Removing Optics From Orphek OR3 Light Bars

My dream reef tank is lit up primarily by Philips Coral Care Gen 2 lights, but I have added 4 Orphek OR3 60cm blue light bars to give the royal blue spectrum a bit more oomph.
I found that my use case, the included lenses on the LED's were far too narrow and created visible light beams on my sand bed.
To fix this, I opened up the fixtures, removed the optics (you could swap to something else easily!!) and bolted each unit back together. This is an instructional video on how to do it yourself.

[@leighwhite1898]

Thanks for the vid pal, I asked and you delivered. Didn't think it was that easy, gonna have to give it a go now

[@ParkersReef]

happy I could help out!

[@aarondeane6934]

Great video Sam, thanks. The scape looks even better now somehow too

[@ParkersReef]

Agreed, it’s coming into its own now 👌🏻

[@TBassJaps]

Thanks for the video Sam.

[@ParkersReef]

Thank you mate 👍🏻

[@kingreeftank2428]

Done! Thnx for your instuctions. Made it a bit easier to remove mine

[@ParkersReef]

Glad it was of help!

[@MrYoann2792]

Good job 👍 the result is perfect 🤩💪

[@ParkersReef]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@aquaticnstuff7666]

I just did this. I had to leave the two lenses on the ends on because one was stuck and I wanted to even it out. I think it's a good idea. It's great now. I have 2 OR3 60 blue plus bars, one has lenses and one doesn't. Looks great!! One annoyance was the adhesive kind of peeled off on the sides in little pieces which I had to clean up.

[@ParkersReef]

Glad to hear it worked well for you.

[@ArrickthaRed]

Very helpful video. I have 4 of these lights amd might use this for 2 of them.

[@ParkersReef]

yeah that wouldn't be a bad way to go - would be able to blend them pretty well that way. Or remove every second optic off every bar?

[@sebastionhastings9009]

Looks amazing

[@ParkersReef]

cheers!

[@pn7836]

More tank tours please, they're really educational :)

[@ParkersReef]

Im hoping to get to some more soon, just tricky in this covid-19 world we live in :D

[@cheveburkinshaw860]

@@ParkersReef tours r a fav of mine too . So hard these days .

[@ParkersReef]

Im doing my best, have a few to come in the short term future. Have a tour of a coral wholesaler this weekend :)

[@cheveburkinshaw860]

@@ParkersReef awesome mate no pressure ur doing great job . Thanks

[@ParkersReef]

All good mate, I want to make them as much as you want to see them 😀

[@brantlitwiler8612]

Thats awesome.I love it

[@ParkersReef]

Cheers!

[@suchanjv]

Thumbs up for that thumbnail. Didn't know TBP was known in Austrailia. Good on ya!

[@ParkersReef]

Love me some trailer park boys 😁

[@liodiy]

interesting project, good luck :)

[@ParkersReef]

Cheers!

[@one-armed-reefer5184]

Great vid Sam wish you put this up yesterday. Lol . Had to do 4 or3 120’s today for boss at my shop lol. After seeing the little vid you had on lights got the idea to do the work ones cheers again for great vids buddy

[@ParkersReef]

Ah no!!! Hopefully it’s not too hard to get them down again if you decide to remove the optics!!!

[@one-armed-reefer5184]

@@ParkersReef I’ve already done it lol. Was my job at work today. There above our 11ft fish only display tank 2 day and 2 blues lol. All 4 have had them removed now. Thanks again for the idea.

[@ParkersReef]

Ah good stuff!!

[@sunnygoold9449]

There's a Telegraham video I am sure about replacing the lenses... I think you can ask him as my guess is they are 60 degree lenses and if you replaced them with 120s it would probably be perfect and it would direct the light through the holes... just ask Telegraham on insta what lenses to get (he will give you the Alibaba link

[@ParkersReef]

Yeah they look like standard lenses you can buy on eBay. I’m happy with no lenses though, tank is looking great :)

[@petesreef1891]

Nice one Sam I’ve got two 4ft ones with my 4 orphek v2s

[@ParkersReef]

Very nice 👌🏻

[@richardportelli1983]

Looks gorgeous after optics removed!

[@ParkersReef]

I think so!

[@richardportelli1983]

@@ParkersReef I wonder if the illumagic strips have removable optics also? I assume they would.

[@ParkersReef]

@@richardportelli1983 I think they don’t have optics?

[@richardportelli1983]

@@ParkersReef you might be right. In getting at least one for my next build to eliminate shading.

[@flreefshark76]

Looks amazing and thanks for the tips. What do you have over you Atlantic Compacts, some sort of diffusers? Anyways - I am setting up my SCA150 rimless and I also went with a set of the Atlantik Compacts v4 Gen2 led fixtures but I will be using there mounting brackets. I was thinking down the road add two 60" Blue Plus OR3-150 LED Light Bars ones I go all SPS.....

