LED Pico Light

[Aquabacs]

Good idea gregzbobo.The swing arm will give you constant adjustment from left to right and front to back as long as the bulb is kept at 90 degrees wth the water surface line.

 

Without boring anyone over the theories for the reason for the angle of the light vs height of light off the surface of the aquarium vs degree of the optic and so on....with spots, they some times (well most of the time) have to be angled less than 90 degrees. Once you get your lights, use a lamp at home, screw the bulb in, and start playing with angles. The location of the bulb may need to be positioned in an unorthodox location (example 18" above the aquarium at 40 degrees not to unusual but 12" in front of the aquarium position). It all come down to personal preference when it come to lighting.

 

If you are looking to run that style fixture, check out this one also:

 

 

 

 

Mike

[gregzbobo]

 

 

 

Mike

Very attractive fixture, I just worry about how cool the lamp would operate in it. The lamp in my previous post would be essentially an open socket once the shade and harp are removed. In reality, I'd like something with an open socket that would not require me to put holes in my wall meaning the swing-arm would be a semi-last option (living in an apartment), but would look attractive, maybe even elegant at the same time. I love how the stage light PAR cans look, but would be tough for me to mount one elegantly, and they look unvented for the most part from what I can see.

Perhaps some other fixture ideas will pop up in this thread or another. Maybe I should start a thread for it, don't want this thread going off-topic and annoy the LED master.

[evilc66]

No, please post ideas here. Everyone benfits from it.

 

Using a spotlight as a light source is going to be a very different methodology that is going to take some time to get used to. You can create some very dramatic effects with position. You jast have to break out of that mold of having to put lots of light straight down

[Perm]

When people have their picos against the wall I like the idea of sconces or the multi lamp bathroom fixtures.

[jgilvey]

@jgilvey the unmodded light is available in 5000K with Cree LED's and 40° optics.

 

Mike

 

Thanks Mike! I'd seen those posted earlier but, as Clive mentions, 5000k is a bit warm for me and I'm looking a single lamp (don't want to supplement).

I'd also prefer to support the Evil/Nanotuners venture.

 

It's possible. I would have to get a higher bin white LED to make that happen. Most of the guys in the planted tank forums that are going LED seem pretty happy with the 6500K WG bin cool whites. We could offer something like that if the interest is there.

 

There are quite a few on TPT I've seen doing nanos in 6-8 gallon ADA rimless tanks and I think it'd be killer as well as a better look than a fixture sitting on a tank (takes away from the rimless look).

[Aquabacs]

As promised, I would post up a few pics of the lights over my tank. For photograph purposes, temp fixtures were used. The lights hight are at 16" above the water. Listed are the position the lights were photographed.

 

20K @90 degrees left/center 12K @ 90 degrees right/center

 

20K @30 degrees left 12K @ 30 degrees right

 

20K @90 degrees left/center/rear 12K @ 45 degrees right/forward

 

20K @45 degrees left/center 12K @ 70 degrees right/forward

 

 

Mike

[jgilvey]

Thanks Mike, cool. What are the dimensions of the tank so I can get an idea of scale/coverage? I really like the dramatic effect of not having the entire background lit up...dim edges is a big plus to me.

[Aquabacs]

The tank measures 18" x 18" x 18".

 

 

 

Mike

[thewire]

are you using eco-lamp R series?

[evilc66]

Um, no. Have you been reading this thread?

[phorensic]

So my 20k PAR38 arrived today! Tried out my super secret and highly custom mounting method, and it worked! I invested the large sum of $1.38 into it...check it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alright, so as you can see I am lucky enough to have my NC6 under a cabinet. This worked out perfectly so that all I had to use was a generic home depot E26 socket. This socket has a 90 degree angle tab on it that let me screw it right into the cabinets between the doors. And then I just stripped a computer power cord and wired it up, plugged it into my RKL, viola!

 

I still have to run the cord under the cabinet with tie down thingees. Also, the other lighting is purely task lighting that I have installed to work on the tank, do water testing, etc. It's just a hodge podge of what I have dreamt up to try and get enough light on the work area. It is not meant to light the tank at all. However, after seeing how narrow the optics are on these things, I'm thinking I might supplement with some t5 where the little t8 is currently.

 

I've heard it a million times before, but those royal blue LED's are HARD to photograph! Holy crap! The white balance doesn't even get close, it's like a digital camera sensor can't pick up that wavelength of light or something. The light looks incredible, the shimmer effect is completely out of control and mesmerizing. It does light up mostly the center of my tank, but I only have one piece of coral that I would consider light demanding, my green monti cap and it's in the center of the spot. I took a shot of my orange zoa's because that's all I cared to try and focus on with the screen in the way.

