Orphek iCon LED Solutions with Optimized Spectrum for Coral Farms—Enhancing Growth, Color, and Health with energy-efficient LED lights!
It’s been a while since we last shared updates on coral farming, so today we’re diving back into this fascinating world.
In this post, you’ll get an inside look at the activity itself and see why Orphek is the unrivaled leader in LED lighting for coral farms.
We’ll take you on a tour that begins with a coral farm in Kuwait and continues to Brazil and Australia, showcasing projects and partnerships.
You will witness the brilliance of our iCon LED solutions across farming environments and learn how we transform coral spaces with cutting-edge technology, precise control, and energy-efficient illumination.
To give you a closer view, we’ve also curated a gallery of photos featuring the stunning corals cultivated by dedicated farmers and by hobbyists who trust Orphek to deliver reliable performance, vibrant color, strong growth, and healthy ecosystems.
Whether you’re evaluating lighting for a new setup or upgrading an existing facility, this article offers insights, real-world results, and a clear path to partnering with Orphek.
Coral Farming
Coral farming, or coral aquaculture, is the practice of growing and propagating corals in controlled environments rather than harvesting them from wild reefs. The main goals are to supply corals for aquarium trade, support reef restoration and rehabilitation, and advance scientific research – in this article we will showcase illumination for all!
Methods include: fragmentation (cutting fragments from a parent coral), nursery rearing, and out-planting to restoration sites.
Orphek Expertise
Since its foundation Orphek has collaborated with a diverse array of both scientific and educational institutions, including universities, research centers, conservation facilities, as well as public aquariums, zoos, land-based nurseries and coral farms.
For more than a decade our focus has been on the development of LED technology and light spectrums tailored to their specific requirements.
Orphek’s expertise lies in customizing and delivering LED lighting solutions to meet the biological needs of a wide range of organisms from diverse habitats and geographic regions. This allows us to support the specific requirements essential for the study, preservation, rehabilitation, and cultivation of species worldwide.
Showcasing our expertise – Trade
First in our client spotlight, we’re proud to feature Coral Farm Kuwait—a valued partner dedicated to sharing the ocean’s beauty while promoting sustainable reef-keeping. Known for their rare and exotic offerings, they provide an impressive variety of corals, from soft corals to SPS and LPS, carefully curated to suit hobbyists at every level.
Their focus on quality, husbandry, and responsible practices ensures that each coral arrives healthy, vibrant, and ready to thrive in its new home.
The Orphek connection: Natura iCon in action
Supporting Coral Farm Kuwait’s diverse collection, the Orphek Natura iCon LED solution delivers precision spectrum control and uniform PAR distribution, delivering color, growth, and health results this boutique farm depends on. Its energy-efficient design also aligns with their sustainability mission—combining stunning coral displays with environmentally responsible practices.
Precision lighting that sells
Natura iCon’s mixed dual-chip technology delivers the widest blue spectrum, maximizing coral fluorescence and color fidelity across displays. Coupled with uniform PAR and energy efficiency, it supports rapid growth, vibrant displays, and reduced operational costs.
Check Scolymia corals and other genera glow with true-to-life intensity in our latest showcase video.
Scolomya corals are very popular among hobbyists. Their coloration is highly variable—greens, browns, yellows, pinks, and blues are common, often with fluorescent pigments under blue/actinic light.
Video credit: Coral Farm Kuwait
Photo Credit: Coral Farm Kuwait
Natura iCon Spectrum
By combining two different LED nm colors in one LED (Orphek Mixed Dual-chip LED technology), Natura iCon let you experience the widest and most captivating blues ever seen, crafted to enhance your aquatic environment. A mesmerizing blend of blues, inspired by the crystalline beauty of Okinawa’s Pacific Ocean!!
By incorporating Orphek’s new type of LED chip, Natura iCon is creating the widest blue spectrum ever achieved, bringing out extraordinary coral fluorescence and colors previously unseen!
