single point led and t5

easternreefer

New member
the questions is how much shimmer from a single point led will be lost if a t5 fixture is added to the mix.
possible scenario
75 gallon softie tank.. leathers /shrroms etc
1 kessil a360 center of tank
2 bulb 48 inch t5

will the t5 reduce or eliminate the shimmer effect of the kessils
 
similar question. I have a 90g standard tank, aquatic life 48inch fixture. 4 t5 2 mh 4moon led. My end goal is nice coral colour growth and some pop. For colour and growth from what im reading the t5 mh is ideal. But no combination of t5/mh ive seen give the "pop" the led do. i was thinking to get 2 or more puck led either hydra or radion or something similar but cheaper. I would those under my mh and just use as led t5 combo. Ive tried led strips but either gets washed out or to direct i can clearly see a blue bar in the tank

Would this accomplish what i want ?

led would only be about 3 or 4 inch from water, is that too low.

Any other ideas ?

Also thinking going all led with just one or 2 t5 on edges but that would be alot more expensive and least likely option

Right now i have a variety or softy and lps and one monti cap but eventually id probably like some other Sps.

Thanks in advance for any input
 
easternreefer, your Kessil makes serious shimmer. But mcgyvr is right, you will lose some shimmer... maybe even most of it except where the Kessil light is strongest, in the center of the tank.

Wagonpitt, I'm far less sure about your situation since you are kind of guessing at what led puck you might use.

I have a Reef Breeders Photon V2 50" led and I have pretty good shimmer because I have really good surface agitation and my leds are 12" off the water. I added a Sun Blaster Nano 48" t5 single bulb and that cut my shimmer by about 50%. It also made my corals look more pastel rather than the bright, higher contrast color I get with just the leds. I know t5's are supposed to improve leds as far as coral growth and color go. But I'm not buying it. My corals grow well enough with just leds. After all, I'm not raising a cash crop in my tank. And maybe the color improves over time, but I like my crisp, cool white light with corals that fluoresce and pop. So I'll stick with my leds.

In fact my t5 fixture now has a Bio Tek 20,000k & UV retro fit led bulb so I can still use it along the back glass to light the corals that I have growing off the back glass about 2/3rds of the way up the tank. The Photon V2 struggled to light them well. So now the t5 sits on the back euro brace and screen at the very back edge and now those back corals really pop too!
 
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Thanks ron. As far as the pucks go im kind of under the impression that the ai and radion pucks are very similar/almost same in performance. Difference is how to connect and a few features and price. I think placement/cover/effect/par wise they are the almost same. I could be completly wrong and if so please tell me.

On other hand i read quite a few threads that you have posted on and and if i were to go with all led you are one of the reasons ive benn looking at the photon aswell because to get full coverage for my tank that seems like what is best fit for me $ wise and theres lots of other people giving good reviews.
But id like to avoid that if i could at first, this way worst case if im still not happy i can remove aquatic life add more pucks or maby a 36photon and use those pucks on the ends. if i have to sacrifice a little cash crop growth to get the look i want with all leds then i will, i realize theres many reefers eith alot more experience then me gettig plenty of growth with all led. I just want to prolong it and save a couple hundred if i can and extra growth doesnt hurt either.


At this point i just want to know if i get the 2 hydra pucks for example and put them where my mh lights are under my aquatic life fixture. Would that be powerfull enough to get the pop effect from led or would it be washed out by thhe 4 t5.

Also would it matter that its so close to the water. More concerned about not getting enough spread because each one would have to cover 24inch and cooking corals. Not so much splashing
 
Ive been saying hydra i meant prime. The aqua ilumination prime or radion xr15. Sorry hydra is the double puck. My mistake
 
There will be plenty of shimmer. I have something similar going on
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Ron reefman.. after being out of the hobby for a number of years.. the kessils blew me away with the shimmer.. my wife as well.. to the point that she has said that is what your putting on the tank because I like the shimmer.. this from a lady that when I first got into reefs didn't want me to spend $50 on a compact fluorescent used fixture .. I began to read a little more and was slightly concerned over the perceived growth patterns of the single point led.. hence my question.. leds have come a long way from when I first saw them.. thanks for the input..
 
