Showcasing an awesome aquarium and the new Atlantik iCon to learn about color pop & fluorescence
In today’s post we bring a 400 gallon, salted water reef aquarium belonging to Brad, Maryann and Cory Blakenship, a family of passionate hobbyists from Ohio, USA.
We wrote about Brad’s aquarium almost a year ago. At that time he had five units of our Atlantik V4 installed in his brand new coral tank
Brad, who has been in this hobby for more than 30 yrs has recently upgraded his lights to the Atlantik iCon and has also added some Orphek OR3 Bars to his frag tank.
A year ago Brad was already impressed with Orphek and according to him “The Orphek Atlantik’s lights are performing even better than I expected and I could not be happier. Growth rate and color of the corals is excellent, and the super clean contemporary look is exactly what I was going for.” (Brad Blankenship/ we highlighted his comment)
Details a bit about his tank:
Custom made of 3/4” low-iron glass/ measures 80” x 40” x 30” / volume of 400 US gallons
Lights and mounting system:
Suspended canopy for the Orphek units out of 80/20 T-Slot Aluminum rails.
(To read all about it and watch an awesome video go to BRAD’s AQUARIUM).
Being an experienced hobbyist as soon as Orphek introduced the Atlantik iCon with new benefits and fine tuning to the previous Atlantik V4, Brad contacted us to upgrade his lights.
We ware amazed to see how Brad’s got a huge boost of coral pop and fluorescence.
So we decided to write about the Atlantik iCon, coral pop and fluorescence.
After all, we want everyone to get impressive results!
Let’s see Brad’s impressions of the Atlantik iCon performance and results. here is what he wrote to us:
“I thought I would pass along some updated photos of my system. The iCon lights are doing a fabulous job coloring up the corals and growth has been great. I think the pictures speak for themselves. The frag tanks use the OR3 bars and an iCon light combo.” (Brad Blankenship/ we highlighted his comment)
We would like this opportunity to thank the Blakenship family for sharing his passion for the hobby and for Orphek LED lights!
Coral pop, fluorescence and the Atlantik iCon
We want to start with some words from Dana Riddle about about coral fluorescence:
“There are at least two types of color compounds seen in some corals and anemones – fluorescent and non-fluorescent. Fluorescence is when a compound absorbs light and emits (fluoresces) it at a longer wavelength, hence fluorescent compounds glow (or ‘pop’) under UV/violet/blue light, while the non-fluorescent types do not (they appear dull under those wavelengths and are called chromoproteins.). All are proteins and are manufactured by the coral or anemone. There are hundreds of proteins described but there are likely to be thousands. ” Coral Coloration – A Primer by Dana Riddle
What do you need to get strong coral pop fluorescence?
To get your corals to pop with intense and strong fluorescence your light must have high intensity at the Violet Blue Cyan spectrum (400-490nm).
Orphek has researched and developed each channel with a combination of LEDs colors and quantity based on the needs of corals; respecting their natural response to light wavelengths; and to provide the best color pop, health and growth spectrum, while giving your tank the natural look, mimicking nature at its fullest.
The new ATLANTIK iCON resulted into the perfect balance between the light corals need and the overall appearance you want to see in your tank.
And more…
One of the many features of the Orphek Atlantik iCon is to have the highest amount of UV Violet Blue and Cyan, that was developed by us to render the highest intensity of color pop fluorescence.
So let’s take a look at the Atlantik iCon spectrum and see in which channels you are going to get exactly what you need for that strong color pop and fluorescence!
Check out the Atlantik iCon ratio map.
You can see that in the total of 78 LEDS offered in the Atlantik iCon, 54 LEDs are at the fluorescent range 400-490nm!
We will show you first the UV/Violet and Violet wavelengths (channels 6 and 5):
The Channel 6 – UV/ Violet hue (380 – 415nm) Chlorophyll a
The Atlantik iCon offers in its channel 6 a combination of 7 units of UV/Violet (415nm) LEDs and 6 units of UV/Violet (400nm) LEDs, in a total of 13 LEDs for a perfect hue blend.
These wavelengths are useful in photosynthesis – they can be absorbed by chlorophylls a and c2. They can also excite fluorescent proteins found in many corals. There is also the possibility that these can induce the expression of some of these colorful proteins (both fluorescent and reflective in nature.)
The Atlantik iCon offers in its channel 5 a combination of 6 units of Violet (420nm) LEDs and 7 units of Violet (420nm) LEDs, in a total of 13 LEDs for a perfect hue blend.
The Channel 5 – Violet hue (420 – 430nm) chlorophyll a and c2
The 400-430nm wavelengths are very useful in photosynthesis – they can be absorbed by chlorophylls a and c2 wide violet band of 400-430nm, proved to be essential for the excitation of fluorescent proteins .
Now let’s take a look into the Blue and Cyan blue wavelengths (channels 4 and 3):
The Atlantik iCon offers in its channel 4 nothing less than 13 (450nm) LEDs!!
Channel 4 – Blue hue ( 447nm) Chlorophyllc2
This is the natural color of a deep blue ocean, blue light makes a reef aquarium appear natural, but more importantly, chlorophylls absorb this light and use it in photosynthesis. Chlorophyllc2 is the most common form of chlorophyll c. Its maximum absorption is around 447nm.
The Atlantik iCon offers in its channel 3 a combination of 4 units of (490nm) LEDs and 9 units of (470nm) LEDs, in a total of 13 LEDs for a perfect Cyan blue hue blend.
Channel 3 – Cyan Blue hue (490nm – 470nm) Protective symbiotic
This channel will give you the natural color of the sea water under a clear sun daylight.
These wavelengths are important in zooxanthellae photosynthesis. Beta-carotene 470nm is a photopigment found in at least some zooxanthellae. It also acts as a protective antioxidant agent. Xanthophylls 490nm (oxygenated carotenoids) are also found in zooxanthellae. Two xanthophylls (diadinoxanthin and diatoxanthin) play an important role in protecting symbiotic algae and coral hosts from excessive light energy.
Brad was super nice to send us these next photos of his frags:
We left this mesmerizing coral photo for the last!
We hope you learned a bit more about fluorescence & color pop, and about our related Atlantik iCon spectrums!
How can I order Orphek Atlantik iCon?
Orphek offers you to two ways of ordering your Atlantik iCon:
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Forms of payment:
2. Go to CONTACT
By contacting us via email or filling the form you can make inquires about Atlantik iCon or place orders.
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