New LED fixture 3w. Green Element EVO Reef LED Light Fixture

[misty s]

i bought the aquatraders evo 3w led and am happy with it. i am new to this hobby and didnt want to spend $1000 on lights when my system is dedicated toward fish, and the odd coral i have the courage to try. the light is very directional and spotlightish, but i like it and think its worth the price. all i have for coral is 1 wellsophyllia(i think) and a kenya tree and both are happy under this light. it is a thin fixture and doesnt cover the width of my tank that great, but overall i am happy. i will try to post some pics shortly although it looks better in person than in the pics

[misty s]

heres some pics (crappy as they may be lol)

[RuGlu6]

Thank you so much for the feed back and pictures, appreciate that.
I don't know about others but to me it looks like a lot of light. Judging by the level of the live rock illumination it is very bright. Sand is also very well lit and even reflecting some light back to the rock.
But overall light color is pretty much to my liking at about 14K phoenix kind of light spectrum, maybe i would want it a teed bid bluer. But picture may look different from actual light color.

Yes it does look like spot light, i guess its the angle of the lenses (do the have lenses?)

The solution might be to filter out as many suspended particles as you can from water, say with filter sock, the spotlight effect will be less noticeable. And also you can apply black electrical tape just under the top plastic tank rim, sort of making it wider and this will help with hiding or making the led bulbs less noticeable when looking at the tank.

Please keep us updated on corals and your new light fixture.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by FishIsGood2

I ordered one EVO led from aquatraders and should be here next week. Then I could set it up and let you guys know how good/bad it is. I believe I should be OK cause I have only softies and LPS.

I found a LED for reef tank in the following link very interesting, they show the PAR value at different water depths. Aslo you can pick it up locally in Vancouver.

http://qpaws.ca/home.html

Any up date/ reviews?
thx

[FishIsGood2]

Picked it up from Pt Roberts yesterday and installed it last night. The light is well built and installation is straight forward. One funny thing is that there is not a single sheet of paper in the package, no warning, no manual, no registration request.... simply nothing.

I will post pictures of the fish tank with a 4x24W T5 and this LED this Saturday and you guys make the judgement yourself.

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by FishIsGood2

Picked it up from Pt Roberts yesterday and installed it last night. The light is well built and installation is straight forward. One funny thing is that there is not a single sheet of paper in the package, no warning, no manual, no registration request.... simply nothing.

I will post pictures of the fish tank with a 4x24W T5 and this LED this Saturday and you guys make the judgement yourself.

Thanks for the update any pictures reviews how do you like it so far?
What corals do you have under new light?

[FishIsGood2]

Tank is 24L x 18 x 18.
T5 is nova extreme T5HO with 2 UVL-24W aquasun and 2 UVL-24W super actinic. All bulbs are 5 month old.
LED is Green Element EVO Reef LED Light Fixture 24"

Pic 1: T5 at the back (4" above water surface) and LED in the front (2.5" above surface)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7892257...in/photostream

Pic 2: T5 only at the centre of the tank, 4" above water surface

[FishIsGood2]

Continue with my last post ......
Pic 2:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7892257...in/photostream

Pic 3: LED only at the centre, 2.5" above surface
http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/...in/photostream

Pic 4: LED only at the centre, 4" above surface
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7892257...in/photostream

Pic 5: LED only at the centre, 5.5" above surface
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7892257...in/photostream

[RuGlu6]

Thanks for the pics.
Appreciate the update.
pic # DSC00968 LED only (center, 5.5") looks very purple is it blue LED only?

as well as on pic # DSC00967 T5 (back) + LED (front) looks somewhat purple.

Pic # DSC00969 LED only (centre, 4') looks normal

Pic # DSC00970 LED only (centre, 2.5") looks good but identical to pic # DSC00971 T5 only (centre). Are you sure that DSC00970 & DSC00971 is not the same light?

I don't see any "disco ball", and/or spotlight effect this is interesting because in previous posts from Misty S 3rd picture i can definitely see the spotlight effect. Could this be due to different fixture size? Or lenses on your fixture have different (wider) angle ?

But at any rate how do you like it so far ? what is your impression and opinion?
thx

[RuGlu6]

Here is someone else review on the same 24" fixture and he indicates "spotlight" effect.
I wonder if this could be the way these fixtures assembled? meaning if the led sits closer to the lens then it will be "wider angle" if led sits further away from the lens then it will be narrower angle and thus will produce spotlight effect.



http://www.aquatraders.com/EVO-24-LE...ht-p/56232.htm

Good for the price May 16, 2012
Reviewer: Anonymous Person from Texas
Got this in today. First, I'll say that Aquatraders has AWESOME shipping. Tracking numbers come quickly and the product does too! Zero complaints there. Well packaged!
I own this and several other products, but I would say that the differences between this and BeamsWork Reef Bright LED Light Fixture 24" are minimal. I was expecting a lot more brightness (appearance) and lumens (measured) from this unit. Not so much in reality.

I'd get the Reef Bright BeamsWork unit from here instead. The visual is about the same and this unit has a bit more 'spotlighting' effect.

Prices are similar so no worries. Good unit, packed well, just not optimal for my use. My recommendation would be to go for the other unit (BeamsWork 1W LED) offered here instead. I still would be hesitant to rate either for reef tanks. I'm basing this rating and opinion on my FW planted usage. Looks great here. Didn't like the look on my reef tank. Sticking with T5 there for now.....