Michaelt Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Bought this from amazon.com about 9 days ago, didn't pay for the fast fast shipping but none the less it arrived in 6 days (impressed). Was initially not sure it would work on Nz power system, but a query on the USA satellite Facebook page was answered promptly confirming it would work on our 240v power, so no issues there. The unit is very slimline, and sits almost directly on the glass, using it on a 900x500x500 tank. The remote is cool, a little bit plastic, but cool anyways. It has a range of preset colour options, rgb adjustment, full spectrum option, customizable colours and 4 memory options to save favorites to. The quality of light is pretty good, I'm no lighting expert so I sharnt pretend to be... I'm sure if you want specifics you can google that stuff. The rain/cloud effects are interesting and the cichlids seem to like them.... Not so convinced about the lightening though. For the price, about 87.00 us, it seems to me to blow similar standards of lighting in Nz out of the water.... Not made of any flimsy plastic, and both the white, blue/rgb LEDs produce light right across the tank despite only having the 24inch (what's that in cms) unit. All in all, when comparing it to other LEDs I'd say this unit is a very classy kit. Not sure how it would go with heavily planted tanks.... But I'm sure there are reviews about that cover that option. Hope this helps, feel free to ask a question if you have one and I'll do my best to answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisP Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 I'll throw in my 2 cents as well. I've had mine for a few months now. Works great. As mentioned, it is very slim. The unit itself feels well made which is always nice. As for the remote, it does feel a little plasticy, but hey, it works. It has (I think 8) preset colour variations. Each are based off white, so they're just different whites depending on how you like it and what you want to highlight. It also has 4 custom buttons, which you have to figure out how to use, because its not immediately obvious, but its not complicated at all. These are great for setting up night colours so you can watch your plecos, or knifefish (or what ever else nocturnal you have) come out and play. Something worth mentioning is that its great for a bedroom tank. You can lay in bed and watch your fish without having to get up to turn off the light. I find the strength of light a little low. Then again I am using the 36-48" model. It will hopefully keep some plants alive, but its by no means BRIGHT. Another thing worth mentioning is that the extender rods are really long, which means you shouldn't run into any trouble when it comes to reaching the edges of the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnadian Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 As I wrote in the other thread, I found the 24"-36" unit output VERY underwhelming on my 24" tank, considering the massive positive feedback the item gets. I'm perhaps spoiled with the normal brightness of a marine tank, but with the Satellite normal (non-PLUS, so slightly less wattage than the PLUS) I had to use it with a 24" 2xT8 fitting just to get decent lighting that I was happy with. With just the unit going, I found it very dim, might be OK for crypts or something but I don't think it would grow much more. You can barely see the fish and with it in the middle, the front and back 4" of the tank are noticeably dimmer than the middle (spotlighting effect of LEDs) The unit itself is good, nice finish, very slim, decent plastic and build quality, just the output sucks. I'm considering gutting the thing and putting in a bunch of 3W LEDs so I can run with just that item, but after looking inside it is not easy as the LEDs have been epoxied to the metal frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Good to see another person happy with the Satellite+. I still love mine, I have an "every day" preset and another brighter one I use when taking photos or showing off the tank to people. I'm happy with the amount of light they put out, running two rows (each made up of a 48" and 36" unit) on a 120cm wide 70cm deep tank. If I was trying to grow plants I'd certainly consider adding a third strip to get better coverage, but for fish only (and probably low light plants) they're great. I agree the lightening is a bit gimmicky, I found it really stressed out my arowana, but the complete adjustibility is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted June 15, 2014 Report Share Posted June 15, 2014 Totally agree. Really like mine no complaints. Saw davids on his tank and was sold. Would like to get the double ramp timer unit but what little reading I have done about them it seems they won't work with the satellite unit. I run mine on the cloud setting, used to run them with a preset blend but for some reason it would become dimmer the longer they were on, not a major as you just need to press the preset button to get the colour back. Running the 4ft unit on my 5ft tank and they are plenty bright enough, highly recommend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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