Questionable Tactics By LED Company?

Orphek...

 

Sorry, I probably got a little off topic on my rant. I will try to find some links if I can, although its been awhile since I'm stumbled across those threads. I don't like companies that bash other companies either. I do not know where ophek gets their leds, but I do know that they don't give hardly any information or specs on them. Ecotech is using cree leds, and proven quality led. My theory is, do you really think a small company like orphek can just produce an led from scratch that is better than a huge proven company like cree? I highly doubt its that easy. But that's enough of my opinions, back to the topic at hand...

That guy bashed the ecotech without even seeing one. Nobody can sit here and make me believe for one second that he isn't getting something from orphek to do so. Just like I'm curious on why super old orphek threads get revived with a post hyping oprhek products by someone who just signed up to the forum and hasn't made any other posts.....hmmm

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I don't really see that this is anything new or that it needs special light. Shilling has always been. Every brand has some over zealous fan boys making outrageous claims. Companies claiming neutrality while shilling and fanatical claims are wide spread is nothing new either. Yes they may be able to claim no direct involvement, but they sure love the press.

And as far as testing an Orphec light.. it's real simple...buy one and test it. There are plenty of testing avenues that start impartial, but in time end up being bought through dealing with companies and being given stuff to do. There are also other "impartial" testers out there in all kinds of hobbies that use their own money and do their own tests. Does not make them right, but it is less of a cloudy picture.

Guy on RC buys every skimmer put out and tests them himself then sells them. You don't have to believe what he says, but at least he is not getting special deals to cloud his judgment. And even just because some guy tests stuff, does not mean he is the best at it and that every company is crap until proven not by some supposed gure of testing. I realize Sanjay has quite a reputation, and I'm not trying to suggest he does not deserve it, I'm just saying....

In the end it is all the same as it has been. Buyer beware. Educate your self on what you are buying... don't belive the hype... If it's too good to be true it probably is...the truth is usually found in the middle of the extremes.

 

All I know is if that first link PAR graph is true, and if they truly just grabbed LED's off the shelf, the spectrum is shifted too far to be of true use in our hobby.

LED's have the potential to give the light needed, but the difficulty is in highlighting the exact spectrum that photosynthesis and its other rudimentary reactions are based on...

If They Used some crappy random LED's off the shelf somewhere, they are going to be wasting up to 3/4's the energy and 'light' that we see... IE it is only giving about 20-25% of its light in the spectrum corals need.


I don't care about which company it is that makes a bad product, I won't buy it. But we should wait to get 3rd party neutral PAR testing on this light to see what the truth is...

 

I know they argue that their lights have more PUR so, the PAR reading is not as relevant. If this was true I could see this, however, I find it mind boggling that they can know what the PUR range is for our corals when there is no definitive data in the literature LOL.

I do like that their spectrum drops down to the lower end of the spectrum though. crees really don't get much below 450nm. Whether this is useful for corals or not I don't know. Visually it may be appealing though, although that is more of a personal preference.

 

First I should disclose that I'm an extremely satisfied Orphek user.

I read the captive aquatics post about the new ecotech and they are passing judgement on the ecotech without testing it in hand.

The reefbuilders post seems off base as well and almost angry. I do like the fact that they exposed Mike M for what he does.

I think that both sides should do a shoot out with scientific data to back everything up. 2 3rd party purchased products going head to head in a showdown!

 

there was a series (I believe 6) of articles published by Dana Riddle a few years ago that was majorly overlooked... have you stumbled upon it?
it goes well into the major photosystems of hundreds if not thousands of corals

i was directed to a few threads on RC about this matter. Mostly reputable hobbyists that were questioning the lack of additional and corresponding data. Orphek got pretty defensive and it turned into an argument. All said posts were deleted by a mod just a few hours later.

 

I saw that Orphek stated that Mike is a distributor and is cutting ties with him, but Mike's LinkdIn profile says he is a Director at the company; do we know which one it is?

 

I have Dana's AA page bookmarked, I think I have read through almost all, if not all of it by now. Which 6 are you specifically referring too though? I'll have to re-read them and see if I still agree with my statement. From what I recall though, I believe I still stand by that.

Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

 

Exactly the problem I had finding them again. The posts get removed by mods, but this is exactly what I'm talking about. Ask orphek for data and receive rude defensive responses and no answers. There's a reason they don't provide detailed data on their "power" leds. I personally will never give an ounce of business to orphek strictly because of the lack of specs and the way they conduct themselves on forums. Especially when there are great companies out there like boost and ecoxotic that publish data and answer questions and offer reasonable pricing.

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