saltwater aquarium light fixture. If it was helpful, I would really appreciate if you can share it to your Facebook page. This helps the blog grow and helps other reef keepers choose the best lighting option for them.
Recommended Reading:
- Saltwater Aquarium Lighting Guide
- Reefbreeders Photon V2+ and V2 Pro Review
- Neptune SKY Review
- Ecotech Radion Gen 5 Review
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About the Author
John Krenzer
John is a Software Engineer with a passion for saltwater aquariums, as well as the founder and president of Reef Stable. He started in the aquarium hobby as a child with a 20 gallon freshwater aquarium. His interest in aquarium life grew and in 2008, John set up his first saltwater aquarium.
Today, John maintains an over 300 gallon reef tank system, consisting of a 120g reef and a 210g reef. These large tanks are contained within the same system, sharing a sump as a means to reduce total maintenance and increase total water volume.
John writes articles for the blog as a means to learn about more reef aquarium topics. These articles act as a reference for the readers as well as himself. John updates these articles frequently to provide additional information or make corrections as new information becomes available.
If you would like to request an article, tank tour article, or to collaborate, let me know via the Contact Me Page!
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