acan lighting

[125reefer]

well ive been looking around for months now for a led setup and i remember looking into acans around 5 months ago or so and saw the a103 were 600 per foot.i now looked at there page and the price went UP 100 dollars per foot.thought led were supposed to come down in price not up.

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

I think they they are one of the best fixtures out there but try AI

 

[Swim]

When the time comes to buy another LED light it will be an ACAN. The ACAN is a high quality light with a great controller and as of right now no other light comes close in my opinion.

 

[reefs4life]

When I had my acan all it did was go on and off with the controller, no little features like sunrise, sunset and lunar cycle. But I have to admit they were extremely bright

 

[PhoenixOne]

I love my Acan. I like the slim design, color output, it's quiet (no fans) and the staff at AcanLighting are beyond awesome.

 

[pecan2phat]

It's all relative if you consider what light/features to compare with. The only other controllable lights on the market are Aqua Illuminations and Pacific Sun right now. Reef Tech will be coming out next month but for now, you can compare the 3:
If you were lighting up a 24" tank,
Acan A103 = $675 x 2 = $1450
Aqua Illumination 24" kit = $1169
Pacific Sun 160w BT Python = $1199

Acan is a fixture and the others are modules if this helps.

 

[naples]

That a lot of $ for a 24" tank ... Go t5

 

[125reefer]

pecan up that number another 25 dollars .they are 700 per ft.believe me i know they are sweet lights but my goodness.what happened in the past 5 months that they raised prices 100 more per foot.plus is acan even an elite in aquarium lighting.i never heard of them before LED came out.were they big in china?i might understand an elite lighting company with a name to back up the price to rop that kind of cash.

 

[PHILYD1]

I just bought the new Acan LED and let me tell you they are great... the price was a little hard to get past but I am so glad i did it. the color is great no heat no fans and the controller is great to.. if you can afford it do it. you wont be dissapointed..

 

[sanjay]

With LED lighting you also have to consider the type of aftermarket service that the company is willing and capable of providing. In my experience ACAN Lighting has been excellent. I had a problem with one of the lighting fixtures, they sent me a replacement unit and I just returned the unit that I had the problem with. Not many LED companies right now are going to give you the kind of service that ACAN is willing to provide.

Look at the company's background, track record, ability to survive, product quality etc. before plunking 1-2K in lighting. Making LEDs is not as simple as MH or T5 fixtures,and a lot can go wrong especially in the long run. Too many solder joints, different types of LEDs, different drivers, controllers etc. The simplicity of T5 and MH is just not there in LEDs.

As for controllability, the ACAN has enough control to make me happy. There are 4 or 5 control points that you can set with different degrees of intensity of blue, white, and moonlight. Its way more than I use. I personally have not interest in making my lights do fancy dances, simulate lightning, etc. My corals in the past have grown fine without it, and I don't see it changing anything as far as corals are concerned.

Do your homework, check other sites for feedback that you seeing on the different lights especially when it relates to customer service, frequency of problems etc.

I am currently using ACAN lighting, AI, and Ecoxotic Panorama modules and do not have any long term experience with the others.

sanjay.

 

[125reefer]

thanks sanjay.believe me i know all about the service and how great all the setting are on there units.my real question is though what made acan jump there price from 600 to 700 per foot in less then half a year?i was going to get a unit 5 months ago but the funds were not there.now im looking into lighting again and saw they raised there prices.did they add new features on there light fixture to justify the raise in price that im missing.

 

[sanjay]

Unfortunately, I am not privy to the pricing policies of any company and cannot help you there.

sanjay.

 

[House of Laughter]

125,

There is alot that goes into pricing structures etc. Sometimes its researcha and development and sometimes it's raw costs or the cost to get it to the US.

Danner (maker of mag drives) is a prime example - you can't buy direct from them unless you're willing to purchase a container full of pumps - A CONTAINER. You have any idea how large you need to be to move that many pumps? Not to mention the cost to bring them in and then have them in stock for 5 yrs.

