Current Satelitte PLUS vs PRO

[Woodduck]

Hello
I have a new tank project and have 2 of the PLUS models in 48". Was wondering, as I am going all out (pretty much) if the big difference in price was worth it.
I got both my lights from Sponsor Ken's Fish for less than $215 total. One PRO model is $287. Worth it? I don't care about bells and whistles just want the best color choices. The sunrise and sunset is not a factor as I am by my fish almost all day and can ramp down slowly with the remotes.
Thank you

[Pardal]

It depends what you are looking for Fish only, or plants. I personally like the Fluval for plant he has for $185.00.
I assuming we are talking about LED's . These days is not worthy to use anything else IMO.
I still have some compact fluorescent left but once they run out . I upgrading.

[Woodduck]

Yes, I am talking about FISH ONLY LEDS. Thank you.

[Woodduck]

Any help, please?

[Second Hand Pat]

Bob, I have the Pro. If you like the plus you should like the pro. It is fairly easy to program but the sunrise/sunset are only 15 minutes. If I had to do it again I would consider the Aquatic life edge instead. Harder to program but love the programmable sunrise/sunset settings also shows the fish off better IMO. I would suggest checking the reviews of both fixtures on Amazon and go from there.
Pat

[Woodduck]

Bob, I have the Pro. If you like the plus you should like the pro. It is fairly easy to program but the sunrise/sunset are only 15 minutes. If I had to do it again I would consider the Aquatic life edge instead. Harder to program but love the programmable sunrise/sunset settings also shows the fish off better IMO. I would suggest checking the reviews of both fixtures on Amazon and go from there.
Pat

Thank you, Pat. I've seen most of the u tube stuff and my question remains. Can you plus or minus reds, greens and blues individually, or are they one in the same led that has to give up one color for the other. I want to go all red, some blue and a little green all with their own led. And, of course, white. Does your Pro do that? If so, I'm sold.

[Second Hand Pat]

Thank you, Pat. I've seen most of the u tube stuff and my question remains. Can you plus or minus reds, greens and blues individually, or are they one in the same led that has to give up one color for the other. I want to go all red, some blue and a little green all with their own led. And, of course, white. Does your Pro do that? If so, I'm sold.

Believe it does Bob. :)
Pat

[Jack L]

i have the pro.

it has more light than i needed in apparently, EVEN with the tank being 28" high, for my low light plants. it is only 48" long, my tank is 5' so at the top on both sides there is a dark area, but light is angled and so much it spreads fast on the way down. that spray of light also keeps me from lifting the light bar off the canopy.

it come with some basic preset colors, sunlight, full on, 10K and something else.
you can program 2 of your own colors, maybe more, the remote is out of arms reach, but definitly two.

it has actually dropped to 204 on amazon but i think current has done some price fixing and now it is back up to what i paid.

you can control every color red, gree, blue, white in tiny steps from 0 to 100.

e.g. my night mode is 20 blue and i set red and green and white to 0.
my prior day mode was the defualt sunlight mode, my current day mode is like 50 white, 50 red, 50, green 0 blue something like that. anyway, point is you can set it to what you want per color in level 0-100

the fact that i don't have to fiddle with a lamp timer, two, ligths and plugs is REALLY nice. no fans running, can you can barealy see the light. coming from old skool ballasts and NOFLO and CFL, it is REALLY impressive

there is a single white led
the colors are shared on a chip, they have their own control, and their own part of the chip, but they are very close to each other. its acutally cool to play with the levels, it is like painting but with light is you add the RGB percent.

if i were buying again, and seeing how i had to turn the light down about half to attempt to help with algae, i'd sample the market again. i like the options with the pro, but i guess i didn't need the output.

[Jack L]

2 manual save modes, and a daylight and model save spot, so 4 custom save slots in total.

[Woodduck]

i have the pro.

it has more light than i needed in apparently, EVEN with the tank being 28" high, for my low light plants. it is only 48" long, my tank is 5' so at the top on both sides there is a dark area, but light is angled and so much it spreads fast on the way down. that spray of light also keeps me from lifting the light bar off the canopy.

it come with some basic preset colors, sunlight, full on, 10K and something else.
you can program 2 of your own colors, maybe more, the remote is out of arms reach, but definitly two.

it has actually dropped to 204 on amazon but i think current has done some price fixing and now it is back up to what i paid.

you can control every color red, gree, blue, white in tiny steps from 0 to 100.

