# Orphek Atlantik LED Lighting Unit - Review (On going).....



## Taipan

Enclosed are comparison pictures of the Orphek Atlantik (bottom unit) v.s. the Orphek Nilus (top unit). A current weblink is also provided for additional information:

http://orphek.com/orphek-products/atlantik/


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## altcharacter

And this is the guy that said "I'm broke!!"
Now you owe me dim-sum!


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## jmb

Nice! Looking forward to your updates and pictures to come. I been very interested in these lights. Congratulations!


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## LTPGuy

New to salt but WOW! Do you mind sharing how much one of these goes for?


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## Taipan

You can find authorized retailers and price points searching online. I paid a little less since I have a good relationship with the company and the retailer - I've upgraded 3x in the course of a year. I upgraded by choice.

But make no mistake; I also made it clear that I will be unforgiving in my review if I find that these units do not live up to my expectations. I will be unbiased in my review. There will be pros and cons.

So far so good. I'm enjoying the output of the lights and the reaction/results of my corals. I'm currently using the pre-set timers/functions as I'm still trying to figure the apparently complex maze of setting up my own lighting program.


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## Taipan

*Atlantik V2....yes...V2.....*

It has been 4 months since I received these lights; and at some point around the 3 month mark I was going to write a review and update.....I still should.  To start off with - my Display dimensions are 48" x 24" x 24". I have 2 Orphek Atlantiks lighting up this Display; currently hanging approx 10" above it.

I can say that after 4 months - I LOVE these lights. Programming the lights to my specifications took a little bit of playing around with the settings. It does take a while (at least for me) to conceptualize the four lighting channels and how to set them up. I had to literally draw it out and write it down several times. However; once you recognize and get a 'feel' for how the programming works it gets easier. You can run/program each channel to light up at 1% intensity all the way to 100% intensity.

These lights are BRIGHT and I have on occasion burnt coral that required low/minimal light (ie. pectinia). Despite being placed on the substrate away from direct focus (ie. directly underneath the LEDs); the pectinia still burnt and began to peel. It was not until I placed the coral in a sheltered overhang area did it start to recover. I suggest (like everyone else) to acclimate your corals over time to the intensity.

The settings of balancing whites and blues are nearly infinite; and like a little school kid you will find yourself playing and adjusting the settings to find the sweet spot to your liking. I haven't had the opportunity to check for PAR values yet. I was going to do so before I wrote this precis however it was difficult to balance my time and availability of a par meter. It's still a work in progress.

What I can tell you so far is that my LPS have grown and coloured up nicely. For the SPS lovers out there - the SPS pieces that I do have have done so as well. I can't complain especially for a person that has the water parameters that I do.  We'll just call it "nutrient rich" and leave it at that. Inverts such as my Maxima clams and Haddoni anemones are also thriving under the light.

Orphek made a claim in one of their advertisements (I forget which specific one/tag line) that the Atlantik tried to emulate or balance the 'look' of T5s and metal halides. While I have never used metal halides; I still have friends that swear by them. I understand the concept Orphek was trying to convey and I believe it is a valid claim. The look of corals and fish under these lights do manage to do that. In fact, looking at the display from a distance the display and room itself glows as if there were a mixture of metal halides and T5s. It's hard for me to explain. I'm sorry I couldn't do better.

There are also "cloud" and overcast settings to simulate cloudy periods in the day. From my experience these are "pre-set" settings at the same time everyday. It's pre-determined "cloudy" settings that you can set as opposed to random like some competitors. Some competitors also have "lightning" settings. The Atlantiks do not (at least from what I have seen).

The units run quiet and cool. I haven't had any issues with build quality. There is a separate controller that is used to set each individual lighting unit which is a little odd. You plug the controller in and adjust the settings to your specifics; unplug it and forget about it. That's the theory. I originally thought that this design was to keep costs down and perhaps have one less thing to repair in case of a breakdown. At least I think I was 1/2 correct. These units aren't cheap. However I believe the value is there from what I've seen. Having the controller separate from the actual lighting unit is better in case there ever is an issue with the controller; you replace the controller instead of tearing apart the light.

