EcoPico LED PAR and review

[rtparty]

Well I went from a RapidLED PAR38 bulb to the EcoPico LED strips over my 7.5g tank. The PAR38 bulb was too powerful and I didn't like looking at it hang over the tank. I didn't get readings of the RapidLED bulb but I just got some for my setup.

Here are the details of what I have and the PAR readings.

Mr. Aqua 7.5g tank (12x12x12 cube) High Clarity glass
EcoPico LED arm and 3 LED strips (2-12k/453nm, 1 453nm). So 3 strips total.
Vortech MP10 (running during measurements)


The red numbers are dead center or right on the corals themselves.

The yellow numbers are in the rear corners of the tank.

The PAR numbers aren't exactly mind blowing but I didn't expect them to be either. I am NOT keeping anything light demanding. No SPS or clam will ever see this tank.

Now for my review:

I love these little lights. They aren't overly bright and my corals have responded great in the 1.5 weeks I have had them. I can control dusk/dawn now and stare at my tanks with all blue LED's. LOVE THAT!

The PAR38 bulb was bleaching everything in the tank. Zoanthids never opened and my 2 LPS were losing color quickly. My pink tip frogspawn was going light green and had no pink of any kind. It isn't the bulbs fault, I just didn't need that much light overall.

The pink tips are coming back on the frogspawn and looking great. The lobo has gotten a ton of its' color back as well. My one zoanthid may be dead but the other two are opening now and looking great.

These LED's are not meant to house high light corals. They were originally made for a FW tank to keep some fish. I will say that the movies are REALLY deceiving though. One LED strip barely creates any light. The movies on these LED strips make it look brighter than they really are. (Yes, I know that cameras have a tough time picking up LED light. Just look at how crappy my picture is!)

If you want a clean looking light setup for your rimless tank, I highly recommend these. Just know your limitations! :deadhorse:

In the end I think I will add 2 more strips to the tank, giving me 5 in total. I am thinking of adding another all blue and an all white. I am hoping the all white will brighten up the tank for daytime viewing and the blue LED's will add that much more POP overall.

I give them a 4 out of 5 stars overall and hope that Ecoxotic makes some reflectors for these strips. They waste a lot of light outside the tank.

Thanks!

 

[pmrossetti]

looks real snazzy.

 

[rtparty]

Just wanted to update this thread.

My corals have colored up so nicely under these lights! I have 3 lobos, frogspawn, armor of god palys, a favia and Tyree War Coral all in the tank now and everything is growing and is extremely happy.

I give these lights a 4.5 out of 5 now. A reflector of some sort would push me to a 5. Since the LED's shoot out 180 degrees, there is a lot of wasted light outside the tank IMO.

 

[Twiegs]

I'm thinking about picking up this tank as well. What do you mean by 3 LED strips? I was in the store looking at the tank yesterday and saw the light which I believe had 3 LED chips on the stock light. Is your light stock or did you modify it somehow?

Thanks!!

 

[125mph]

I'm thinking about picking up this tank as well. What do you mean by 3 LED strips? I was in the store looking at the tank yesterday and saw the light which I believe had 3 LED chips on the stock light. Is your light stock or did you modify it somehow?

Thanks!!

Theres two models.. One strip and three strip. You can also add two more for a total of five strips.

 

[rtparty]

I'm thinking about picking up this tank as well. What do you mean by 3 LED strips? I was in the store looking at the tank yesterday and saw the light which I believe had 3 LED chips on the stock light. Is your light stock or did you modify it somehow?

Thanks!!

The standard EcoPico comes with one LED strip. There are three LED's per strip.

I have three strips thus 9 LED's total. You can add up to five per arm although the fifth strip doesn't fit perfectly. Ecoxotic created the arm so you could add two more strips with no problem. The 4th and 5th strips stick out a tiny bit on each side but it isn't bad at all.

 

[Twiegs]

OK got it now. Thank you!!

 

[JJIM]

Hey there Ryan, how is your corals performing after two + more months with the three strips?

Anyone else having good luck with their 6' Ecoxotic lights? I have just purchased the Ecopico 5 gallon with 4 strips attached to the 4 way splitter and have not had long enough to see effects... only a week or so thus far.

 

[rtparty]

Hey there Ryan, how is your corals performing after two + more months with the three strips?

Anyone else having good luck with their 6' Ecoxotic lights? I have just purchased the Ecopico 5 gallon with 4 strips attached to the 4 way splitter and have not had long enough to see effects... only a week or so thus far.

I sold the tank and setup about a month ago but everything did great the whole time I ran the lights. I am now using an Ecoxotic RGB module over my 24g Nano and things are doing good. I have a shipment of one more module and three stunners on the way and am excited to add them!

I highly recommend the Ecoxotic stuff.

 

[autodave]

I am using the stock setup,and everything is doing good.I mostly have zoo's,ric's,and a few favia's and a couple maxi-mini's.I have not thought about adding addtional lights

 

[krshlln300]

With regards to recommending ecoxotic lights... I love the color pop and accents I get from the stunners and PAR 38 I have, however has anybody had issues with electrical failures and or fires? I have not yet fortunately but I have been hearing more and more stories about ecoxotic lights catching on fire and wondered if I should consider switching? Thanks.

 

[rtparty]

With regards to recommending ecoxotic lights... I love the color pop and accents I get from the stunners and PAR 38 I have, however has anybody had issues with electrical failures and or fires? I have not yet fortunately but I have been hearing more and more stories about ecoxotic lights catching on fire and wondered if I should consider switching? Thanks.

Im pretty active on this site and a couple others and have not heard a single thing about fires or electrical issues.

My lights don't get warm enough that I would ever worry about a fire. A short is always possible when running any type of electricity.

Where have you heard about fires?

 

[JJIM]

I am using the stock setup,and everything is doing good.I mostly have zoo's,ric's,and a few favia's and a couple maxi-mini's.I have not thought about adding addtional lights

What stock setup are you referring to Dave? There are two versions when you buy the ecopico tank. One comes with a single strip and the reef version comes with three strips.

Ryan, prior to selling you system how many 6' light strips were you using?

What corals were in the tank?

I currently have four strips on my fixture and wonding if it will be sufficient for LPS, monti frags, zoos, acans, etc. Thanks again!

P.S. Anyone else feel free to chime in if you have an ecopico and are using these 6' Ecoxotic light strips, but please note # of strips when referring to successes or failures.

 

[soverjas]

looks nice! i seen one installed on a edge nanos. looked good.

 

[rtparty]

What stock setup are you referring to Dave? There are two versions when you buy the ecopico tank. One comes with a single strip and the reef version comes with three strips.

Ryan, prior to selling you system how many 6' light strips were you using?

What corals were in the tank?

I currently have four strips on my fixture and wonding if it will be sufficient for LPS, monti frags, zoos, acans, etc. Thanks again!

P.S. Anyone else feel free to chime in if you have an ecopico and are using these 6' Ecoxotic light strips, but please note # of strips when referring to successes or failures.

I was using three strips total. 2 of the combo and one all blue. I would have liked to add another all blue and combo but knew the tank was coming down so I didn't invest in them.

I had frospawn, 3 lobo brains, some armor of god palys and 2 favias. Everything did great! I would say that any LPS should be fine but I would be careful with SPS. You could try a frag out and just keep it high and monitor it.