e.g. my night mode is 20 blue and i set red and green and white to 0.
my prior day mode was the defualt sunlight mode, my current day mode is like 50 white, 50 red, 50, green 0 blue something like that. anyway, point is you can set it to what you want per color in level 0-100

the fact that i don't have to fiddle with a lamp timer, two, ligths and plugs is REALLY nice. no fans running, can you can barealy see the light. coming from old skool ballasts and NOFLO and CFL, it is REALLY impressive

there is a single white led
the colors are shared on a chip, they have their own control, and their own part of the chip, but they are very close to each other. its acutally cool to play with the levels, it is like painting but with light is you add the RGB percent.

if i were buying again, and seeing how i had to turn the light down about half to attempt to help with algae, i'd sample the market again. i like the options with the pro, but i guess i didn't need the output.

Do you mean by "shared on a chip" that one chip has to lose red to gain blue etc or each color has it's own section of "the chip"? That's what I want, otherwise for me, it's not any different the way I use
them than my regular Plus. I think you have told me my answer, just confirming what I think you mean. Thank you.

[Woodduck]

Yah, Amazon has marked down the 48" Plus to $109, a great deal. But the same size in Pro is $287, same price as our Sponsor, Ken's Fish.

[Jack L]

Do you mean by "shared on a chip" that one chip has to lose red to gain blue etc or each color has it's own section of "the chip"? That's what I want, otherwise for me, it's not any different the way I use
them than my regular Plus. I think you have told me my answer, just confirming what I think you mean. Thank you.

3 separate light channels to control plus white, color chip is 9 diodes, 3 of each color and very small, and close together. each having its own spot on chip. from a distance you would think it is a single bulb, up close you can see it is 9 distinct bulbs. 3 red, 3 green, 3 blue in rows
like pixels on a tv

each color made up of 3 bulbs acts independent of the other. so all 3 blue get lighter/darker in unison.

e.g. now my night mode is on. the white is set to 0, the red is 0, the green is 0, the blue is 20. so there are 3 tiny blue lights on each chip on, the red/green are out, the row of 3 blue are dimmly lit.




i'll take a pic.

[Woodduck]

3 separate light channels to control plus white, color chip is 9 diodes, 3 of each color and very small, and close together. each having its own spot on chip. from a distance you would think it is a single bulb, up close you can see it is 9 distinct bulbs. 3 red, 3 green, 3 blue in rows
like pixels on a tv

each color made up of 3 bulbs acts independent of the other. so all 3 blue get lighter/darker in unison.

e.g. now my night mode is on. the white is set to 0, the red is 0, the green is 0, the blue is 20. so there are 3 tiny blue lights on each chip on, the red/green are out, the row of 3 blue are dimmly lit.




i'll take a pic.

Thank you, buying 2 48" right now for my new 8' tank.

[Jack L]

surprisingly difficult to take a photo of them. but you can see them. i set them at 1, anymore phone couldn't lower the exposure enough
they unit is made to sit right on top of glass with 1/4 of space. on full blast it is warm enough to keep canopy dry under it, currenlty i'm running low output, not warm enough to dry the water. not very scientific, but an observation.

i guess even the white is made up of little diodes, but never noticed, it too bright to look at


somewhere on site i did a review i think, but overall like them. the remote has limited range, and the manual control is too clunky. but after you configure it, do the storm mode and wonder, WTH did they add that??? you won't need the remote.

my tank depth is 20", lenght is 60", i have it in middle, so the top zone, front and back/sides don't get direct light, but it hasn't been and issue. if i raise it up to over the entire tank, then it sprays light all over the room. as i don't have a canopy.

i don't know what your timeline is like, but i'd hold out to the end on lights, i'd expect a new version and this one to cost less, or maybe another brand to cost less. but after what i have paid for CFL and the like, even at full price, these are worth it IMHO.

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[Jack L]

Bob, I have the Pro. If you like the plus you should like the pro. It is fairly easy to program but the sunrise/sunset are only 15 minutes. If I had to do it again I would consider the Aquatic life edge instead. Harder to program but love the programmable sunrise/sunset settings also shows the fish off better IMO. I would suggest checking the reviews of both fixtures on Amazon and go from there.
Pat


i didn't know about aquatic life when i was looking.

i like that it lets you make sunrise sunset longer and control the white and color and moon separate.

i know you CAN see a difference in fish color by adjusting the mix of each RGB channel, even just a little bit makes them look different.

if it had the ability to adjust the color mix, then it would have all the current does, and more.

not sure of its output though. i found comparing LED to LED on output very subjective and marketing based.