One final note: I'm using the Wide angle lenses for these units. The spread seems to be very good and I am getting good coral growth even along the peripherals of my display. Unless you have a deep aquarium or a specific need for a narrower spread; I would stick with the wide lens/optics. The wide lenses I have are already intense; I can't imagine what the 'normal'/regular lenses would be like or what they would do to corals.

Pros: - Very intense light with rich colouration of corals.
- Near infinite settings of white and blue lights
- Good solid build quality, runs quiet and cool.
- My experience with Orphek communications has been great. I know
and have read about poor performance in this area. My experience has
been good so far. No complaints.

Cons: - Very poor instructions provided to set the units. It takes time
to understand the messages being conveyed.
- Perhaps a longer wire to attach the controller to lighting unit would
be more convenient when setting up or changing the lighting settings
are required. I'm surprised that one end of the wire seemed like an old
'firewire' while the other end was a USB. Perhaps it's a proprietary
issue. I would have thought they would have used both ends as USB
one end as micro USB. It doesn't affect performance - just an
observation.

Overall, I'm very happy with my units. I intend to post PAR values for reference once I get my hands on a PAR meter.

And now for the really good news. I had to wait until MACNA since Orphek was due to announce a new(er) line up there. Have a look at the Atlantik V2. Not a huge leap in the lighting units themselves (at least on the surface); but the wireless feature seems very cool. I'll be trying to get my hands on the wireless module to test out soon.  I'll review the wireless features in due time (I hope). 

http://reefbuilders.com/2013/08/27/...-red-blue-phosphor-leds-wifi-android-control/

Disclaimer: I do NOT work for Orphek or any of its affiliates. I do NOT get any financial compensation (or otherwise) for these reviews.


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## rickcasa

Taipan said:


> You can find authorized retailers and price points searching online. I paid a little less since I have a good relationship with the company and the retailer - I've upgraded 3x in the course of a year. I upgraded by choice.
> 
> But make no mistake; I also made it clear that I will be unforgiving in my review if I find that these units do not live up to my expectations. I will be unbiased in my review. There will be pros and cons.
> 
> So far so good. I'm enjoying the output of the lights and the reaction/results of my corals. I'm currently using the pre-set timers/functions as I'm still trying to figure the apparently complex maze of setting up my own lighting program.


Your brand loyalty knows no bounds. I'm sure these are great lights but I just saw a pic of it and wow it looks awesome with glow on the edge of the unit. Very sexy...or is that the Atlantik?


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## sig

Taipan said:


> Disclaimer: I do NOT work for Orphek or any of its affiliates. I do NOT get any financial compensation (or otherwise) for these reviews.


Cons: - there is one additional - Price

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## wtac

I for one am glad that they have gone the multi color, multi channel, dimming route.

Orphek was my second foray w/LEDs with their PR 156 units. They have made a complete 180*of LED dimming and other features which in the past, their views were quite the opposite for the "general masses".


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## Taipan

Totally agree. Let's face it....as 'good' as the PR-156 was/is......having a flagship unit that had NO battery back-up in terms of having to reset the time when there was power outage - was a terrible design. The lights themselves were powerful - the driver and back-up failsafe wasn't well thouught out.


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## Curtis

*Orphek Atlantik V-2*

I have gone from the Orphek Niles to the Orphek Atlantik and now the Orphek Atlantik V-2. The Niles control box died after about two years. I went after another Niles but by that time Orphek had discontinued that model. I purchased the Atlantik in its place and was very happy with the light but had a tough time learning how to program a light. I got in touch with Orphek sales department who bailed me out with detailed instructions, I became a very happy man. I was made aware of the new Atlantik V-2 model in the works coming out in 6 months. This model would be WiFi Android programmable with a difference spectrum of lights, I had to have it even though I could upgrade my current Atlantik to be WiFi compatible I would be lacking the spectrum upgrade. The new V-2 model far exceeds my expectations in programming and LED light a day.
my aquarium in my opinion is now showroom worthy and programmable through a WiFi Android tablet.
My year old Atlantik is up for sale.
Here are few photos of my aquarium with the new Orphek Atlantik V-2 fixture.


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