spotlights were of the PAR 38 variety, with LEDs and
electronics all built into a familiar spotlight bulb form
with a screw-in base like those found on typical household light bulbs. Initially, LED spotlights were outfitted
with secondary lenses. The ability to change the secondary lenses with other lenses of different beam angles was
one of the reasons many intrepid aquarists embraced
PAR 38 LED spotlights.
The first PAR 38 LED spotlights to be available to the
aquarium hobby were brought to market by NanoCustoms
and Volx Japan. Both of these lights, the EvilC lamp by
NanoCustoms and the LeDio by Volx Japan, were made
using off-the-shelf LED spotlights and outfitting them
with LED colors in a ratio that was amenable to growing
corals. There has since been a large influx of LED spotlights
that are similar to the NanoCustoms PAR38, including a
nearly identical version by Ecoxotic with a different ratio
of royal blue-to-white LEDs than the NanoCustoms, but
both of these are still among the few spotlights to include
a good card-carrying royal blue LED.
all: j. adams
Many other similar-looking PAR 38 and PAR 30
lamps use the same basic design with fewer or more
numerous LEDs and interchangeable lenses, but more
often they use the less-colorful and less-expensive blue
LEDs, which look much more frosty than their royal blue
counterparts. Meanwhile, the Volx LeDio has moved on
Blue moon aquatics’ P30 multichip spotlight can be equipped with a ring of Blue lEds.
to a newer design utilizing a tighter cluster of Cree XP
series LEDs, with several lamp types which can include
Amber or UV LEDs and a non-changeable common lens
cluster. A novel, yet affordable new LED spotlight is the
EvoSpot being marketed by Reefkoi. The little EvoSpot is
an actively cooled spotlight which has 12 LEDs running
at 1 watt each; it has no secondary lenses, so it should be
mounted close to the water’s surface.
MuLti-Chip SpotLightS
Getting more than 30 watts of LED into a spotlight
form becomes cumbersome when using numerous high-output LEDs, which is where multi-chip LEDs come in.
Available in limited shades of blue and white, a large
multi-chip LED coupled with a large common primary
lens is the basic design of high-power spotlights by
Ecoxotic and Blue Moon Aquatics. The Ecoxotic Cannon
LED is a popular multi-chip spotlight which is available
in 50 and 100 watts in a blue and a white light. The Cannon LED spotlight is suitable for some large reef tank applications, but it is more widely used in very large display
tanks, especially in public aquariums. The Blue Moon
Aquatics p30 is a 30-watt multi-chip LED spotlight with
substantial passive heat-sinking, but more interesting is
the optional 18-watt ring of supplemental high-output
blue LEDs that turn the P30 into a more usable reef