An exquisite tank from an Orphek client/ hobbyist that grew mostly from coral frags
Our next video showcases a 700-gallon reef aquarium (108″ x 48″ x 32″) in the USA, owned by @coralkeeperz, highlighted by an outstanding display of Natura iCon solutions paired with Orphek OR4 iCon LED bars—worthy of a post of its own!
Video credit: @coralkeeperz
This project is a testament to how Natura iCon lighting elevates every facet of a coral reef tank, turning a handful of carefully chosen corals into a radiant living gallery.
screen shots from video credit: @coralkeeperz
screen shots from video credit: @coralkeeperz
screen shots from video credit: @coralkeeperz
Natura iCon’s expansive blue spectrum and precise PAR distribution provide uniform illumination that reveals color, depth, and fluorescence while supporting growth projections and tissue health. The supplemental lighting of OR4 iCon LED Bars reinforces the effect, delivering seamless spectral consistency and high-CRIm color rendering across the display.
What makes this tank sing is the client’s skillful touch. Every coral began as a frag, selected with intent and positioned to unlock maximum color, growth, and health.
The aquascaping is a study in balance and flow, a deliberate choreography that showcases texture, hue transitions, and depth. Under Natura iCon, the display reads like a curated gallery, with each frag’s growth trajectory illuminated and celebrated, revealing how disciplined placement and world-class lighting can transform a frag-based start into a breathtaking reef.
On the other side of the globe, we bring the Brazilian coral farm Aquavila—growing corals to sell them in their shop and also online.
Over their tanks they have several units of OR4 iCon LED Bars, Atlantik iCon and Natura iCon, all neatly placed to highlight the beauty of their exquisite collection.
Aquavila has a vast variety of corals carefully curated. We like to share some of their acropora corals with yellow coloration. True yellow Acroporas are quite rare in the reef hobby.
Here’s why:
Coloration biology: Acroporas get their vivid colors from a mix of zooxanthellae (symbiotic algae) and fluorescent proteins. Blue, green, and pink pigments are relatively common, but stable pure yellow pigments are harder to maintain in captivity. Often, what looks yellow under certain lighting may shift to green or brown without very strong, stable conditions.
Lighting sensitivity: Yellow pigments tend to wash out under different spectrum balances. For example, heavy blue actinic lighting often makes them appear greenish. To hold a bright golden/yellow tone, Acroporas need very specific PAR, spectrum, and nutrient balance.
Market rarity: Because they’re harder to keep vividly yellow, corals that reliably stay golden-yellow (instead of morphing to green) are considered more collector’s pieces. Named strains like the ORA Yellow Tip or some “Sunset” Acropora varieties are sought after.
Dive into their tanks to discover their yellow Acroporas!
Photo credit: Brazilian coral farm Aquavila corals with Orphek iCon LED Solutions
Precision lighting that sells
Aquavila has chosen a variety of Orphek LED iCon Solutions to ensure that their yellows will shine golden!
As you could also notice is that they look extremely health, without any sign of bleaching, white patches discolorations or browning spots. They are vibrant, showing stable coloration – yellows stay yellow, not fading to brown/green.
You can also see lighter colored growing tips on branches – they are growth tips, which means they present active calcification and tissue growth under Orphek iCon LED Solutions.
Spectrum & Dual-Chip LED Design
Orphek’s Natura iCon, Atlantik iCon, and OR4 iCon fixtures are powered by our exclusive Mixed-Color Dual-Chip LED technology—a breakthrough that packs two distinct wavelengths into every high-power LED.
This innovation delivers a cleaner, more balanced output, eliminating spectral gaps and ensuring corals receive the precise light energy they need for both health and coloration.
With an expansive spectrum that stretches from ~390 nm (UV/violet) all the way to 740 nm (far-red), Orphek lighting doesn’t just cover the visible range—it recreates the full natural reef spectrum.
Within this broad coverage, critical bands of blue, green, yellow, amber, red, and infrared are carefully tuned to fuel photosynthesis while also unlocking the brilliance of fluorescent and chromoprotein pigments.
This is especially important for achieving the rare and sought-after yellow and orange fluorescence that many reef keepers struggle to maintain. The result is not only healthier corals, but also vivid, long-lasting colors that set Orphek-lit reefs apart.
