Ecoxotic PAR38 LED

I am looking into trying a similar type of LED light. I have noticed that they all have the screw in base like a normal light bulb how do you implement that into the aquarium world? A normal light bulb you screw into a lamp and your good? Does anyone have any exp with these fixtures, what sockets to install, and how to install them. Feedback is appreciated.

Maybe Tim (Dunk) or Frank (Hudzon) will jump in. They have been experimenting with them.

You can use any base a light bulb can screw into. the porcelain ones are inexpensive at home depot. a few dollars. like they use for garage ceiling lights. I just ordered a Dimmable ORPHEK PR25-UV par bulb from marine depot. they are $40 off untill new years eve. im thinking light for a small tank for the frag swap. and something to play around with. I like the looks of their light spectrum curve. so i want to see how it looks IRL. Has anyone tried this one?

I think on my next credit card billing month i will get a Kessil A150W pendant light. either 10K or 15K. They are the same price everywhere right now. no sales. its 34 watts, more like a 150 HQI. I can round out the blue spectrum of either of these with a pair of T5 420nm actinics. These are suitable for a regular depth tank.

I modified an old 6 bulb t5 fixture, took out the four inner t5 end caps and reflectors and installed 6 standard (E26) sockets, I run two Orphek PR25UV, four Rapid Led Par38 Bulbs and two UVL super actinic T5HO bulbs, Right now I’m happy enough with it, but if had to order new bulbs would go with LED Pacific and add a little more blue.
I have this over a 38Gal display 36 x 12.5 x 20 and have them 8" above the water line.

Before this I was using track lighting cut to length

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. How much par do these bulbs produce? Is there a MH equivalent in watts?

I had par numbers up with 4 of them but not with the 6 of them, still waiting for the PAR meter to come back north and make it’s rounds, also it’s hard to make a true judgement based on PAR as T5 and MH both provide PAR for a large spectrum so you get numbers from unusable peaks, where as LED is just a few wavelengths.

The nano tuners and ecoxotic are the same exact bulb. Just ecoxotic offers an all blue bulb both offer 12k and 20k par is better from the all blue. The white is for looks only. Personally I like them I had an all blue still in use and a 12 k which I’m not currently using and a 20k which I use for the qt. for the money I found its much better to go with the DIY kits. The ecoxotic is 5 3w LEDs overdriven not dimmable it’s $120 the nano tuners is $90-100. The DIY kit complete I have is 28 3w LEDs for either $220-240. And you choose your color and they are dimmable. So that’s $18 per led with the cheaper par38 and $8.50 per led with the DIY kit. To me it’s a no brainer. Just food for thought.

So does that mean the blue light is all you need for corals?

Yeah the royal blue is the 455-465 spectrum n the actinic gives the 420 white is so we can see them. I could be wrong but pretty sure that’s it. Someone else will confirm or deny. But that’s how I have it only with two actinic white vhos. I have very good growth and color and that’s our goal so I’m happy

Sounds right Dunk. the UVL Act/White VHO bulbs are half 420 and half 6700 daylight phosphors.

Hey Hudz, sounds like maybe the orphek pr25uv’s arent that bright? seems like a lot of par bulbs for a smaller tank? I guess i will see when my one arrives. for a setup i too would add a couple VHO or T5 420 actinics.

The Orphek pr25uv’s are 6-RB, 4-CW and 2-UV bulbs they are 2 watt bulbs reported to be bridgelux runs just for Orphek, I paid full price for mine and would not do i again.
Like I said after much research and retro fitting a old fixture I would not recommend PAR38’s except for use on one or two bulb nano tanks and then I would recommend ones with UV built-in.
For me my choice will be DIY fixtures from now on.

I figured the UV LEDs would help. a bit more fluorescing. The dense pack matrix chips will be good too. more concentrated punch like a MH, but can be mixed with blue and white and UV chips to blend the light. like in the Kessil A150w. or other pendant lights.

Ive been watching this site to see when they go on the market. These kits of theirs will streamling the DIY work. no soldering or wires, just bolt the chips into the power channels. and strap on a ballast.

http://makersled.com/?page_id=24#include

Check out the couple Youtube vids too. these look sleek and easy to work with.

[quote=“kaptken, post:12, topic:5002”]
Ive been watching this site to see when they go on the market. These kits of theirs will streamling the DIY work. no soldering or wires, just bolt the chips into the power channels. and strap on a ballast.

http://makersled.com/?page_id=24#include

Check out the couple Youtube vids too. these look sleek and easy to work with.[/quote]

I’ve been waiting for that to come out as well Ken. I saw it on reefbuilder couple of month back. Seems pretty simple to put together.

Yeah, and it looks good too, like a finished strip light, with the shield and metal art and hangers.

I’m looking to get an inexpensive but practical light for the frag swap would the PAR 38 be enough for a ten gallon frag tank?

Is this the PAR 38 you were thinking of?

http://www.ledwholesalers.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=702

These are only 12 watts each, at 1 watt per LED. but you get 2 for the price of one Ecoxotic par 38. and they have a remote control . Im pretty sure the Ecoxotic 21 watt par38 would be plenty for a 10 gallon. I bet somebody out here has been using one or tried it.

Im thinking of getting a pair of these little little 12w guys to play with too. the white LEds in them are higher Kelvin than the Ecoxotics and about the same on blues. if nothing else for fuge lighting or a nano. But hey… Remote Control~~~

I can see now, i will go broke playing with LEDs to catch up with you guys. And I still need to order a Kessil A150W. these two little guys would work nice on either side of it for a little extra light and armchair brightness control. oh and they sell them on ebay too, with free shipping for a couple bucks more.

Has anyone tried these 12 watt spots?

I use the nanotuners par38 on my ten g qt it’s fine but not prolonged use I still would want actinic supplements. Here’s my thought. 2 years ago I wanted led but held off to make sure it works and glad I did. Now they’re coming out with 420nm. I will wait till its proven. So if you get it let me know lol. Not that I’m going to waste money on led but if it hurts my corals it’s kind of scary. Ken since you have a few tanks it’s easy to try them out and they seem pretty good.

Par 38 bulbs give about 12" x 12" spread with 6oº lens to 15 x 15 with 80º lens

I can fill up a ten gal and take some pics this weekend with one bulb and two bulbs, I’ll get some of my daughters day-glow toys from her room to throw in the bottom.

I think I would suggest two of these, they are just like the Orphek only with Cree emitters instead of Bridgelux
http://www.ocreef.com/ocreef_par_38_cree_led_aquarium_lamp

I just ordered two and will compare them to the Orphek PR25-UV
If I like them and get enough from the UV I will add two more and then that would give me 12 UV bulbs maybe enough to allow me to get rid of the T5 actinic bulbs.

From what I have read of the LEDWholesalers the 1 watt leds do not give much punch and the 30º Collimated lens really limit the spread.

Good find Hudz! that Par does look equivalent to the Orphek 25. same watts, color and dimmable. I like some of their 60W strip lights too. I should have asked you before i ordered my orphek.

I think i would still run T5 or VHO actinic 420. the UV leds in these peak about 400 nm. which leaves a big gap in the chlorophyl A absorbtion curve which still peaks at 420-430nm. But they do still feed the foot of the “A” curve while also brightening certain pigments down there for fluorescing.

The LED industry is slowly finding the range on coral light needs. they pretty much have the 445-465nm range, and one of these days will fire a full broadside of light, for effect.