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Coral Vue Hydros

Anyone not really like the look of LED?


onefang

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So.. let me say right off.. I don't want any flame war in this thread, and am not intending to troll in any way.

I am looking for some constructive input.

 

After having a few LED setups in the past, and never really liking the look and coverage, I have been debating on going back to a fluorescent setup for my tank. I get crazy looks when I talk to my reefing friends when I say that I find "shimmer" to be somewhat obnoxious, and that I like the light soaked, even look of fluorescent fixtures better. Even with denser groupings of LEDs with wide 120 degree optics, all the fixtures I've had(which include, AI Sol Nano, Several PAR30 and 38s, 65w Ebay fixture, beefed up ecoxotic pico arm, and pair of the newish 18w IM Skye fixtures) spotlight color to some degree, and if there were techno playing I might think it was a goby rave.

 

Anyone ever bail on LED and go back to Fluorescent(T5, power compact, etc)? Anyone find a way to get their LED fixtures to look similar to their old T5s by using some type of diffusion material, or other methods?

 

I am curious to see if there are any other crazy people out there. :D

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I've never noticed spotlighting with my photon or my nano-box. I guess it would depend on your rock work and how high the fixture is. It also could be my eyes... B)

 

I have seen people use diffusing material which should get rid of the disco effect. Something like this: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/296282-great-diffusion-material-tested-only-5-light-loss-through-water/

 

A lot of people are also adding t5's to their led's with great results.

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jedimasterben

If I were to crop the light out of this photo, would you think it were full T5 or LED? ;)

IMG_1251.jpg

 

 

And here is a video to show color banding (well, lack thereof ;) )

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No you're not crazy, the different types of lighting do have different looks to them and people should pick what they like! You have tried several different LED options and if none appeal to you then switch back to florescent - why keep wasting time and money when you know there is something you like. Sure there are potential cost savings and convenience factors with LED lighting, but not if you don't like it! The vast majority of us keep reefs because we enjoy looking at them, if a particular lighting style is heightens the enjoyment gained from the reef then there is no reason to not switch.

 

There are many paths to personal success in this hobby, although sometimes it seems like forums and people (including myself) forget that from time to time.

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Thanks for the link. I am going to see if I can get some of that material to test with. The before film video in that link is exactly what I am talking about. I am impressed to see how little the diffusion dropped par levels.

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If I were to crop the light out of this photo, would you think it were full T5 or LED? ;)

 

IMG_1251.jpg

Perhaps you should have cropped it out and asked the question Benny lol.

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If I were to crop the light out of this photo, would you think it were full T5 or LED? ;)

 

IMG_1251.jpg

 

I don't know, the picture isn't moving. If it were a video, I might have a guess.

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jedimasterben

 

I don't know, the picture isn't moving. If it were a video, I might have a guess.

Just added one to the above post :)

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There is still a lot of shimmer going on - which again I am not really a fan of - but ignoring that, it does have a nice even color.

If I were to guess, I'd say it's probably a hybrid fixture. It looks like you have a diffuser on it as well.

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I really do like LEDs, and I do enjoy the shimmer, to a point but yeah when it's alot it does get quite annoying. I really do also like the flat look of t5's.

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Tried led for 4+ years. went back to mh/t5. now everything is happy again. only my bc29 has leds. I'd change those out too if I could find a way to stick a 150 hqi in the stock hood.

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Tried led for 4+ years. went back to mh/t5. now everything is happy again. only my bc29 has leds. I'd change those out too if I could find a way to stick a 150 hqi in the stock hood.

Any particular reason? Was it a coral health issue, cost, rendering? Curious what your reasons were if you are comfortable sharing.

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Coral growth and color not nearly as good. especially sps. I also prefer the look. sorry, but I don't believe leds will ever look like t5 and mh.

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jedimasterben

Hey Jedi, your tank is looking great! Did you beat the dinos finally?

Probably not, but I take what I can get lol

 

There is still a lot of shimmer going on - which again I am not really a fan of - but ignoring that, it does have a nice even color.

If I were to guess, I'd say it's probably a hybrid fixture. It looks like you have a diffuser on it as well.

You get shimmer even from T5HO if you have surface agitation. With metal halide the results would be similar.

 

The fixture is, indeed, hybrid LED/T5HO with a diffuser, but no T5 are currently in use.

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I really do like LEDs, and I do enjoy the shimmer, to a point but yeah when it's alot it does get quite annoying. I really do also like the flat look of t5's.

The main draw of LED for me is controlability. Color tuning, ramping, etc.. that is all massively simplified and able to fit in a really small package. That's something that you lose the ability to do easily with other light sources, which is kind of a bummer.

However, I too like the flat look of T5 and other fluorescent sources much better. The intensity and directional nature of LED comes of somewhat harsher than fluorescent and even MH.

 

I suppose adding actinitc LED strips(maybe even diffused) to a fluorescent fixture may be the best bet.

 

 

Probably not, but I take what I can get lol

 

You get shimmer even from T5HO if you have surface agitation. With metal halide the results would be similar.

 

The fixture is, indeed, hybrid LED/T5HO with a diffuser, but no T5 are currently in use.

