Lighting info...

[sacs4010]

I know there is a thread about lighting, but I did not find the information I was seeking. I used to be really into the hobby, but I gave it up years ago due to costs and moving around a lot. I am assisting a friend of mine with her first marine aquarium. I have kept up to date on all the latest trends and techniques. I have not kept up on the current lighting technology and such. When I left the hobby LEDs were just coming into the market. I was using metal halides still. I love the shimmer effect and the excellent light that my metal halides would provide.

Is it possible to produce the shimmer effect I have came to love so much using LED lighting? If so, how?

Which brands are producing great lighting products?

Any other advice is appreciated. Thanks everyone!

Brad

 

[Bugboy2020]

I've got a nice shimmer effect from my cheap ABI LED Bulb that I got for $25 online. So it's possible. Usually, people praise the Kessil brand of LED's for their shimmer effect, so you might want to possibly look at those for a more high quality light

 

[Reef_Chief]

I agree. With abit of surface agitation there sould not be any problems getting the shimmer effect. I have the mars aqua hydros, which is nothing spectacular regarding LEDs but it still gets the shimme.

A kessil would be even better for your reef and is meant to give a nice shimmer like bugboy mentioned.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[GoVols]

Kessil's are known for their shimmer.

The a360's and AP700 have built in software the so no matter the color you close it keeps the spectrum correct for the health of your corals.

The GHL Mitras are awesome too.


The only led that I know that replicates the MH skimmer the closest is the Philips "Coral Care" and they have not been released to the US yet. I only know of two reefers in the US that got their hands on them and so far they love them.


Brad, What size tank are you going to be setting up?

Gallons and length x width x height.

 

[ReefRockerLive]

I just replaced my lighting and went with the GHL Mitras LX 7 and was amazed at how well this light performs and shimmers. I've seen and worked with other LED fixtures ranging from Radion to Kessil. I'm confident to say that the Mitras offers a perfectly balanced amount of shimmer and color blending. This fixture is super bright, easy to use, and looks great!

Some fixtures have an excessive amount of shimmer to a point where it becomes distracting. Of course, the amount of shimmer one can tolerate will be based on personal preference, but that's my two cents.

 

[Ron Reefman]

As I understand it, there are 2 factors that control the amount of shimmer you can get. The first is surface agitation. The wave create a lens effect that concentrates and dissipates the light making bright lines between the dimmer areas. With enough surface agitation most fixtures can produce some shimmer, even broad coverage leds and t5's.

The other is a 'single source' point of light. The MH bulb is best, followed by led pucks, with broad field leds and t5's being the least able to produce shimmer. And there is the issue of leds having multiple colors of single source' light thus producing bright lines of various colors know as the disco effect.

I use fairly broad field led fixtures (Reef Breeders, Ocean Revive and EverGrow) and I create a fair amount of surface water movement. I don't care for the red and green disco effect (and I don't think the red & green add much for the corals) so I either cover them with black electrical tape or with the new Reef Breeders, simply turn them off. I get all the shimmer I want.