LED lighting was in full force at MACNA this year and the technology has been the hot topic of most trade shows for a couple of years now. With all of the brands currently flooding the market though, we noticed one particular brand was illuminating just about every coral vendor booth at the show. Acan Lighting was all over the place, and we got to sit down with the crew to go over a lot of the details of each fixture currently being offered and some that haven’t even released yet. We chatted about their recently renamed 800 and 600 series, and even their all new 207 series of strip lights which we’ll discuss in a future article.
Below are some general details about the Acan Lighting fixture, including some PAR numbers and plenty of more pictures.
The Acan Lighting 800 series was getting the most exposure at the show, and for good reason. This series is said to use only 50watts per foot and provides suitable PAR numbers to even the deepest of reef aquariums. The light itself consists of two rows of mixed blue and white accent LEDs, and the center of the fixture is dominated by a row of white LED clusters, each sporting seven emitters per cluster. Acan Lighting boasts that fixtures from their 800 series are more powerful than 250w metal halides, and with reported PAR numbers of 235PPFD from 30″ away, we are inclined to believe that statement. Of course, this number was most likely achieved through air and not water, as this is very common for light manufacturers.
The Acan Lighting 600 series differ from their big brothers in that they don’t have a central row of powerful white clustered LEDs, but instead use three rows diodes and wide-angle optics to really spread out the light. The 600 is designed with wider and somewhat shallower aquariums in mind, and the reported PAR numbers are over 180PPFD at a distance of 30″ from the light. This series also runs dead silent without cooling fans, using a large heat-sink for passive heat dissipation.
One of the best features of the Acan Lighting LED fixtures is the integrated controller and five time stages, each with intensity control for the whites, blues, and moonlights. This will give hobbyists a very advanced dawn-to-dusk lighting effect and moonlight control. The controller itself was very easy to use, requiring only a few button pushes to get the desired effect. Both series are offered in five lengths, with a 12″, 18″, 24″, 36″, and 48″. For those looking for longer fixtures, the only solution to lighting long aquariums is to use more fixtures. They will have to be suspended over the tank in some way, seeing as how the mounting legs won’t cut it over long tanks, and each will have to be programmed separately…at least for now. Perhaps Acan Lighting will start using some wireless synching in the future, but until then the time and intensity settings will have to be manually input.
In closing, it should be noted that the Acan Lighting fixtures have undergone a recent name change. The A102AC and A103AC have been renamed the “800 series”, and the A104AC is now labeled as the “600 series”. None of the physical aspects of the fixtures have changed, just a much simpler naming scheme.
