I cannot compare the Alpha 120s to other lights as I haven’t used any of the well-known brands.
What I can do is comment on the Alphas themselves.
Firstly; at present I’m running two Alpha 120s above a 36” x 18” x 18” tank.
To begin with, I’m running each channel, on both Alphas at –
Channel 1 at 15% …. (total 12 x
460nm)
Channel 2 at 30% …. (total 12 x 12,000K)
Channel 3 at 10% …. (total 8 x 460nm. 4 x 410nm)
Channel 4 at 10% …. (total 8 x 450nm. 2 x 630nm. 2 x 525nm)
That equates to about 39 Watts in power out of a possible 240 Watts (rated power).
My old lights ran at about 40 Watts, & the intensity looks the same by eye.
I have no par meter, so cannot measure this, sorry. But in my case, I would easily go well over recommended par if I turned the intensity up.
Both units have cooling fans built in, & the fan speed is controlled automatically by the intensity the units are set at.
With the intensity on all channels set at 100% the fans run at full speed. At this setting I find them to be more than acceptably quite, but not dead silent.
Controllability.
The Alpha’s use a wifi control unit, & an app for your mobile device is available free.
You can go to ‘Manual Set’ & alter the intensity of each channel individually to work out what is pleasing to your eye, then use those setting as a guide to program any of the 3 separate diy lighting programs.
Each diy program has 8 time points for each channel at which the intensity can be set at whatever you wish.
You can also incorporate into your diy settings a cloud effect. The cloud effect is a light intensity change: all lights intensity from 100%~0%~100% within 30 seconds, then returns to the mode you have set. The problem with this effect is, it isn’t at the full intensity you set, but at system 100% intensity, & it’s not adjustable.
There is also a lightening effect. In Flash mode, all leds will flash 3 times per second, stop 3 seconds and flash 3 times per second, at system full intensity. The whole effect lasts 10 seconds, then returns to the mode you have set. Again, the intensity is not adjustable in this mode.
There are also 3 Pre-programmed Modes: (Sunny, Cloudy, and Rainy). But I found them not to be useful in my case because again they run at least one channel at 100 % system intensity, during the lighting cycle, & it not adjustable either.
This isn’t necessarily a problem as you have the three diy modes to set your own sunny – cloudy modes, & they are very easy to program.
Based on what I expected & the cost, I give the Alpha 120s an 8.5/10.
I have no regrets about purchasing them.