 

Top is ripped off permanently, obviously, so that's why you see the screen there. My clown is a jumper, he's jumped 3 times. So tomorrow is the day I make the screen door frame to hold the bird netting.

[wombat]

Got both my bulbs today, 12k and 20k. They light up the room, that's for sure. One will be more than plenty for my 10" cube.

 

Picked up this fixture as well:

[northstar1357]

How many of the Par38 would i need for Nanocube 12? if i want to keep SPS?

[evilc66]

Two would be ideal. You could get away with one, but with the height you would have to mount it to cover the tank, PAR levels might not be quite high enough, depending on the sps you are looking to keep.

[wljimbo]

I have the PAR38 20K and the display on my tank is 12"Lx9"Wx9"H. I am using an architect lamp and it seems to be working out great. The sides and back on this fixture are vented and temp does not appear to be problem. I did have to boost it up a little to get more coverage on the sides.

 

 

 

[phorensic]

Your display area and fixture height seem to be very similar to mine. Also, your spot lighting area seems to be about the same as mine as a result. I have my SPS in the center, so it's definitely going to get great PAR. What I'm worried about is what I can keep at the edges of the tank. Will mushrooms, ric's, and maybe even zoa's be OK if they are on the edges, out of the intense center area? It's just so different than my power compact lighting, that was extremely diffuse compared to this. Like somebody said, we have to change our mindset to get used to it...or change out the lenses on the LED's, lol! I'm not saying I don't like it just yet.

[jgilvey]

Wow, those 20k really do look great. Jimbo and Phorensic, how high above the tank do you have them mounted?

[evilc66]

You guys could still mount the lamps higher than you have them. My rig is 30" from the sand, and I'm reading 130 PAR.

[minimonsterLED]

You guys could still mount the lamps higher than you have them. My rig is 30" from the sand, and I'm reading 130 PAR.

 

Looks like you did a great job on your first batch of lights seÑor Evil. congrats! I'm looking forward to see what else you have in store.

[evilc66]

Oh, wouldn't you like to know

[phorensic]

Wow, those 20k really do look great. Jimbo and Phorensic, how high above the tank do you have them mounted?

I'll try to measure tonight. One thing to note on my photos - I was unable to get my Canon to capture what the light looks like. It was very strange trying to get the whitebalance correct and then still it was like the sensor couldn't absorb the wavelength light this thing is giving off. Others have mentioned that royal blue Cree's are notoriously difficult to photograph. What you can't see, however, is the incredible shimmering effect. Instead of one large diffuse light source, it is 5 tiny little point sources, which makes it shimmer like mad. Being a long time photographer it's a new project for me to try and photograph this accurately now!

[evilc66]

You have to turn your pumps off first. That helps eliminate color shadows. I have found that white balances closer to "shade" or "cloudy" (those are the terms my Nikon D40 uses) work much better, and adjust the exposure comp to get the brightness right. If you think these lamps are tough, try photographing all royal blue LEDs

[Aquabacs]

Clive, any way can you put me down for 2 all royal blue lamps with narrower optics than are on the current production lights. Also do you know if there are any of the first batch of lights left? I wanted to order a few more.

 

 

 

Mike

[phorensic]

I know what you mean about color shadows. Because there are two different point source colors, whatever is casting a shadow has two colors of shadows, then the water surface ripple makes those colors move all around. It looks really weird! I'll have to turn my pump off next time I shoot the tank.

 

@jgilvey - My light is 10" from the surface of the water, 19" from the sand bed.

 

Made my screen to keep my jumping-jack clownfish inside the tank. Kinda ghetto, but it works! It was a b!tch trying to bend that front part, that's why it looks all warped. Used a screen door kit and bird netting from Home Depot. I left room in the back for some mangroves!

 

 

Note: PAR38 was off in these photos, it was past the light cycle time.

[evilc66]

Clive, any way can you put me down for 2 all royal blue lamps with narrower optics than are on the current production lights. Also do you know if there are any of the first batch of lights left? I wanted to order a few more.

 

 

 

Mike

 

I have none left from the first batch. There are more coming in at the end of the month. I'll have to talk to Chris about how/if we can handle custom orders. This was something that we were planning on offering in the near future anyway, but we were trying to avoid modifying the lamps that are coming in, as it's a decent amount of work to pull them apart and refit them. Let me talk it over with him and see where it goes.