Atlantik iCon coverage and PAR map over 48 inch/120cm aquarium •Orphek

Atlantik iCon coverage and PAR map results over 48 X 24 X 24inch (120 X 60 X 60 cm ) reef aquarium

( PAR sensor placed at the bottom center of the tank / PPFD reading shows 401 PAR!)

The Orphek Atlantik iCon is truly one of a kind and stands out from the rest with the highest PAR value.

In today’s post we are going to test and show you the performance of this fixture, and also answer to the following questions:

How high the Atlantik iCon should be hanged and what is the best coverage for SPS/LPS placed at the bottom of the tank?

Before we start the measuring it is important to know:

PAR stands for Photosynthetically Available Radiation, which is light that falls into the 400-700nm spectral range.

The unit for measuring par is micromoles per second, abbreviated as μmol/s. This unit indicates how many photons in the PAR spectral range fall onto the coral each second.

PAR is measured in PPFD (Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density). PPFD measures both intensity of light and the amount of light that actually reaches the coral.

In a nutshell: PAR is light usable by corals for photosynthesis and is measured in PPFD.

One more thing:

Atlantik iCon offers the MINIMUM LIGHT SPILLAGE of light of the market!
And to remind you:
it comes with Orphek groundbreaking 10,000% dimming and 24h programming technology for coral health, growth, color, spawning and biological clock correction.

Tank dimensions, water level, spectrum & how the test was performed.

The aquarium chosen is a 120 X 60 X 60 (cm) – 48 x 24 x 24 (inches) tank.

Water level at 55 (cm) – 21.65 (inches).

Light was hanged at 3 different heights from the bottom of the tank – at 60cm (23.62″) / 90 (35.43″) / 120cm (47.24″).

All measures were performed with the light at 100% in all channels. The different of color perceived in the pictures showing the PAR measurements is due to the use of Orphek Lens Kit.

The sensor of the PAR meter was placed in various areas of the tank. (*)

PAR MAP

Each PAR MAP comes with 3 different colors:

Dark blue – representing measurements of the edges of the tank.

Very light blue – representing measurements at the center of the tank.

Medium blue – measures taken between edges and center of the tank.

(*) Each cell (square) of the PAR MAP represents a 10cm/ 3.93 unit.

So with no further due…. Let’s show how great the performance of our Atlantik iCon is!

We started to take PAR readings with the light hanged at 60cm/23.62″.

As you can see in the pictures below measures were taken in the bottom of the tank and the findings are impressive! We got very high PAR to grow SPS/ LPS corals and a great coverage of 110 cm/ 43 inches.

Continuing the test of performance, we took PAR readings with the light hanged at 90cm/35.43″ with sensor placed in different areas of the tank.

The numbers don’t lie as the results are simply amazing! Perfect coverage, evenly spread! Ideal for SPS/LPS corals.

PAR meter shows – PPFD – 248μmol/s.

PAR meter shows PPFD 239μmol/s

PAR meters PPFD shows 238μmol/s

Finally we took PAR readings with the light hanged at 120cm/47.24″.

Also outstanding results. This test is a good opportunity to understand the performance of our light when hanged over deep tanks. It also gives you an idea of how high to hang your light according to layout chosen.

Now that we have all PAR MAPS ready, let’s answer to the questions we proposed in the beginning of this article:

How high the Atlantik iCon should be hanged and what is the best coverage for SPS/LPS placed at the bottom of the tank?

Hanging the light at least 36 inches / 90 cm from the bottom you will get the perfect light spread to grow SPS/LPS at the bottom of the tank.

This test is also a good way to understand the PAR results and the light spread at 60, 90, 120cm (24, 35,47″) from the light.

If you take a closer look to the illustration that we have created just for you, you will notice that you can easily understand what readings you get at different depths:

To conclude:

The first illustrations show the same tank of 120 X 60 X 60 (cm) – 48 x 24 x 24 (inches) and PAR results of the light hanged at 3 different heights 60/90/120 cm (23.6 / 35.4 / 47.2″) from the bottom of the tank.

This last illustration shows the light hanged in the same position, but at 3 different depths (or 3 different depths of tanks).

In any case, the PAR readings are amazing and extremely balanced to grow SPS and LPS corals!