Lighting History

[downbeach]

I just installed my 5th set of lights on this tank(since 2005). Here is a pictorial sequence, starting with the latest fixtures:

These are good lights, but the optics were too tightly focused for the height I had to work with.

My attempt at T-5's.

My first LED's. These were good, but I couldn't get a third one that was constructed the same as the two I had.

The first fixture was a MH/PC fixture. Some yellow huh.

 

[TanksNStuff]

Well, one thing is for certain Jim... your tank has progressed nicely thoughout all your lighting changes so you must be doing something right!

The new ones seem to have a nice even spread throughout the whole tank, so they look pretty good to me. The previous set seemed to have a bit more blue and the colors popped a bit more though. You can probably adjust the blue/white ratio to fix that though.

 

[Cdiggy]

Great coverage on those new lights. What kind are they? And what is the spread on the optics? Got to get me some.

 

[TanksNStuff]

They are the AquaBeauty Series by EShine.

 

[JRWOHLER]

Pretty cool...what kind of lights were each one? Sort of like T5 look....but it took me a while to free myself of them.

 

[downbeach]

Well, one thing is for certain Jim... your tank has progressed nicely thoughout all your lighting changes so you must be doing something right!

The new ones seem to have a nice even spread throughout the whole tank, so they look pretty good to me. The previous set seemed to have a bit more blue and the colors popped a bit more though. You can probably adjust the blue/white ratio to fix that though.

Thanks George. I haven't programmed these lights yet, so what you're seeing is the default setting right out of the box(everything is at 100%). It has a built in controller, so I still have to set everything, including the ramping times.

 

[downbeach]

Pretty cool...what kind of lights were each one? Sort of like T5 look....but it took me a while to free myself of them.

Latest installment, as George mentioned is an Aquabeauty 105W from eshine (G5), the previous was the eshine G4 mould 2 series. The T-5 was a 6 lamp TEK fixture, supplemented with some Ecoxotic stunners and Panorama's. The first LED's were Blueline 120W supplemented with a couple Ecoxotic stunners. The original was a Coralife MH/PC fixture

 

[Cdiggy]

Would you happen to know the optics on those lights? I am going to upgrade my lights to LEDs and I have basically the same clearance as your canopy. I really like the coverage you have.

 

[downbeach]

Would you happen to know the optics on those lights? I am going to upgrade my lights to LEDs and I have basically the same clearance as your canopy. I really like the coverage you have.

No optics or even lenses on these. The previous set had 32 90's and 16 60's on each fixture. What size tank?

 

[Cdiggy]

36"x18" 20" high. I don't know if I need 30,60,90 or 120 degree optics or none at all. Most of those lights are meant to hang a foot or more above the tank which is ok but I would have to redo my canopy.

 

[Classklown90]

Looks great as always jim. Glad you found one that seems to work just right

Sent from my galaxy s4

 

[downbeach]

36"x18" 20" high. I don't know if I need 30,60,90 or 120 degree optics or none at all. Most of those lights are meant to hang a foot or more above the tank which is ok but I would have to redo my canopy.

I've always had to mount the fixtures into my canopy lid, so they are no more than ~ 5" off the surface of the water. The first set of LED's I installed were 120 degree lenses, and were fine. I think you may get a better blend of light if you're using a full spectrum fixture without any optics, if they're that close to the waters surface.

 

[Cdiggy]

I was seriously considering reef breeders photon fixture but I just saw the reef radiance lights that came out with the new controller and they are cheaper and more controllable. Just don't know about the optics though.

 

[downbeach]

Looks great as always jim. Glad you found one that seems to work just right

Sent from my galaxy s4

Thanks Kyle. I really hope my "trial and error" period has come to an end.

 

[Mike S]

Looking forward to hear how they work out for you Jim. Have you noticed much in the way of a color difference coming from the blue/white led mix? Any disco effect?

 

[downbeach]

Looking forward to hear how they work out for you Jim. Have you noticed much in the way of a color difference coming from the blue/white led mix? Any disco effect?

I noticed right away, that there is going to be a color difference. The Blue tort has a purple hue to it under these lights, it actually looked like a magenta color if I turned the blue off on the old fixture. Since there is no optics or lenses on the LED's, there is a good blend of the colors, so you don't really see distinct reds, blues, greens, etc.

 

[MatteZ]

It's really neat to see the progression over the years. The tank look good before so I look forward to seeing it now in person!