Orphek Unveils Revolutionary Natura iCon Reef LED Light: The Future of Reef Aquarium Illumination

[Orphek]

6x Orphek Natura icon

Client comments “
Great spread, better color blend than orphek icon.
”
“The coverage of each one is very large, I use many because I want to hang them high for easy operation and still achieve par level. I have used 5 orphek icons, 8 radion xr30 g6, 10 illumagic x4. The coverage of natura is equal to radion xr30 g6”

Natura icon The Perfect blue !

Natura icon day time full spectrum

 

[reef-rc]

@Orphek, @Orphek Tom , Orphek Natura Icon owner

I just dived into Orphek lighting with Orphek Natura icon. Installed the light yesterday on my new tank. Has anyone found a simple and flexible solution to mount Orphek Natura icon to an 8020 series (I am using 15 Series) solution using default components?

Here's my current makeshift setup using what I had on hand. Its not a simple and flexible as aligning the four hanging screws to the bar but will have to do for now.

Looking forward to a more natural lighting with this one

FRONT of the tank view

ABOVE the tank view

SIDE view

 

[Sdbuehler1]

Following as I’m trying to figure this out as well. I have these coming from Amazon tomorrow which I’m hoping will slide into the t slot and are the same thread size as the hanging mounts.

 

[reef-rc]

Following as I’m trying to figure this out as well. I have these coming from Amazon tomorrow which I’m hoping will slide into the t slot and are the same thread size as the hanging mounts.

fingers crossed. will wait for your update. thx.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

Would any of you say this is adequate for a 36"X 22" 65 gallon tank? I'd lose an inch or so in length but would it make that much of a difference?

 

[reef-rc]

I think it largely depends on what you plan to keep in the tank. I have a similar-sized tank myself that this is on. Their PAR map could be a useful starting point (btw I did not see what the hanging height is associated with these readings). Based on their suggestions, whether you need one or two Natura iCon or additional supplementation will depend on what you plan to keep and the mounting height.

My light is hung 16" above the water surface so I don't expect what they say for Natura iCon below. I am new to Orphek and have noticed with their previous lights, higher mounting height is ideal although with Natura iCon, 8" is doable.

• SPS/LPS coral reef salted water tanks up to 80 x 60 X 60 cm (31.4″ X 23.62″ x 23.62″).
• Enables positioning at 20cm (8 inches) above the water surface.

 

[Sdbuehler1]

fingers crossed. will wait for your update. thx.

They are not the correct size . M4 is the smaller thread size of the the piece that screws directly into the Orphek but now that I know that I think you could just get some inch long m4 screws with a washer and it would work. The standard washer size for m4 seems to be 9 mm wide. I’m not sure if that’s wide enough to hold in the t slot but a trip to Lowe’s will confirm. I haven’t ordered my t slot pieces yet because I wanted to figure this out first but I think I feel good enough now that I can make this work.

 

[Arkayology]

We need more pics of what corals look like with this light over them.

 

[reef-rc]

They are not the correct size . M4 is the smaller thread size of the the piece that screws directly into the Orphek but now that I know that I think you could just get some inch long m4 screws with a washer and it would work. The standard washer size for m4 seems to be 9 mm wide. I’m not sure if that’s wide enough to hold in the t slot but a trip to Lowe’s will confirm. I haven’t ordered my t slot pieces yet because I wanted to figure this out first but I think I feel good enough now that I can make this work.

@Sdbuehler1 Thanks for the nugget. That info was enough to get me to Lowe's, where I grabbed a few items to hang the light directly on the bar.

It worked out! Looks slick imo. Here's what I end up using:

Supplies:

• M4 - .70 Metric Hex Nuts
• 8mm Metric Flat Washers
• 6mm Metric Flat Washers
• M4 - .70 x 16 Pan Phillips Machine

Made this pancake to go directly into the Orphek unit. Pancake: machine screw + 6mm washer + 8mm washer + hex nut + hex nut. Not the prettiest thing but it works.

This is what it looks like when tighten on the Orphek unit.

What the pancake screw looks like going into the bar

Slide perfectly in. With the weight of unit slightly over 7 lbs., this thing isn't moving unless there's force on it.
Luckily for me, my "center" light bar isn't centered and that allowed the two fans to be exposed. An easy fix is just to get a longer machine screw (something .25" or longer) to allow sufficient gap for airflow if you run into that issue.

Just enough gap between the light bar and the Orphek light

Perfectly hanged!

 

[Orphek]

Natura icon + Orphek mount arm .

 

[Sdbuehler1]

@Sdbuehler1 Thanks for the nugget. That info was enough to get me to Lowe's, where I grabbed a few items to hang the light directly on the bar.

It worked out! Looks slick imo. Here's what I end up using:

Supplies:

• M4 - .70 Metric Hex Nuts
• 8mm Metric Flat Washers
• 6mm Metric Flat Washers
• M4 - .70 x 16 Pan Phillips Machine

Made this pancake to go directly into the Orphek unit. Pancake: machine screw + 6mm washer + 8mm washer + hex nut + hex nut. Not the prettiest thing but it works.