 

 

I never had anything near LED shimmer with T5HO. Not even really noticeable. I had a 70w MH over a planted tank for a while, and that had some shimmer, but it seemed softer and more saturated(if that makes sense) and not disco-esque.

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Optics are what makes LEDs look like absolute crap. If you look at the ATI Sirius and Powermodule they have LEDs but you can't really tell. It's because they use reflectors instead of optics. Nanobox does away with no optics or reflectors at all and the light also looks like a T5 unit.

 

Why do manufacturers use optics? Because that way they can inflate their PAR numbers without adding more LEDs. Reflectors for LEDs are also more expensive to make than plastic optics so you can guess which method wins out.

 

When my lights come on I'll make a video of my nanobox pucks. They don't have a fancy diffuser like Ben's setup but you still can't see any color banding.

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Optics are what makes LEDs look like absolute crap. If you look at the ATI Sirius and Powermodule they have LEDs but you can't really tell. It's because they use reflectors instead of optics. Nanobox does away with no optics or reflectors at all and the light also looks like a T5 unit.

 

Why do manufacturers use optics? Because that way they can inflate their PAR numbers without adding more LEDs. Reflectors for LEDs are also more expensive to make than plastic optics so you can guess which method wins out.

 

 

Interesting thought there. I am thinking back and the one fixture that I found the least harsh was the arm from my Ecopico with 3 of their stunner strips on it. It also happens to be the only fixture I've owned without optics. It shimmered a bit, but the LEDs were pretty far apart, so that is understandable. I am curious now to have a look at more of the optic-less fixtures to see if I can cope.

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Interesting thought there. I am thinking back and the one fixture that I found the least harsh was the arm from my Ecopico with 3 of their stunner strips on it. It also happens to be the only fixture I've owned without optics. It shimmered a bit, but the LEDs were pretty far apart, so that is understandable. I am curious now to have a look at more of the optic-less fixtures to see if I can cope.

 

 

Here is a picture of the ATI LED unit which is used in the Sirius and Powermodule. As you can see the LEDs are pretty spaced apart.

ati-sirius-led-5.jpg

 

Based on how apart all the LEDs are you would think disco would be crazy and color banding would be off the charts. But it is quite the opposite.

ati-sirius-led-2.jpg

 

LEDs can look like a diffused light source which is what T5 is. It just costs more to get there.

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This is an LED fixture I made for my planted tank when I had it. As you can see I am only using 6 LEDs with reflectors and they are very spaced apart. The light is hanging 3ft from the bottom of the tank. For something so high up, focused visible beam would be a given with optics. The LEDs are 2700K warm white and 5600K cool white so they look quite different.

 

DSC_0919.JPG

 

This is the tank filled. The LEDs mix pretty well with each other. Even with the huge shadow given off by the big piece of wood sticking out of the tank there is no disco.

DSC_0923.JPG

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I've seen this tank somewhere else on the interwebs I think. I love the tillandsias on the branch tips.

 

I've been going through all the videos of the Sirius, and it does seem to make a very nice even light without any color separation. Man, that sucker is expensive though :)

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Tried led for 4+ years. went back to mh/t5. now everything is happy again. only my bc29 has leds. I'd change those out too if I could find a way to stick a 150 hqi in the stock hood.

 

There used to be a company, NanoTuners, which is defunct, that had a retro kit for 150 watt MH plus any combo of PC lighting. I had one in my BC29. But I had no less than 4 fans in the hood itself to keep things cool. And because I couldn't afford a chiller to keep the tank itself cool I used 4 fans mounted to the back of the tank blowing directly on the water. Evaporation was nuts. Having a converstion in the room was a near impossiblity because of all of the noise. Plus I had to replace the bulbs annually. Switching to LEDs was a no-brainer for me and my SPS corals couldn't be happier.....

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I've seen this tank somewhere else on the interwebs I think. I love the tillandsias on the branch tips.

 

I've been going through all the videos of the Sirius, and it does seem to make a very nice even light without any color separation. Man, that sucker is expensive though :)

 

There's also nanobox. Only two lights on the market that will get you want you want. Dollar for dollar the quad nanobox will be a better deal than the ATI.

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The main draw of LED for me is controlability. Color tuning, ramping, etc.. that is all massively simplified and able to fit in a really small package. That's something that you lose the ability to do easily with other light sources, which is kind of a bummer.

However, I too like the flat look of T5 and other fluorescent sources much better. The intensity and directional nature of LED comes of somewhat harsher than fluorescent and even MH.

 

Controllability is one of several possible aspects appreciated by some - others may include reduced power (depends on tank size and fixture selected), lack of bulb replacement, reduced heat transmission, and reduced fixture size (as you also noted). Optics can have their place as well - I like them if they allow me to hang the fixture significantly above the aquarium, easing maintenance.

 

However, if you like the "flat look" of fluorescents, it is simple - stick with T5's. I much prefer the look of LED's (and MH's) and abhor the "flat look" of T5's, so I do not use them...;)

If I were to crop the light out of this photo, would you think it were full T5 or LED? ;)

 

IMG_1251.jpg

 

 

And here is a video to show color banding (well, lack thereof ;) )

 

Ben - what species of angel is that?

 

Oh, and pick up that gorgonian... :slap:

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