I'm really at a crossroads on lighting here. I have been running 14 cree LEDs for a while now with no optics as my tank has been fish only for the last year.
I was planning on doing a complete led build, but i jumped the gun and started stocking my tank with sps before i really wanted to. So i dis-assembled my nova extreme pro t5 fixture so it would fit in my canopy and get me by for now.
i have been running 4 blue + and 1 ge 6500k along with an almost 50/50 mixture on the leds and i really liked the look.
Some of my frags looked like they were browning a little so i thought i would make the lighting a little more intense by adding some 60 degree optics to the leds. And it did that for shure! I was amazed at what optics will do for an led! With the t5s on my tank has never looked so amazing.
The problem for me is when the t5s switch off in the evening. The shimmering effect is so intense coming from so many tiny point light sources that i can stand to look at my tank! Im hoping it blendes in and becomes better as i add more leds. If not i may be tempted to add 2 t5's to the mix to balance out the visual appeal.
Has anyone else experenced this? If anyone else has this stance on the aesthetcs of leds, what combo did you go with to satisfy your taste?
I was planning on doing a complete led build, but i jumped the gun and started stocking my tank with sps before i really wanted to. So i dis-assembled my nova extreme pro t5 fixture so it would fit in my canopy and get me by for now.
i have been running 4 blue + and 1 ge 6500k along with an almost 50/50 mixture on the leds and i really liked the look.
Some of my frags looked like they were browning a little so i thought i would make the lighting a little more intense by adding some 60 degree optics to the leds. And it did that for shure! I was amazed at what optics will do for an led! With the t5s on my tank has never looked so amazing.
The problem for me is when the t5s switch off in the evening. The shimmering effect is so intense coming from so many tiny point light sources that i can stand to look at my tank! Im hoping it blendes in and becomes better as i add more leds. If not i may be tempted to add 2 t5's to the mix to balance out the visual appeal.
Has anyone else experenced this? If anyone else has this stance on the aesthetcs of leds, what combo did you go with to satisfy your taste?