[@ParkersReef]

They aren't atlantics, they are Philips Coral Care G2's :)

[@MissenDownUnder]

Really interested to see the Par results if you ever get the chance. Considering these or the vitamini bars to supplement Orphek Atlantik V4 gen 2. Will see how it goes once I have corals before I buy so you have plenty of time 😆🤣

[@ParkersReef]

I've got no doubt the PAR would have been crazy high in those narrow locations before, but for me, that's fairly unusable... You could probably find a happy medium with 120 degree optics, but for me, opening them right up works a treat!

[@Pawelo002]

Hello, how could You describe the amount of light in the aquarium by eye after this procedure? Do You see it brighter or dimmer overall?

[@ParkersReef]

you definitely loose some punch, but it comes at the benefit of very even spread

[@loustick8484]

hello Parker, thank you for your videos, Concerning the optics of the or3 blue +, are you really satisfied with the rendering without the optics? does this affect the PAR? is the pop of colors always so beautiful? I hesitate to do it

[@ParkersReef]

yes I am much happier with the optics removed. It absolutely will affect PAR, but I was not using the Orphek to add any PAR :)

[@loustick8484]

@@ParkersReef OK but be careful because with my PAR meter I noticed 300 PAR more on the surface (bar at 30cm from the water), to take into account for your sps on the top of the tank

[@ParkersReef]

@@loustick8484 yes I found with the optics on there was a very strong and narrow PAR line. With the optics removed, its a far wider spread with lower PAR

[@jasonclements9290]

Would have be interesting to see just the one orphek bar with optics removed on by itself vs one with optics by itself, just to compare penetration and spread. love you vids Sam keep em coming, waiting on my orphek 0r3 120 blue plus bar, cant wait. how how many watts do the Phillips coral care lights chew?

[@ParkersReef]

170w at max power on both channels

[@Reef.Scape.belgium]

Hi Sam, great video! Do you already have a cleanup crew in your tank? I can only see the 2 clowns.

[@ParkersReef]

I sure do! Wasn’t going to do a video on it, but can if you think it’s of interest?

[@Reef.Scape.belgium]

@@ParkersReef oh yeah for sure!

[@ParkersReef]

Ok I’ll do one on them soon :)

[@gadielgonzalez3971]

Awesome video!!👍🏻 I was wondering i have a 40 gallon that has 36”inches long should i buy the 36” inches orphek blue plus or the 24”??

[@ParkersReef]

totally up to you, either would work fine

[@aquaticnstuff7666]

I wonder if there are reflectors you can put in there to help maintain the PAR and not lose any in the housing

[@ParkersReef]

Probably would be!

[@ArrickthaRed]

What happened to adding Kessils? Are you not doing that anymore?

[@ParkersReef]

as mentioned at the end of the video, I have a super cool custom mount to be shared for my kessil very soon :)

[@ppdv]

Hallo sam, I own the cc 2016 , want some blue extra like you tp make the light more bright….(and less purple) What is better , the sky blue or the blue plus ? Thanks peter

[@ParkersReef]

Hey peter, I'd go the blue plus :)

[@ppdv]

@@ParkersReef thanks

[@craigjohnson1287]

They would be collimating lenses - producing a narrow beam (as observed). So replacing the acrylic with a clear piece would help to get all the light into the tank.

[@ParkersReef]

yeah or you could potentially remove the black on the existing acrylic with a little effort

[@sebastiang6179]

Nice Video - very interesting :) I have 2 Radion G5 and one OR3 90 Bar Blue Plus for my 48x16x16“ shallow reef tank. I angle the bar from the side into the 2 Radions. To remove the high intensity from the bar at my 10” mounting height - should I remove the optics too or will my room be spilled with the light form the bar then because the bars light spread it’s to wide then ? Thank u a lot Greetings from Germany Sebastian

[@ParkersReef]

it could potentially spill a lot. Perhaps you could try removing every second optic and see how it goes?

[@sebastiang6179]

@@ParkersReef thats a good idea :)

[@ParkersReef]

@@sebastiang6179 I reckon it would give you the best of both worlds :P

[@sebastiang6179]

@@ParkersReef or I can wait for the OR3 Bar app control to dimm it - ok then I have to wait maybe 10 years more 🤣🤣

[@ParkersReef]

@@sebastiang6179 hahaha yeah, not sure if that is coming anytime soon!

[@cyprianlipski3724]

How wide is the spread light from single unit

[@ParkersReef]

With optics on and about ten inches above the tank, I’d say almost a foot at the sand. With optics removed, about three feet

[@Anton-42]

getting some bars over my tank but throwback ..... and OMG THE TANK IS SO BARE 😮😮

[@ParkersReef]

Haha yep, time flies in reefing!!

