Current USA orbit marine

snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Hey all,

Anyone use these lights? What is your experience with them? How do you know that they are working as they should? Any positive benefits after using this light? What kind of corals are you growing with it?

I'm just trying to gather some information on these lights before I decide to purchase anything. I have used Current USA products in the past with a lot of success. I'm curious of their quality is still up to par.

Thanks
 
seecrabrun

seecrabrun

Active Member
You know I use it. Had the lighting house leaking volts and the screws rust after 4-6 months. Great customer service though.

I love that it is programmable. I only run a FOWLR.

You know I'm thinking of upgrading to a 75 and when I did that I was thinking of a different brand for a few reasons.

To me the light already feels flimsy on a 30" tank, can't imagine what it would feel like on a 48".

The light is very bright but the PAR drops quickly and I like to have the upper half of my tank empty for the fish.

I feel like it just barely gives me enough light front to back, but I also don't push my rocks to the back of the tank, I make islands with bridges so everyone can swim around and around.
If I did go with it I'd want 2, which defeats part of the purpose of getting it in the first place.
 
mauler

mauler

Active Member
if your going to keep any light hungry corals like sps or lps that need high light you'll probably want to look at other lights. When I used them I had zoas mainly with a few lps. I think I had decent growth but I'm sure 2 of the lights would have been better but you mind aswell just get a better more expensive light instead
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I can seriously see them doing ok with a fowlr system. I've heard that they can grow coralline and are ok for mushrooms, zoas and xenia... but I'm more interested in high-light demanding corals. Even if I decide to buy two of these units, I would be at $400... and with an extra hundred, I could buy something like a photon 48 by reefbreeders and definitely have enough wattage and PAR to get the job done.

So, I'm just kind of wondering if the orbits are going to be enough and look good at full spectrum or if I should do something else like the cheap Chinese LED fixtures like the photon 48...

Just kind of in a spot at the moment with a decision.
 
seecrabrun

seecrabrun

Active Member
Definitely fine for FOWLR and algae growth is good, grows coralline fine. I planned to put some shrooms and I think that would be fine.

Honestly I think you'd be happier with something else. Like I mentioned I did not plan on putting one on my reef tank even though I'm very happy with it on my FOWLR.

I plan to move the one I have to my 20 reef tank that will have low to medium light corals and I think it will do well, could even have SPS in the 20, is how I feel.

So I do think they are good lights and can work for all coral, but the depth at which the corals are located will make all the difference. On a standard 75 and on my 29, I feel like it wouldn't be good alone for all corals.

I also remember someone saying they used the LED but also paired it with a T5 for their bigger tank, can't remember the exact details, but I do remember someone was mixing types of lights.
 
silverado61

silverado61

Well-Known Member
You also know I use it. I have a mushroom, some ZOA's, a torch and a Duncan. All are doing awesome except part of the stalk on the Duncan is turning a light brown. Don't know what's up with that one. My monti's not doing so hot but I moved my basic led up from my sump to the tank. Time will tell. Maybe that's what wrong with the Duncan. Too much light but when the polyps are fully extended the stalks get plenty of shade. Maybe its something else.
 
Dflo

Dflo

Member
Picking one up tomorrow when the delivery comes in. From what been reading will work just fine for what I'm going to try to grow
 
Bryce E

Bryce E

Active Member
Almost bought one from SWF... the only thing that stopped me was not getting free shipping on an order over $250. Glad I didn't after researching them. Just not enough for the corals I want and my tank is on the deeper side. I just ordered the chinese dimmable 165 watt (55x 3w) full spectrum with a 90 degree lens. Mixed opinions on them but the amount of positive reviews I've seen made me go that direction for the higher par for the dollar. Only time will tell so I'll have to share my experience with them after running them for 6 months or so.
 
seecrabrun

seecrabrun

Active Member
Just found out they are releasing a new one, same name plus Pro. It will have a wider spectrum and appears it'll come in a double version and can hang.

Not sure how that will compare to the chinese evergrow ones.
 
Bryce E

Bryce E

Active Member
Well nothing really except that each led is 3 watts. They are very high output. so much that you actually have to turn them down so they don't fry stuff... so I've heard anyways. (orbit's are .25 watts per led) I just need a lot more kick for the anemone's I have and the corals I intend to get. Now obviously if you look at the price you cannot expect too much in regards to quality... they have to be cheaply made to get them for $100 and they aren't programmable. I'm not gonna say they're the best thing since sliced bread... and don't know myself yet how good they even are. I just figure that for $100 and the amount of light that they put out... I'm gonna give them a shot.
 
seecrabrun

seecrabrun

Active Member
You can get them from ocean revive and reef breeders and they have been altered. Same lights but with mods like a timer and fans.
 
Bryce E

Bryce E

Active Member
I was told that it's not a water temp problem... that the light can just get too intense and scorch certain corals.. too much par. Not sure though, we'll see. Mine will be here by march 6th I think.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Bryce E said:
I was told that it's not a water temp problem... that the light can just get too intense and scorch certain corals.. too much par. Not sure though, we'll see. Mine will be here by march 6th I think.
Click to expand...
Hey Bryce. I don't think what you hear is actually true. I've got an open mind but seeing corals exposed to direct sunlight at noon during low tide leads me to believe that most corals can adapt to just about anything.
 
Bryce E

Bryce E

Active Member
Yeah I thought it was weird when he told that to me cause everyone seems to be after higher output.. the more the better. He's the guy at my local fish store.. but I knew him and did trades with him way before he opened the store. He's always been big in coral so I figured he had that happen cause he's basically a 100% LED guy now... He just said watch out for them cause some of those units are too intense, However I have no personal experience with this.
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
I have 2 of the 165W LEDs. they have 2 fans each. When I switched to them a few months ago I did have a couple corals that I had to move lower in he tank because they started to bleach. Took a couple months for them to recover. I should have slowly ramped up the lights. I keep my blues at about 80% of max and my daylight at about 40%. Everything is doing really well under them.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
lmforbis said:
I have 2 of the 165W LEDs. they have 2 fans each. When I switched to them a few months ago I did have a couple corals that I had to move lower in he tank because they started to bleach. Took a couple months for them to recover. I should have slowly ramped up the lights. I keep my blues at about 80% of max and my daylight at about 40%. Everything is doing really well under them.
Click to expand...
Oh yes, I am 100% behind acclimating coral to changes in lighting. I agree they need to be gradually acclimated to a new environment. I just don't believe they can't be acclimated to the more intense lighting systems, even mushroom corals.
 
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