I have the 12" version of the Acan Light over my SPS prop tank - I dialed it in to look exactly like the Phoenix 14k double ended metal halide and basically used 3 of the 5 settings. Like Sanjay, I don't believe in all the bells and whistles of storm simulation etc, I need on, off and moonlight and am very satisfied with my fixture.

We are also going to start carrying the Ecoxotic fixtures as well. I'll be sampling the LED retrokit they have available. We run 9 250w halides in our systems and the savings with LED's will prove worth the investment.

HTH,

House

thanks sanjay.believe me i know all about the service and how great all the setting are on there units.my real question is though what made acan jump there price from 600 to 700 per foot in less then half a year?i was going to get a unit 5 months ago but the funds were not there.now im looking into lighting again and saw they raised there prices.did they add new features on there light fixture to justify the raise in price that im missing.

 

[Alex]

I know this is an acan lighting thread so I won't mention my choice of purchase, however I will give you my deciding points. As stated by Sanjay, the guys at Acan are friendly, knowledgable, and quick to help. track record, and product quality are also good. Ability to survive was not a quality that made a difference simply because at any moment a company can go under and your left holding a paper weight. The most important factor was upgradeability. I've been in this hobby for 3/4th of my life and only now do I understand the importance of a product to be upgraded. If I get a Bigger tank or smaller I didn't want to have to purchase a whole new system, so I went with a modular system that had all these qualities as well as upgradability. 125reefer bottom line is do your research and go with the unit that fits your needs.

 

[FMF0331]

I'm torn between acan and ai myself. I saw the acan led at a lfs in deer park..looks wonderful. Just trying to get past the pricing issue.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

I have an acan light and I'll say the colors pop the fixture looks great and I also had an issue and they replaced it. However I am not a fan of LED's in general as far as GROWTH. I have gotten barely any coral growth during the I don't know 6 months? I have been using it. Everyone I spoke to that has experience with LED's says the same. In my opinion LED's are great if you have a store and want it over your frag tank to sell corals but as far as being a hobbyist and wanting your reef to grow I think LED's are seriously overrated. MH is #1 for growth T5 is #2 and LED's are probably 3 or 4. I think I got more growth with my pc lights. LOL Again this is nothing against acan lighting the fixture is beautiful,definitely over priced though. Had I not won mine in a raffle. I would not have one. $700 for a 24" A 101 that is supposed to be comparable to a 175 halide. I think it should be around 1/2 that.

 

[pecan2phat]

I have phenomenal growth with my older generation Pacific Sun 1 watters. I do admit that the SPS dominated tank took over 6 months to adjust to the change from MH and VHO lighting but in the 7 months after the first 6, the corals took off. This is with a 24" high tank so PAR is not overwhelming but apparently good enough. Now you have almost every light out there running 3w Crees so it's only getting better.
With controllabilty, I do not need anything fancy but gradual increase and decrease photo periods are something that once you experience, you will not want to go back to the tidy bowl blue for simulated sunrise and sunsets.
As with the Acans, do you remember the KR-92 lamps that came out of Hong Kong? An avid hobbiest and successful US businessman invested a large sum of money and brought the light over to the US with his design changes and upgrades and here you have the Acan lighting fixtures.

 

[LongIslandAndy]

Warren, I didn't know you own Acan Lighting JK

 

[pecan2phat]

Warren, I didn't know you own Acan Lighting JK

I don't because James won't sell me one :lol:

 

[LongIslandAndy]

I have phenomenal growth with my older generation Pacific Sun 1 watters. I do admit that the SPS dominated tank took over 6 months to adjust to the change from MH and VHO lighting but in the 7 months after the first 6, the corals took off. This is with a 24" high tank so PAR is not overwhelming but apparently good enough. Now you have almost every light out there running 3w Crees so it's only getting better.
With controllabilty, I do not need anything fancy but gradual increase and decrease photo periods are something that once you experience, you will not want to go back to the tidy bowl blue for simulated sunrise and sunsets.
As with the Acans, do you remember the KR-92 lamps that came out of Hong Kong? An avid hobbiest and successful US businessman invested a large sum of money and brought the light over to the US with his design changes and upgrades and here you have the Acan lighting fixtures.

Warren, I didn't mean a fixture I was alluding to the company!!!!