"shimmer" is a negative to me.. yes it can look cool but its caused by "narrow/point lighting" and depending on the number of fixtures you have and their spacing you can/will have "shading" issues with corals.. specifically SPS..
I switched from LEDs JUST because of that.. all the bottom sides of my SPS sticks were white and this was even with 2 x OceanRevive S026 fixtures over only a 40b tank.. Within a few weeks after switching to T5 they colored right back up..

Thats why I think supplementing LED fixtures with heavy shimmer with t5's is a good idea..
 
"shimmer" is a negative to me..
....you can/will have "shading" issues with corals.. specifically SPS

Depends on what you like. The Kessils recreate the shimmer you see on shallow water reefs while snorkeling...and thus, looks very natural to me.

I have a 55gal with two Kessils, no supplement lighting, I grow sps fine...any shading effect on my sps is negligible as you can see:


Cheers.
 
Im not necesarily a fan of the shimmer or heavy blue but i definetly love the pop that leds give and thats kind of what im trying to accomplish.

Thanks sixpack that is almost exactly what im thinking, what size tank and what leds are you using ? Do you find the provide enough coverage or does the led lighting get washed out on the edges. Is that why you have it raised so high to get more spread ?
 
single point led and t5

Im not necesarily a fan of the shimmer or heavy blue but i definetly love the pop that leds give and thats kind of what im trying to accomplish.

Thanks sixpack that is almost exactly what im thinking, what size tank and what leds are you using ? Do you find the provide enough coverage or does the led lighting get washed out on the edges. Is that why you have it raised so high to get more spread ?



Mine is a 65 gallon currently using an 8 bulb ATI T5 with the center 4 bulbs removed and a Kessil AP700 retrofitted. The coverage now is pretty good. I have it high for a few reasons. 1. Keep the heat off the water 2. Keep the water off the lights 3. Keep the fixture out of my way when I need to work in the tank 4. Light spread from the LEDs. There is shimmer everywhere, just a touch less pronounced then the T5s are running peak intensity, but still enough to keep it interesting. LEDs do help the tank look really sharp and also much easier to photograph.


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Six package, what is the peak of ap700? I am adding 2-T5 (24") and wondering how much ch to turn down kessils to account for t5
 
"shimmer" is a negative to me.. yes it can look cool but its caused by "narrow/point lighting" and depending on the number of fixtures you have and their spacing you can/will have "shading" issues with corals.. specifically SPS..
I switched from LEDs JUST because of that.. all the bottom sides of my SPS sticks were white and this was even with 2 x OceanRevive S026 fixtures over only a 40b tank.. Within a few weeks after switching to T5 they colored right back up..

Thats why I think supplementing LED fixtures with heavy shimmer with t5's is a good idea..

This is exactly what I got too. I was using two T247, covering every inch of a 30" tank and the undersides of my stags were bone. T5 fixed them in 4 weeks.
 
It's amazing how many options there are now for lighting. It's great but daunting as well. That and everyone perceives lighting a little differently and has different personal preferences. Heck many people have a totally different perception on what 20k looks like and some love it and some hate it.

I love a combination of LED and T5. I'm not a fan of LEDs by themselves or T5s by themself. They each have their pros and cons and to me when combined the pros of one helps the con of the other.

My current setup where I got fed up with trying to go with the bare minimum for lighting and just plastered the tank with a combination of LEDs and T5s
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2626683
 
Six package, what is the peak of ap700? I am adding 2-T5 (24") and wondering how much ch to turn down kessils to account for t5


45% on the AP. I've been slowly adjusting the T5s up. The T5s now peak at 100%. In striving for a nice smooth PAR curve with about 4-5 hours of very high intensity.. another month or so I should be there.
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What color bulbs blend well with AP? Have a coral+, blue +, and purple+ to test



I'm currently running two B+ in the front and a B+ and P+ in the back. The AP is on the bluest setting, except midday when I'm not home, I have it a little whiter to give the blue LEDs a little break..I'm pretty happy with it now. I did have a C+ up front, which was nice too, but it 'seems' the B+ brings out the best growth for me.


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I added 2 Sunblaster Nano 36" bulbs on either side of my AP700 and love it. It chills the shimmer out and provides an excellent viewing experience. This is on a 48" tank.

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