Led lighting looks completely different on two different tanks.
- Thread starter Trickdout69
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bhazard451
Active Member
Try removing the optics first. You might notice a huge difference.
Trickdout69
Active Member
Well see I have four units that are all the same except two have optic and two don't. The ones with out the optics light the tank up better but I'm scared the wont be strong enough to reach the bottom but they all have the same kind of color with or without the optics
redtop03
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you could try removing just the optics on the colored and maybe some or all of the white LEDs, that will allow the colors to still blend well and you still get the power to penetrate the water with the blue LEDs
tvoydan
Community Member
I have 5 AJM value fixtures. First let me say from one fixture to another, I swear there is variance in the brightness and color between some the units. I account for this as variance due to LED quality or slight variance in the voltage of led drivers. Hard to say without further research. I thought I was going crazy when I first noticed this.
I ran these lights first on a 48" 50 gallon tank and colors were popping. When I moved them to my 195ga tank, colors faded. I attribute this to the amount of water the lights are cutting now thru (height and width). Perhaps it may also be because the front glass is thicker.
On the smaller tank you are up close to the corals viewing from the front glass (maybe 2" away). On my bigger tank, everything is at least 6"-8" back from the front glass. Viewing thru that much water absorbs some of the light spectrum.
This was something I noticed on a friends 100 gallon tank. His colors never seemed to "pop" out like they did on my old 50ga. When I switched over to my 195ga, my coral colors looked similar to his colors.
I ran these lights first on a 48" 50 gallon tank and colors were popping. When I moved them to my 195ga tank, colors faded. I attribute this to the amount of water the lights are cutting now thru (height and width). Perhaps it may also be because the front glass is thicker.
On the smaller tank you are up close to the corals viewing from the front glass (maybe 2" away). On my bigger tank, everything is at least 6"-8" back from the front glass. Viewing thru that much water absorbs some of the light spectrum.
This was something I noticed on a friends 100 gallon tank. His colors never seemed to "pop" out like they did on my old 50ga. When I switched over to my 195ga, my coral colors looked similar to his colors.
tvoydan
Community Member
I also tried removing the 90 degree optics on my AJM lights to get a broader spread and don't like how dim they became. Will probably put them back on as the corals are brighter with them on.
tvoydan
Community Member
My tank has three 24"x24" sections. I ran three lights (one in each section) and found to much shadowing between comparments and the back of the tank was not lit up enough for me. To get better coverage, you may need to rasie the lights higher (greater spread). Hard to say if it will cover a cube 24"x24" perfectly to make you happy. You may have to go with 2 fixtures.
I played with 2 fixtures on each section and really liked it. But in switching to 32" Reef Breeders controllable fixtures (2 units no optics), I am finding they are brighter and looks like they will give me the spread I like.
I played with 2 fixtures on each section and really liked it. But in switching to 32" Reef Breeders controllable fixtures (2 units no optics), I am finding they are brighter and looks like they will give me the spread I like.
Bad Company
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The sand color has a HUGE impact on overall effective light. That and the depth of the water are the differing factors.