Showcasing our expertise – Support for reef restoration, rehabilitation & scientific research
Next in our spotlight, we travel to Australia to highlight an extraordinary coral farming project—one that demonstrates the exceptional impact of Orphek LED lighting and makes us especially proud!”
The Great Barrier Reef Legacy is an independent non profit organization based in Port Douglas Australia and a leader in reef research, education, expeditions, and public engagement efforts in the region. With a broader mission, they aim to secure the long-term survival of the Great Barrier Reef and coral reefs worldwide.
They are also part of an international group of institutions fighting to address a global coral crisis.
These include the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration of the USA, Association of Zoos and Aquariums-Florida Reef Tract Rescue Project, Mote Marine Laboratory, and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco.
Integrating the GBRL is The Forever Reef Project – a critical component of a whole-ecosystem survival strategy using proven technology and tapping into global networks to address the immediate need to safeguard the biodiversity of corals. It is the world’s first living coral biobank, safeguarding hundreds of coral species from the Great Barrier Reef. This ‘coral ark’ preserves these vital ecosystems for future generations while supporting research, restoration, and education.
Their state-of-the-art facility is home to over one third of the Great Barrier Reef’s coral species and the home of several Atlantik iCon units! Soon to expand with brand Natura iCon units as well!!
The Forever Reef Project states that ” the advanced lighting solutions provided by Orphek, including the Atlantik fixtures, play a critical role in maintaining the health and vitality of the corals housed at the Forever Reef Project facility. This collaboration ensures world-leading coral conservation work can continue and thrive.”
Among others, The Forever Reef Project has the research support of James Cook University and The Australian Institute of Marine Science – also partnering with Orphek.
Orphek iCon LED solutions
We’re excited to announce a groundbreaking update to the Orphek iCon App, unlocking a new dimension of control and customization for your Orphek iCon LED solutions. This isn’t just an incremental improvement; it’s a significant leap forward, empowering you with cutting-edge technology to fine-tune your aquarium environment like never before.
Orphek isn’t simply updating the Orphek App; we’re introducing new cutting-edge technology that will blow your mind!!!
Why this technology is crucial to researches and coral farmers:
Update, Connect, and Create with Full Controllability.
Orphek iCon App – The Future of Aquarium Lighting is Here!
Because of our deep specialization in customizing LED lighting for diverse biological needs, we support growing corals in land-based tanks with carefully controlled water parameters.
This approach offers unparalleled control over environmental conditions, enabling precise tuning of light spectra, intensity, and photoperiod to suit even the most sensitive species. It is particularly advantageous for techniques such as micro-fragmentation—cutting corals into very small pieces to accelerate growth, especially for massive species—where stable, replicable conditions and rapid, predictable responses are essential.
Our ground-breaking, advanced technological developments and deep expertise in spectrally tailored lighting empower researchers, conservationists, and aquaculture facilities to optimize growth, health, and resilience across a wide range of coral species and habitat contexts.
Enhancing this capability, Orphek’s iCon ecosystem provides cutting-edge control to align lighting with natural reef rhythms and experimental needs.
Orphek latest app update enables:
Custom Programs Now Synchronize: Seamlessly align your own tailored lighting programs with sun and moon cycles, giving you precise control over photoperiods that drive coral physiology.
Time Offset: Fine-tune the start time of Sun & Moon Synchronization to match laboratory schedules or field-based research timelines.
Sync Calendar: Plan and lock in seasonal spawning cues by selecting a start date for synchronization, enabling accurate replication of spawning windows or experimental trials across months in advance.
Automatic geolocation: The App automatically detects your location to recreate natural sunrise, sunset, and lunar cycles with no setup, ensuring reef-like light rhythms immediately.
These features collectively offer unparalleled, hands-off synchronization with natural cycles while still allowing researchers to override or customize settings for specific experiments or facilities.
Together, these technologies support precise, repeatable light environments that enhance growth, health, and resilience in land-based coral culture and research programs, including micro-fragmentation workflows and spawning studies.