This is what it looks like when tighten on the Orphek unit.

What the pancake screw looks like going into the bar

Slide perfectly in. With the weight of unit slightly over 7 lbs., this thing isn't moving unless there's force on it.
Luckily for me, my "center" light bar isn't centered and that allowed the two fans to be exposed. An easy fix is just to get a longer machine screw (something .25" or longer) to allow sufficient gap for airflow if you run into that issue.

Just enough gap between the light bar and the Orphek light

Perfectly hanged!

Awesome.. my next task is to figure out if I can put some slide rails on the tslot so I can easily move the lights forward or backward when working on the tank. I see some options but need to make sure they will support the weight.

 

[Tamberav]

@Orphek

6-7 inches too close to the water for these? Only 90 degree option? Technically I could go higher but don't want too much of the fixture poking over the canopy.

I have an open top canopy on a 6 foot by 2 foot by 20 inch deep tank I need to pick out lighting for. Not sure if 3 of these would be a viable option since I don’t have the ability to hang high up. LPS and softies, probably mixed tank eventually.

It is an acrylic tank so there is a (clear) brace in the middle, not sure that matters much since it is clear.

 

[Aquariumaddictuk]

Time Capsule of German Mini Reef Aquariums from 1985 | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

The reef aquarium hobby has come a long way since the early days of reef keeping but it’s hard to know where the ‘modern’ reef really laid down its roots. One great place to start would be Germany in…

reefbuilders.com

Perhaps these guys & others like them were the masters(undoubtedly pioneers) for keeping these systems alive when there was very little tech or information to hand.
The vast amount of information these days is a blessing & a curse at times.

 

[Arkayology]

I have mine over my tank now. I'm really impressed with the color so far. I will need to find a PAR meter to dial it in.

 

[Russell G]

I finally got some PAR readings on my setup. The tank is a 180g (72x24x24) and the lights are mounted 16” off the water and the meter was an Apogee SQ-520.

This is with 3 x Natura’s and 2 x OR3 150 Blue Plus lights all running at 100%:

(Note: The pic was taken prior - this is not them at 100%)

Overall, the lights have a good spread and pack a good bang for the buck. While the PAR is decent for SPS, I may have to add additional fixtures to be able to avoid running them at 100%. I already have the Osix so I will probably add 2 more bars since that will be the easiest way to wire them in and not take another outlet in a EB832. Maybe someone at @Orphek @Orphek Tom can hook me up with a couple minus the power supplies since I have those covered.

 

[reef-rc]

Initial impressions: As someone who likes a mix of natural and blue light in my reef tank, the Natura really enhances the tank’s appearance, especially on the fish. However, it seems better suited for LPS and "lite" SPS at higher heights. After testing all channels at 100%, I prefer not to max them out without additional lighting, especially channels 1 and 2. For more blue, supplemental lighting may be necessary.

For my upcoming 60G SPS-dominant tank, I plan to mount two Natura lights 18" above the water, with a total depth of 31" from top to bottom. With just one Natura at this height, I measured slightly over 100 PAR with a Parwise meter at the bottom with normal water movement, all channels at 100%. Using my current preferred settings (channels 3-6 at 100%, channel 2 at 70%, and channel 1 at 60%), the PAR drops even further, which isn’t sufficient for SPS especially if you plan to go all blues the 2nd half of the day in your lighting schedule.

Ideally, I want to avoid adding supplemental lighting. With two Natura lights at lower settings, I’m hoping that’ll be enough for SPS, even at the bottom. Otherwise, I’ll go back to using one Natura alongside the two XR15 Pro lights I had previously taken off earlier when installing the Natura Icon for extra intensity.

 

[Tamberav]

I hate overly blue tanks and was happy to see when all led's were set at the same percentage, it is very crisp and fish are not washed out.

Fans were noticeable when it came on at 100% - no corals yet so turned the lights down to 30%. I would not want to run them at 100% though and listen to the fan blowing and the extra wear and tear that probably comes with running a light at 100%. Plan for extra fixtures/bars if SPS dominant imo (which is pretty normal for all manufacturers).

I will say with this supermoon... the tank was bright as heck last night.

 

[reef-rc]

Second Natura added!

With the additional light going in @ 55% max intensity as the previous, the algae bloom are loving it . I am currently waiting for things to start balancing out before bumping up the intensity.

 

[Arkayology]

Second Natura added!

With the additional light going in @ 55% max intensity as the previous, the algae bloom are loving it . I am currently waiting for things to start balancing out before bumping up the intensity.

No pics of the algae bloom? I am dealing with diatoms atm with my Natura set at 30%. No corals in the tank ATM. The LFS has a clam that I almost bought today...Trying to resist.

 

[James Emory]

will the atlantik series be discontinued in the future to focus on this series?

I like the more compact size and tighter grouping of the leds for sure.

The Atlantik Icons will not be discontinued. The Natura Icon is another product in our lineup. The Natura does not cover quite as much length as the Atlantik Icon. It will effectively cover an area of 31 x 24 at a height of 31" and provide par for all types of coral.