Current USA Orbit Marine PRO discontinued

[isufishtank]

Hello everyone! I’m curious about an led light I recently purchased used. It is the older (2nd) version of Current USA’s Orbit Marine Pro. After some extensive searching, I found some manufacturer info on PAR and spectrum: (note, mine is the second one)

I also got a new Orbit Marine (not pro, the first one in the pic) as well since the Pro has a very narrow (60 degree) lens angle compared to the regular’s (120 degrees). It’s a 20g long tank and I plan on doing SPS eventually. Between my Orbit Marine Pro and regular Orbit Marine, I should be getting a minimum of 170 PAR directly below the lights at the tanks deepest point and upwards of 350 PAR in the top half. Again this is all based on this single image from Current USA. Does anyone have personal experience with these lights or any insight into how well they will work for me? Any input is greatly appreciated

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I'd be a bit skeptical about those par values coming from these lights, there's a lot you have to factor in such as water colony, distribution of light, and coral placement. In a perfect world, based on the above values alone, you could get SPS to grow, but in my experience I have never seen these lights on SPS dominant tanks. Plenty of LPS dominant tanks have them though and seem to do okay on those setups.

 

[VG30DE-TT]

I have the IC And have just added another LED module. As far as I know the main difference is the lens my IC's have 90deg lenses and as you pointed out the Marine has a 120deg and the old pros have 60deg. If you look at the current website they show each led module, the total watts and the total # of LEDs. And they add up to the same watts per led

So while I think the older pro light is capable of creating the par levels they say , it's also very focused under the lights.

My LFS that sold me my Current IC was skeptical about its ability to support SPS which is why I added the 2nd led module (making it a IC PRO)

I have read on the internet the Current lights created a spectrum of light that LPS and SPS can thrive in even though they don't create the industry standard PAR. The owner of my LFS however has told me that there is a big difference betwene "Thrive and Live" and he doesn't recomend any of the current lights for SPS corals.


I'm still green I'm interested to see what some others with practical expereance have to offer.

 

[partlycloudy531]

Hello everyone! I’m curious about an led light I recently purchased used. It is the older (2nd) version of Current USA’s Orbit Marine Pro. After some extensive searching, I found some manufacturer info on PAR and spectrum: (note, mine is the second one)

I also got a new Orbit Marine (not pro, the first one in the pic) as well since the Pro has a very narrow (60 degree) lens angle compared to the regular’s (120 degrees). It’s a 20g long tank and I plan on doing SPS eventually. Between my Orbit Marine Pro and regular Orbit Marine, I should be getting a minimum of 170 PAR directly below the lights at the tanks deepest point and upwards of 350 PAR in the top half. Again this is all based on this single image from Current USA. Does anyone have personal experience with these lights or any insight into how well they will work for me? Any input is greatly appreciated

How has the 2nd Gen Marine Orbit Pro been for you? I’m thinking about purchasing one. Thanks

 

[isufishtank]

How has the 2nd Gen Marine Orbit Pro been for you? I’m thinking about purchasing one. Thanks

I haven't had coral for very long, maybe a month, but the SPS I have in the top 6 inches of the tank are doing very well. Haven't noticed much growth yet but they are small frags and the tank is relatively new so I wasn't expecting any growth. It definitely keeps them alive and the polyps extended though! One thing to note is that this light is VERY narrow, only 90 degrees. Its not going to illuminate your whole tank at lower depths and creates some unsightly shadows. I have the newer non-pro version to illuminate the rest of the tank and eliminate the shadows. If you can get a good deal on one, I'd definitely recommend as long as you can also run a weaker LED or some t5's to take care of the rest of the tank.

 

[partlycloudy531]

I haven't had coral for very long, maybe a month, but the SPS I have in the top 6 inches of the tank are doing very well. Haven't noticed much growth yet but they are small frags and the tank is relatively new so I wasn't expecting any growth. It definitely keeps them alive and the polyps extended though! One thing to note is that this light is VERY narrow, only 90 degrees. Its not going to illuminate your whole tank at lower depths and creates some unsightly shadows. I have the newer non-pro version to illuminate the rest of the tank and eliminate the shadows. If you can get a good deal on one, I'd definitely recommend as long as you can also run a weaker LED or some t5's to take care of the rest of the tank.

Thanks, I really appreciate the info. Saltwateraquarium.com has the 18”-24” Gen 2 Pro on sale right now for $99. I really need a strip LED because my tank is in a bookcase and I don’t have much room above it to mount a puck style light and get the spread I need. I have an AI Prime right now and it doesn’t look like I get any coverage on the edges of the tank. It is a tiny tank though, only 9 gallons. It’s 23” x 9.5” x 9.5”. Even with the narrow lens on the Orbit Marine Pro, do you think one would be enough for a tank that is only 9.5” from front to back? I guess I could always add a second one later but then I run the risk of not finding another one since they are discontinued.

 

[VG30DE-TT]

It should be fine at that depth, it seems to me like the PAR really falls off FAST as the tank gets deeper.

In the current generation of IC lights thr ONLY diffrence between the "Pro" version and the IC is the number of LED modules they both use the same controller.

Almost every day I wish I had better light, but at the same time there is nothing this easy to control or capable of this kind of performance at the price point these lights sell at.

I've got about $300 invested in my IC pro setup (including 2 wave pumps/ power heads) there is nothing less than $600 that can replace the lights and I'd probably still ne using the Curent wave pumps and controller. It's really good bang for the $$$ and probaly perfect for a fish only tank.