What Orphek is providing you with its iCon solutions:
- A perfect solution for giving your tank the natural look, mimicking nature at its fullest
- Extraordinary photochemical efficiency & blending perfection
- Unmatched dimming control technology – 0-100% for Sun Cycle and 0.001-1% for Moon Cycle
- Unrivaled Natural lunar cycle for coral spawning
- Unparalleled seasonal control for coral spawning
- A perfect solution with the most advanced & friendly App features
- A perfect solution for coral farming, research and biobanks
- Incomparable micro/macro-biology correction and stabilization
- Unprecedented biological clock correction and stabilization
Orphek iCon LED Lighting Solutions:
- Natura iCon
- OR4 iCon LED Bars
- Amazonas 960 iCon
- Atlantik iCon / Atlantic iCon Compact
- OR3 connected with Osix Smart Controller
- OR2/OR3 upgraded with Orphek iCon Dim Driver
The iCon technology gives you access to these revolutionary features
Orphek plays a key role in advancing coral research by partnering with scientists to develop state-of-the-art LED lighting solutions. Our technologies provide optimal conditions for coral growth, supporting reef preservation and restoration efforts. These solutions are not limited to researchers and commercial coral farmers—they are also accessible to all reef enthusiasts seeking professional-grade lighting for their aquariums!
Five latest post with both Private & public Reef Tanks
- Salvador Santana’s Reef Tank Update 2025 – Orphek Atlantik iCon & OR3
- Stunning Korean Reef Tanks lighted by Orphek
- Orphek at Aquarium de Biarritz – Amazonas 500 Lighting The 1,500,000 Liters Shark Tank
- Orphek at Palma Aquarium – Amazonas Lighting The Big Blue and Shark Vision Boat Experience
- Master Your Aquarium Layout with Orphek LED Lighting
How To Purchase The New Natura iCon & Price
Best Technology For The Best Price
Orphek revolutionary Reef Aquarium LED Lighting system is being sold with an amazing discount, and it can be yours today! Don’t miss the opportunity to have a Reef LED Spectrum Beast with the most affordable price!
Natura iCon original price: USD$860
Promotional price: USD$720 + free shipping (USD$140 discount)
ORDER NOW!
Special thank you note
Orphek extends its sincere gratitude to our esteemed partners for placing their trust in our technological solutions. Your dedication and vision inspire reef enthusiasts worldwide, and we are honored to contribute to your continued success.
Additional Australian Partners: Monsoon Aquatics (Cairns)/Cairns Public Aquarium (Cairns)/Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research (CMER) /MERL The Minderoo Foundation Exmouth Research Lab /National Zoo & Aquarium (Canberra)/The Aquarium of Western Australia (Hillarys)/Heron Island Research Station – UQ /Southern Cross University/Daydream Island Resort & Reef Aquarium/Whitsunday Airport Heart Reef Aquarium.
Additional Middle Eastern Partners: Burj Al Arab Aquariums (UAE)/The Lost Chambers Aquarium & The Ambassador Lagoon (UAE)/National Aquarium Abu Dhabi (UAE)/The Kuwait Scientific Center TSCK (Kuwait)/Aquatic Fisheries Research Center (Al Khor, Qatar)/Oman Aquarium (Muscat, Oman)
Photo Credits
The Great Barrier Reef Legacy – The Forever Reef Project/ Coral Farm Kuwait/ @coralkeeperz & Orphek LED Lighting
Invitation
We invite you to explore and its exclusive contents. We also would like to invite you to browse our website and participate with your Orphek experience. Let us know about your tank and share it with other hobbyists in Orphek Facebook Group and Instagram!
Sharing is very easy! All you have to do is to send us the basic information about your tank, usually starting from the beginning (when you started your tank), what are you running in the tank, the living creatures you have in your tank and of course, pictures!
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“Together we protect Nature’s Biodiversity for generations to come”
Loving Nature as we do and being environment sustainably conscious, Orphek only develops products with a significant positive impact in everyone’s life, therefore we only offer the best environmentally friendly solutions that combine the most advanced & efficient technology and, most importantly, aiming the well-being of animals and humans all together, for now and for generations to come