Quote:
Originally Posted by mseepman
Thanks for the review. Decent looking retrofit light.
I'm planning on a a DIY LED build over my next tank and have been purchasing parts for it already. LED's have a lot factors tied to them and their success over a tank, specifically the quality of the LED's used and the optics used. In looking at the Ecoxotic site, I didn't see any indication of the brand of light being used. The difference in lumin output from brand to brand is staggering. They also appear to be roughly 1W LED's and most LED's now being used are 3W.
Interestingly, regarding the PAR output, there have been a lot of comments made on forums, especially RC and NR that suggest PAR meters haven't been giving them results that made sense. People with tanks and multiple 400W lights have found that LED fixtures have overwhelmed their corals, even though the PAR meter gave fixtures similar numbers.
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The advantage of the 1 watt LEDs from what I've read is that they are more energy efficient and since they are lower power and it is spread out more on the heat sink they are less apt to require a fan. Most of the newer 3 watt fixtures have fans. No fan equals good to my ears.
I have also read about the par meter issue with LEDs. I suppose a fair model for comparisons remains to be worked out. A less bright looking tank may actually suit me fine, sometimes looking into my yank feels like I am staring into the sun. According to the website this fixture is equivalent to comparable 150 watt plus light sources, whatever that means.