Led optics

[FlyTekk]

Hey i just saw a friends tank and he has the same LEDs as me. But for some reason i love the way his tank looks.

I loved the way mine looks but not anymore after seeing his.

the only difference is that he i have optics on mine and he doesnt.

I feel his tank is well lit. Every square inch is getting enough light. Not alot of light. Enough light. Its lit well. Kinda of a dull hue all across the tank but his corals and fishes POP! Their colors really come out.

In my tank with 40 and 60 degree optics (30" high and leds are 6-8 inches above the water) i feel like the light is too bright and penetrates the coral and fish so much that it dulls their color. The best i can do is drop the whites down to 25% and keep the blues at 100%. This allows for the fish and corals color to pop a bit but the tank seems purplish. Also there is swimming spaces up closer to the surface where there is barely any light where other spaces there is so much light the live rock glows.

Im assuming this is all the optics focusing the light in certain places where as his are shooting light everywhere.

I like how his looks so much better. Anyone using or not using their optics wanna chime in? Why are you using and why arent you. Also how do you feel about them?

 

[scuzy]

I see it this way. If you don't like the looks with optics remove it. Reason for optics is to direct more lights down at a certain spot. But if it doesn't look for good you why use it?

 

[FlyTekk]

LoL. Because they are glued on to the LEDS. Do you have any experience pulling them off?

 

[blackx-runner]

how did your friend remove his optics?
You could also try raising the lights a little bit so the light is spread further by the time it gets to the water/rock.

 

[FlyTekk]

He didnt take them off. He never put them on. I contacted Rapid Led and they told me to raise them as well. They said 6-8" should be fine. I told them its 10" above water line and they said try 12" LoL.

 

[Baldguy]

I'm a total noob but just had an LED custom made by a local club member. Used 3 watt Cree's. I asked about the optics when in the planning stages and he said unless trying to penetrate a really deep aquarium optics were not needed. My tank is 24" deep so with sand the deepest penetration needed is about 21". He said optics were not needed. I'm really happy with his real world advice.

 

[FlyTekk]

I wish i had his advice. I have a 30" deep tank with no sand so i need all that 30" penetration plus its raised 10" above the water line. Even with all that i still dont like the optics!