[@Val_Halla777]

Awesome 👍 I just ordered two 48” OR3 blueplus clones to supplement my 3 AI ‘Vega color’ fixtures . Considering removing optics as well. But mine come with 120 deg optics so perhaps spread might be ok(?) my canopy has 8” clearance AWL though.. I’m mainly looking for added color and pop...but as my AI’s are bit old I’m hoping I’ll also be adding useful PAR for my SPS . Any ballpark guess on what I can expect with the 120° lenses and without? Unfortunately I don’t have access to a PAR meter.

[@ParkersReef]

PAR drops a fair bit without optics, so if you are chasing PAR I’d leave them on :)

[@aquaticnstuff7666]

they all have the same lenses (or3)

[@Val_Halla777]

@Parkers Reef Ok, thanks..Appreciated! Cheers 🍻

[@Val_Halla777]

@aquaticNStuff Mine are custom ordered Orphek BluePlus ‘Clones’ from ‘PopularGrow’ via Ebay...they come stock with 120° optics.

[@aquaticnstuff7666]

@@Val_Halla777 interesting... now I have to find out how to get those lenses. otherwise I'm going to take out the acrylic and sand out the black layer and remove the optics and maybe put aluminum reflectors cut to fit inside. Would be a lot easier to just get 120 degree lenses though... Do you know which LEDs are in there?

[@nevilwasley946]

Hey Sam orphek might be better off designing a defuser type lens for those light bars seems as though that would give a better spread

[@ParkersReef]

Yeah potentially! Although I must say, as my light bars sit now, they’re perfect for my use case 😀

[@EzuTank]

Very nice series to follow on your dream tank, certainly as a new hobbyist quite interesting to see your approach on various items! Thanks! (Totally out of topic but; how’s your idiot proof reef tank going? Have been looking at that series and convinced me to start this hobby and draw me to your great channel! 👍)

[@ParkersReef]

Thanks for watching! The idiot proof tank is ticking along just nicely, that being said, I have some news to share about it in the next couple weeks :)

[@ItzAukeyyy]

I've just done this on my 40 gallon with 2 or3 bars. Going to do a par test tomorrow at peak times to see the difference

[@ParkersReef]

great, keep us updated! I believe it takes a whack of PAR out, but does give much better spread :)

[@ItzAukeyyy]

@@ParkersReef 100% spread. Covers the whole tank now. I was getting close to 300 par in a lps tank so I don't mind if it drops to 150-200 I might add a couple of lens if I need to to get the best of both worlds

[@ItzAukeyyy]

@@ParkersReef just as I thought everythig is between 100-200. Instead of having. 300 hotpots. Its 100% better now

[@ParkersReef]

@@ItzAukeyyy glad to hear!

[@MrDavidjacko]

Im just wondering what the par reading ?

[@ParkersReef]

Not a lot after removing the optics

[@MrDavidjacko]

@@ParkersReef thank you for the reply 🙏

[@raisethereef]

I wonder if the adhesive is used as a "waterproofer" in any way. I'd hate to see those lights ruined by just the humidity

[@ParkersReef]

yeah it likely is, however, it's still there. It stiicks back no problem at all :)

[@ParkersReef]

or you could even re-seal with some silicone if prefered

[@alanhobbs7360]

What exactly would be the benefits from this?

[@ParkersReef]

More spread. The factory lenses are extremely narrow and give a pretty ugly “line of light” in the tank

[@arturreef8117]

I am interested in these but cruios how much par you lose with this mod.

[@ParkersReef]

A lot unfortunately. I can’t recommend these lights anymore.

[@arturreef8117]

@@ParkersReef what's the reason? You mind telling. I need to add more light because of shadowing and stuff.

[@ParkersReef]

@arturreef8117 I’ve talked about them in my later videos. I’ve had one fail, the others give very little output and are not controllable. Keen to swap them out for something else soon

[@arturreef8117]

@@ParkersReef any other bands you are looking in to. I need to get a few 60 inch bars and no idea what to pick.

[@ParkersReef]

@arturreef8117 yes! Ai blades, seatorch, reef factory and more

[@cheveburkinshaw860]

Great job . I’m slipping getting in early u tube not send notification 😬

[@ParkersReef]

Bloody KZbin!!! I’ll give you the heads up, next video drops in a couple days :)

[@cheveburkinshaw860]

@@ParkersReef 👍

[@sezles1]

Anybody removed the lenses from either the Orphek Atlantic's or icon light?

[@ParkersReef]

can't say I have, but I imagine it would be a fairly similar process

[@sezles1]

@@ParkersReef yes not difficult but would it be worth while?

