Squirrel_reefer
Call me Squirrel
I ordered 2 Arctic T247's from an Ebay seller last week and just received the unit's yesterday.
In my opinion there are very few inbetween variations of LED box out there. By that I mean, it seems that you either pay 500$ for the latest and greatest, or you have to spend less than 100$ and cross your fingers. I looked into some other fixtures that are right around the same price point that I paid for the Arctics but they didn't have an LED layout that I found visually engaging. I personally like the look of a true full spectrum layout (ie green, red, purple) as opposed to the simpler 10k white and 450 Blue that most inexpensive fixtures have. Now I know, for a reef tank to thrive all you really need is the whites and the blues and most other colors can't even penetrate the water column enough to reach the livestock you are trying to engage, but in my opinion the full color layout is more pleasing to the eye. Not to mention, not all of us have JBJ cubes.... some of us have 48" to cover
so even though some of the smaller fixtures are inexpensive, you might have to buy two!
The units come packaged with mounting hardware out the wazzoo, they give you legs and a complete hanging kit for each unit pre-strung. The units also come with a remote control and the user's manual. The remote only works well when it's pointed directly at the IR seneor built into the time readout, it's not super helpful but it is a nice feature. I prefer to use the knob/button. The Programming is pretty simple if you spend around 5 minutes looking at the manual and you'll quickly learn there are just not that many functions to clog up the menu. You can basically only set the timer for CH1 and CH2 and set the intensity for both channels independently, and unlike some other expensive models this light does not ramp up or down, its a simple binary on or off.
Why did I buy this light instead of an AI Prime, hydra, RB Photon or the likeness?
Simple, I couldn't afford them. I went on Ebay and made an offer to a seller that was wayyyy lower than it should have been, he actually accepted the offer and shipped them to me for free. One of my biggest hangups on this deal is that an RB Photon 32" would have cost 449$ brand new, they're never in stock and I would have had to pay shipping. So based on what I paid for the Acrtics, I would have been paying 150+$ for the ramping feature in the Photon, which was the only feature not found in the Arctic. I have seen the Photon running in person at my LFS and they are awesome, but if you're like me, you dont have 500$ to throw down on the counter.
In my opinion, these units have really nice spacing in between LED lenses and the box is rather large compared to some other units. This give you a nice feeling that your coverage area is multiplied that much more. not to mention all LEDs are CREE LED's and I can actually see the Green light and Red light on the sand bed even at 30% power. each unit has two cooling fans that are church mouse quiet, you can actually feel them drawing air over the unit so you know they are staying cool. In addition each unit is run off of one power chord, so no more double chording like older 2 channel fixtures. Combine all this with the Manufacture's warranty and you have a pretty nice pair of lights for under 350$
Here is the pair of T247's over my 55g at 35% White 85% blue
Here is the previous setup T5 with Aquablue special and Blue Plus
And for contrast, here is a Fluval 2.0 LED full spectrum on another tank of mine, this light is very different from the Arctic and kinda flat white for my tastes (even tho its red, green, blue full spectrum and not timered)
In my opinion there are very few inbetween variations of LED box out there. By that I mean, it seems that you either pay 500$ for the latest and greatest, or you have to spend less than 100$ and cross your fingers. I looked into some other fixtures that are right around the same price point that I paid for the Arctics but they didn't have an LED layout that I found visually engaging. I personally like the look of a true full spectrum layout (ie green, red, purple) as opposed to the simpler 10k white and 450 Blue that most inexpensive fixtures have. Now I know, for a reef tank to thrive all you really need is the whites and the blues and most other colors can't even penetrate the water column enough to reach the livestock you are trying to engage, but in my opinion the full color layout is more pleasing to the eye. Not to mention, not all of us have JBJ cubes.... some of us have 48" to cover
so even though some of the smaller fixtures are inexpensive, you might have to buy two!The units come packaged with mounting hardware out the wazzoo, they give you legs and a complete hanging kit for each unit pre-strung. The units also come with a remote control and the user's manual. The remote only works well when it's pointed directly at the IR seneor built into the time readout, it's not super helpful but it is a nice feature. I prefer to use the knob/button. The Programming is pretty simple if you spend around 5 minutes looking at the manual and you'll quickly learn there are just not that many functions to clog up the menu. You can basically only set the timer for CH1 and CH2 and set the intensity for both channels independently, and unlike some other expensive models this light does not ramp up or down, its a simple binary on or off.
Why did I buy this light instead of an AI Prime, hydra, RB Photon or the likeness?
Simple, I couldn't afford them. I went on Ebay and made an offer to a seller that was wayyyy lower than it should have been, he actually accepted the offer and shipped them to me for free. One of my biggest hangups on this deal is that an RB Photon 32" would have cost 449$ brand new, they're never in stock and I would have had to pay shipping. So based on what I paid for the Acrtics, I would have been paying 150+$ for the ramping feature in the Photon, which was the only feature not found in the Arctic. I have seen the Photon running in person at my LFS and they are awesome, but if you're like me, you dont have 500$ to throw down on the counter.
In my opinion, these units have really nice spacing in between LED lenses and the box is rather large compared to some other units. This give you a nice feeling that your coverage area is multiplied that much more. not to mention all LEDs are CREE LED's and I can actually see the Green light and Red light on the sand bed even at 30% power. each unit has two cooling fans that are church mouse quiet, you can actually feel them drawing air over the unit so you know they are staying cool. In addition each unit is run off of one power chord, so no more double chording like older 2 channel fixtures. Combine all this with the Manufacture's warranty and you have a pretty nice pair of lights for under 350$
Here is the pair of T247's over my 55g at 35% White 85% blue
Here is the previous setup T5 with Aquablue special and Blue Plus
And for contrast, here is a Fluval 2.0 LED full spectrum on another tank of mine, this light is very different from the Arctic and kinda flat white for my tastes (even tho its red, green, blue full spectrum and not timered)
Last edited:
