Opinion on these LEDs

[wizardofyaz]

Hello,

I will be setting up a standard 90 gallon tank soon. For my lighting, I was looking at getting one of the 48" Ecoxotic Panorama Marine LED and one of the 48" Ecoxotic Panorama Actinic Blue LEDs (links below).

The guy who runs the lfs I frequent told me that these two fixtures would not be enough to grow and maintain coral. I currently have a mix of sps, lps, and other stuff. He is pushing me to get other LED setups (I believe no name brand off of ebay which he uses over his tank and likes, about the same price or maybe a little less than the ecoxotics but more wattage).

I would like to get some other opinions on this because I currently have Ecoxotic panorama pro modules in my red sea and I have been happy with them and with my dealings with Ecoxotic.

Thanks!

http://www.ecoxotic.com/catalog/product/view/id/189/s/48-panorama-marine-led/
http://www.ecoxotic.com/48-panorama-actinic-blue-led.html

 

[rtparty]

I'd want at least three of them on that tank.

 

[mcgyvr]

personally I think ecoxotic is a bad company from others experiences with their pro modules LED's burning out and then ecoxotic telling users that they needed to add fans.
I've lumped them into the "amateurs with no knowledge of proper product design" IMO

but some others like them for some reason.

and again personally I agree that 100W of LED's in a 90g is more than likely not sufficient for SPS corals

 

[wizardofyaz]

Thanks for responding!

 

[rtparty]

personally I think ecoxotic is a bad company from others experiences with their pro modules LED's burning out and then ecoxotic telling users that they needed to add fans.
I've lumped them into the "amateurs with no knowledge of proper product design" IMO

but some others like them for some reason.

and again personally I agree that 100W of LED's in a 90g is more than likely not sufficient for SPS corals

Most failures came from improper installation in my opinion. I do agree that Ecoxotic should have told people if they are installing in a canopy, a fan is needed. I find that to be common sense though with ANY type of lighting.

All of my Ecoxotic stuff is 18 months old and not a single failure of any LED. I cooled mine properly though.

By your reasoning you should clump a bunch of companies into your amateur category. Giesemann to this day refuses to acknowledge they are wrong about cooling T5s. Are they an "amateur company with no knowledge"?

 

[mcgyvr]

Most failures came from improper installation in my opinion. I do agree that Ecoxotic should have told people if they are installing in a canopy, a fan is needed. I find that to be common sense though with ANY type of lighting.

All of my Ecoxotic stuff is 18 months old and not a single failure of any LED. I cooled mine properly though.

By your reasoning you should clump a bunch of companies into your amateur category. Giesemann to this day refuses to acknowledge they are wrong about cooling T5s. Are they an "amateur company with no knowledge"?

Never heard of the T5 issue but if Giesemann sells a product that routinely fails and then they attempt to blame the consumer stating that a fan should have been installed then they should be lumped into that group too.

and its only improper installation if the company actually tells you that you must install a fan in the manual..

common sense as an engineer tells me to never push the limits on consumer products as most consumers don't have common sense. :thumbsup:
just like how cars are tuned pig rich for crappy cheap gas and horrible drivers.

but having said that..I have no experience with their LEDs other than the failures I've seen here. But that IMO is enough for me.

 

[sirreal63]

and its only improper installation if the company actually tells you that you must install a fan in the manual.

That is how a lady got a whole lot of money from McDonalds, she did not have sense enough to know that hot coffee was actually hot. That is also why your toothbrush has warnings about probing in places other than your teeth with it. Why a hair dryer says it is not to be used as a heating appliance, etc etc.

It is always a mfg's fault if their customers lack sense. Or is it?
My Ecoxotic led's have been running almost a year attached right next to my halides, not a single failure.

 

[Khemul]

That is how a lady got a whole lot of money from McDonalds, she did not have sense enough to know that hot coffee was actually hot.

Technically speaking that is more a testament to what people want to believe, rather then blaming a company. Considering the common version of that story is effectively an urban legend.

The reason things have warning labels is because corporate lawyers take "playing it safe" to epic levels. People often think that the reason those labels exist is because a company was, or could be blamed if it isn't. They're actually there because the lawyers don't want to be bothered with testing the theory. :lolspin:

 

[rtparty]

Never heard of the T5 issue but if Giesemann sells a product that routinely fails and then they attempt to blame the consumer stating that a fan should have been installed then they should be lumped into that group too.

and its only improper installation if the company actually tells you that you must install a fan in the manual..

common sense as an engineer tells me to never push the limits on consumer products as most consumers don't have common sense. :thumbsup:
just like how cars are tuned pig rich for crappy cheap gas and horrible drivers.

but having said that..I have no experience with their LEDs other than the failures I've seen here. But that IMO is enough for me.

I can tell you this, Ecoxotic has thousands and thousands of units out there, very few actually fail. You just see it here because people always want to report the negative and bash someone.

I know of at least a dozen local tanks running Ecoxotic without a single failure. I like my chances.

 

[Herbie]

I have been using 6 Pro modules for about 4-6 months. I LOVE the shimmer, color rendering and low wattage. I did have them mounted in a Red Sea Max 130 canopy with no active cooling and they did great....... for a while. Then they started to burn out LED's. My fault, I mounted them with no proper cooling. Ecoxotic cant contol how these are mounted, and a lot of people add them to AIO canopys with no cooling, and they fail. When 1 LED in a module fails, the rest of the voltage gets sent to the rest of the working ones which overpowers the remaining LED's. Its a vicious cycle, that quickly kills the module.

Ecoxotic has a GREAT warranty dept.......guess they have too, lol.
The warrantied all 6 of my modules, NO questions asked, and never asked for pictures or a reciept. All I provided them with was the serial numbers of the bad modules. They just politely let me know of how they should be mounted properly. Most companies would have just refused the warranty.

Here is Ecoxotics "tip" on how to use the Pro Modules correctly..........

" Be sure that there is air circulation for the Panorama Module including use of the rubber spacers when mounting so lights are not flush again a canopy or reflector. Also use your canopy's built-in fan or install fans that blow across the modules if convection cooling is not possible (allowing air to flow up through holes in the top of the housing). Taking these steps will keep the module from overheating and failing. Modules should not exceed 55 degrees Celsius or 131 degrees Fahrenheit. If your module(s) is too hot to touch then you will need to take steps to lower the operating temperature.

Also you will need to make sure the modules are at least 6 inches away from the water or protected by a glass top or lens cover. Constant exposure to water, especially saltwater will shorten the life of your modules.

Sincerely,
Technical Support
The Ecoxotic Team "

I have since moved on and upgraded my Red Sea Max to a 60 cube, that I installed a 250w Halide on.
The Panorama Pro's are still going strong on my open top 24x24x10 AIO Advanced Acrylics Frag tank. LOTS of SPS frags in it. ALL growing great, and have great color. This time I have all the modules mounted in 24" Ecoxotic fixture and they are doing great. I have no active cooling, but in the open Ecoxotic fixture, temps are never an issue now. I check them from time to time with a laser temp gun. They usually range from 100+ a few degrees.

I think Ecoxotic is getting a bit of undeserved "bad rap" from too many people mounting them in enclosed (HOT) canopys and then they fry. I havent heard of anyone having problems with the modules that were mounted in the proper Ecoxotic fixture.

Just my 2c

Herbie