~LadyBug~ Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 I'm looking at getting an Evolve 4 pico for a macro algae tank, some dragons breath and whatever else I track down (any suggestions in the blue family?), and I'm wondering about the lighting. Is the existing lighting enough? Would an EcoPico light with say three strips be better? Or something else? I'm looking to stay under $100 and not splash a lot of light elsewhere. Thanks! Link to comment
dtitus1 Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 http://www.ebay.com/itm/ABI-PAR38-Blue-White-LED-Aquarium-Grow-Light-Bulb-12W-/130959417889?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e7dca2221 This one is working SUPER nicely for me. Spectrum is a bit whiter in real life than the picture, but I fixed it last night by taping over some of the white leds and I gotta say, a superb light for the money no doubt. You would need to swap out the optics though which is cheap and easy. The eco-picos also look nice from what I can tell but a bit more money. If you were gonna spend that much I'd get a ledtric par30. Link to comment
~LadyBug~ Posted October 5, 2013 Author Share Posted October 5, 2013 DIY or par30 would work The boostled par30 looks nice. Thanks for the suggestion! http://www.ebay.com/itm/ABI-PAR38-Blue-White-LED-Aquarium-Grow-Light-Bulb-12W-/130959417889?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e7dca2221 This one is working SUPER nicely for me. Spectrum is a bit whiter in real life than the picture, but I fixed it last night by taping over some of the white leds and I gotta say, a superb light for the money no doubt. You would need to swap out the optics though which is cheap and easy. The eco-picos also look nice from what I can tell but a bit more money. If you were gonna spend that much I'd get a ledtric par30. I always wonder about the cheap ones! How do you go about swapping out the optics? I'm usually up for a little easy modding if I have enough info! How does Ledtric compare to boostLED? I feel like I've heard the name before, but I'm more familiar with BoostLED. Link to comment
dtitus1 Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 All you do is unscrew the faceplate, and you take out the lenses, put the ones in that you want, and rescrew it. The lenses just sit there so it's easy but putting the faceplate back on takes the longest because you have to do it without them sliding out of place. All in all it took me about 15 minutes and a screwdriver. I'm actually thinking about painting over the lenses over some of the whites. Right now I have them covered in 2-3 layers of double sided tape which dims them or for some blocks them out completely and it makes the color look really really nice, about on the level of the LEDtric bulb for half the price. Since I have extra optics laying around think I might give it a whack tonight and see what it looks like. I plan on keeping the 90 degree optics on all the blues and doing 2 whites with no optics and see how it looks I will let you know how it turns out if you like. Link to comment
~LadyBug~ Posted October 5, 2013 Author Share Posted October 5, 2013 All you do is unscrew the faceplate, and you take out the lenses, put the ones in that you want, and rescrew it. The lenses just sit there so it's easy but putting the faceplate back on takes the longest because you have to do it without them sliding out of place. All in all it took me about 15 minutes and a screwdriver. I'm actually thinking about painting over the lenses over some of the whites. Right now I have them covered in 2-3 layers of double sided tape which dims them or for some blocks them out completely and it makes the color look really really nice, about on the level of the LEDtric bulb for half the price. Since I have extra optics laying around think I might give it a whack tonight and see what it looks like. I plan on keeping the 90 degree optics on all the blues and doing 2 whites with no optics and see how it looks I will let you know how it turns out if you like. Sounds really simple. I'd love to know how it goes! Where do you get the lenses? Link to comment
dtitus1 Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 You can get them from a ton of different LED sites, or you can ask people on here if they have any extras they'll sell you. I contacted reefbreeders too and they said they will ship a full set for like 10 bucks including shipping, but I'd see on here if anyone has any extras they will give you cheaper I have a ton of optics but unfortunately not enough 90's otherwise I'd sell you some of mine. Link to comment
dtitus1 Posted October 5, 2013 Share Posted October 5, 2013 Actually, think I'm just going to keep the tape on there for now cause I have other stuff I have to work on tonight. Honestly it doesn't bother me that much having it on there and it's not melting or anything. You don't notice it unless you're looking right at the LEDs in which case you're gonna hurt your eyes anyways lol. Link to comment
dtitus1 Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 Just wanted to show you what I ended up with. Excuse the crappy cellphone pic but its the only thing that captures the color more or less. Link to comment
~LadyBug~ Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 Actually, think I'm just going to keep the tape on there for now cause I have other stuff I have to work on tonight. Honestly it doesn't bother me that much having it on there and it's not melting or anything. You don't notice it unless you're looking right at the LEDs in which case you're gonna hurt your eyes anyways lol. Sounds easier anyway! Just wanted to show you what I ended up with. Excuse the crappy cellphone pic but its the only thing that captures the color more or less. Thanks for posting the pic! Looks sweet; what all do you have/are you planning? I think I see some nice shrooms Link to comment
dtitus1 Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Yeah I've got the shrooms some zoas and a piece of blue fuchea in there right now, I plan on adding a ricordea and a birdsnest soon and then some dragons breath and at least 1 lps of some kind and I think that'll be about all that will fit in there. Link to comment
~LadyBug~ Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 Yeah I've got the shrooms some zoas and a piece of blue fuchea in there right now, I plan on adding a ricordea and a birdsnest soon and then some dragons breath and at least 1 lps of some kind and I think that'll be about all that will fit in there. Cool! I love my dragons breath-it filled in all the empty spots really well and very quickly, and now that it's time to prune, its sold and shipped very well too, which gives me extra reef money. Hence the choice to have a macro-dominated tank! (I think I might do a few zoos, too, and maybe a gorg or two, also.) Link to comment
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