Ecoxotic LED Cannon review

[overklok]

I have purchased the Ecoxotic LED Cannon.

 

Here is a short review:

 

Pros:

 

1) The light is powerful, it will light a cube well.

 

2) It does not put off a tremendous amount of heat, but it does generate some heat.

 

Cons:

 

1) It is expensive, around 500 dollars

 

2) It is kind of bulky and industrial looking.

 

3) Hanging kit is primitive and should be much better than a carabiner and a cable.

 

4) I had to wire in a plug, for 500 dollars it should come with a plug attached.

 

 

 

If I was to give it a letter grade it would be a C+, if it cost 300 dollars, it would be a great light.

[gwweber]

can you post a pic please

[zygote2k]

[trockafella]

It puts off an awesoem spread of light, but needs actinic supplementation.. Nice pick up.!

[DDiver]

thanks for the review...i'm still not sold on LEDs..

[Aurora]

I'd consider wrapping a blue LED 120cm strip around the tip of the cannon for blue light supplement. Search for blue LED light strip on Ebay. You'll need a 12V/2A transformer to drive the strip.

[zygote2k]

If anyone here can remember back in the day, the MH bulb of choice was the Iwasaki 6500k. The Cannon light looks very similar to that in respect to coloration of corals and fish. It is very natural looking and has a slight bluish cast. All colors are represented accurately.

When we used the I 6500's, we also used actinic supplementation to give the corals some fluorescence. These lights are no different in that respect.

[Chad]

Rob, so what you are saying is that this thing will be great in 5 years?

[Coral Hind]

thanks for the review...i'm still not sold on LEDs..

I'm with you. I love the energy savings but I do not like the direct spot lighting. Plus, I have LED installations were the bulbs are not lasting anywhere close to what they have been advertised to do.

 

If anyone here can remember back in the day, the MH bulb of choice was the Iwasaki 6500k.

It was the bulb of choice because there really wasn't much else higher in Kelvin at the time. Before the I 6500 people were using standard industrial MH with 3400-5000k. I do agree that this fixture putting out a light closer to noon daylight is great if supplemented by some actinic for the viewer's taste.

 

Rob, so what you are saying is that this thing will be great in 5 years?

I hope the price drops drastically by then.

[ErikS]

I'm with you. I love the energy savings but I do not like the direct spot lighting. Plus, I have LED installations were the bulbs are not lasting anywhere close to what they have been advertised to do.

Any ones in particular? .................just curious.....

[Coral Hind]

Commercial grade situations, not hobby related.

[ErikS]

Commercial grade situations, not hobby related.

Ah, thanks.

[steveoutlaw]

I'm with you. I love the energy savings but I do not like the direct spot lighting.

 

I know that the unit that Robert Chu made me is not limited to spotlighting and is easily lighting my 24x24 cube.....and should be able to light my 36x36 cube. I used to have a Phoenix 14K MH with 4 T5 actinics and the color that the LEDs produce, both asthetically and in my corals, far exceeds what the MH was doing. I also love the face that my water temp remains constant now that there is no heat added by the LEDs.

[zygote2k]

Hind-

There is no spotlighting at all with these fixtures. They have a light spread nearly identical to any mh pendant on the market.

[zygote2k]

overklok-

 

you have the 453nm version, correct? got a pic?

[trockafella]

Agree with Rob, there is no spotlighting at all, its actually a great spread, just needs some more color.. I also agree that the price needs to come down..

 

As for the blue LED strips, I doubt you will see them, they are way to weak, you need "real" blue leds, like the panorama modules or a diy actinics strips.. It really is a nice light though..

[overklok]

I have upgraded all my lighting to LED. I have a Photon Cannon over the Cube, A solaris I-5 24 inch fixture plus strong LED actinic supplements over my 50 gallon quarter round, 5 AI LED Gen2 modules over my 220 are arriving next week. Everything is growing well, no chiller and I even had to turn off my sump room fan to keep the temp above 76 degrees.

Edited September 1, 2010 by overklok

[overklok]

Here is a pic

[zygote2k]

what does it look like without the additional LED's?

[wade]

Does anyone have any PAR readings on these lamps? I'm really curious about them, but until I see either a spectral output graph, PAR counts, or both, I certainly won't be ready to move on one. I asked Sanjay if he has tested one, but he hasn't been given one to test as of yet.

[flakko]

i just bought one of this cannon led to replace my k2 viper 150w metal halide running a phoenix 14k..

lets see how it works..

i bought for $ 212.50 including shipping ..

does anyone know the PAR reading on this light

[zygote2k]

Where did you get one for $212 including shipping? That's way below wholesale prices unless it's a knockoff...

[JungliztKruger]

I bought this light about a month ago and am pleased with it. I bet in a few months I will be showing some great growth pics. Even with the recent heat spike my tank never got higher than 80 degrees!

[zygote2k]

Light doesn't grow corals as fast as excellent water chemistry grows corals.

[F&Fmgr]

Light doesn't grow corals as fast as excellent water chemistry grows corals.

 

Hows the skimmer working on your cube?