[@ParkersReef]

Probably not needed on those fixtures as you have a few rows to give better spread

[@sezles1]

@@ParkersReef I have spotting and the disco effect on my sand. Stratons use a diffuser on their lights to mix the colours and help prevent spotting and the disco effect.

[@ParkersReef]

yeah ok, perhaps you could remove every second lens to create better blending without losing too much par?

[@quransunnah96]

still waiting for the par test before after?

[@ParkersReef]

Won’t be able to do it sorry

[@quransunnah96]

@@ParkersReef Appreciate your reply. Are u still happy with it? i mean without lens

[@ParkersReef]

they're ok. I wouldn't say they've blown me away. The Phillips and Kessil on my system do all the work

[@quransunnah96]

@@ParkersReef i am looking for color pop do i recommend me to remove the lenses? some of my colors don't like the orphek they are just too stronge i wish they have some kind of dimmer

[@BC-fy1wn]

Not sure you have such a mixture of lights,but it is your dream not mine and I hope it does not turn into a nightmare.That said,check out Telegrahams light testing and re desighns of lighting.As always all the best and high hopes for all of us in the coming year. Doc BC

[@ParkersReef]

Hey Doc, is there meant to be a link in your comment? It's not working (or it could be just a typo!).

[@BC-fy1wn]

@@ParkersReef no just a typo BC

[@Mike__B]

I wonder if those black outlines on the splash guard are blocking any light. Seems like a useless thing for Orphek to do other than to making something that you probably will never look at directly look "nicer" That said, things looking good. Brace yourself when the tank goes through first set of "the uglies" :D

[@ParkersReef]

yeah I would recommend removing the black outline as it can't be helping!!! I've been expecting the uglies for some time now, not sure if the various bacterial sources or the huge number of snails have kept it at bay - I guess time will tell :P

[@sunnygoold9449]

Awesome vid Sam - I would ask Telegraham on Insta the link for new lenses... like 120s on Alibaba instead of the 60 you had ;)

[@ParkersReef]

Everyone keeps mentioning telegraham, is he the owner of orphek?

[@sunnygoold9449]

@@ParkersReef He's got a youtube and he modifies and even makes lights, compares them etc. In terms of light bars he has the Orphek and a few others. IMO he's the leading information source on lighting in the hobby - especially if you want the best lighting on a budget - then he runs GHL and Apex (and maybe Ekoral too) - I think you'd love his channel if you had more time... he mostly does livestreams... get's a bottle of booze and does teardowns of products.

[@ParkersReef]

@@sunnygoold9449 I'll look him up!

[@sunnygoold9449]

@@ParkersReef Do it and he was just on Reef Bum ;)

[@TattooedDancer91]

I recently replaced my orphek bars with T5's and I must say, the deadly laser beam with poor spread is no more. The t5 does the job much better. Shame really, I like the OR color, but they're rather impractical.

[@ParkersReef]

Yeah you can’t compare these to T5, PAR and spread is far superior with t5. But these give a great supplemental pop of colour 👌🏻

[@Sebadoh75]

Why not just scuff up the lens with fine sand paper?

[@ParkersReef]

could be one option!

[@markmckinnell2204]

Oops there goes the warranty Sam!

[@ParkersReef]

Meh, worth it!!

[@markmckinnell2204]

@@ParkersReef we are not all sponsored though Sam 🤔

[@ParkersReef]

I bought these from my local fish shop :)

[@si8780]

First

[@ParkersReef]

Making a run of it lately mate, nice work!

[@cheveburkinshaw860]

Sorry not I salt water keeper just enjoy all things fish is blue for carol . I’m just not a fan of the blue .

[@ParkersReef]

I’m not a big blue fan either myself, but with these on with the crisp white from the Philips is beautiful 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@bopeep7806]

You could save yourself a lot of hassle and order direct from orphek and speak too ofir shitrite and he will make them with no lenses :)

[@ParkersReef]

Handy tip!!

[@bopeep7806]

@@ParkersReef but it was a great video too watch and atleast people know how to open and close the units easy now ;)

[@PateRoll1111]

You cannot order direct from ofir anymore. Thanks to Aqua depot, you have to order from them so they can make an extra 30% for no reason and you wonder why everything is ridiculously experience in Australia.

[@ParkersReef]

Aquadepot will then provide warranty on the units though and handle the order for you. Not all bad!

[@PateRoll1111]

I’ve never had problems with warranty or issues direct with Orphek. They are very responsive. When you order, it’s the same wait time as they don’t keep inventory on hand. It’s 30% for nothing and it disappointing that you are buying into it.

[@stevengarland895]

It still chaps my ass,you pay just under $200 for a 2ft led bar that literally has nothing to it and they still use cheap ass,low quality Epiled's.. just why... Viosys (385),and Semi's are cheap enough and are proven led diods..fml.

[@ParkersReef]

Yeah I’d have to agree