Lighting Diffuser? Thoughts?

[DipSpit]

I have a canopy.
I have three ai sol's nine inches above the tank. I cut holes in the top and set the leds into them. Inside the canopy I used sanded acrylic screwed to the top to diffuse and keep the fixtures from falling in.

Before diffusing the fixtures I had 40,000 lux at the top of the tank at 60% power.
After the diffusion I increased the power to to 7o% and 40,000 lux.

I'm also quite mad. I table tested the leds and the face reached 100 or so degrees so use a thick acrylic.

I would not diffuse a MH because it's beautiful light. And by nature it's already diffused.
But you could use a diffusion Gel called opal frost or I would Recomend half opal as opal is to thick and you lose intensity /par.

Search Around the site. There's a few threads on the subject.

+1 on the MH lighting not needed modification. It's a 50/50 issue of diffusion/aesthetic for the LEDs and solely a fixture hiding issue for the canopy.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

+1 on the MH lighting not needed modification. It's and 50/50 issues of diffusion/aesthetic for the LEDs and solely a fixture hiding issue for the canopy.

Yup. I had tried the no lens in the ai but decided to try the diffusion for fun and I had the parts. Fortunately the Ai and the SB both have plenty of power to do it. I have 2/3 of the lenses pulled in my SB in my little cube. Very happy with how that looks.

 

[Anirban]

On a razor with stock lenses you get about 40,000 lux/600 par at 12 in at full power.
If you ever care to meter it.

Hey @saltyfilmfolks, approximate how much PAR will be 23000 lux? I heard it depends on the spectrum and few other things. I have 2 6500K Giessman T5 mixed with 2 Hydra 26 at 75% max at 12K setting. This generally reads 23000 lux max at the top of water level. So, I was wondering how much will be the PAR at the top and bottom. The tank is 16 inch deep.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Hey @saltyfilmfolks, approximate how much PAR will be 23000 lux? I heard it depends on the spectrum and few other things. I have 2 6500K Giessman T5 mixed with 2 Hydra 26 at 75% max at 12K setting. This generally reads 23000 lux max at the top of water level. So, I was wondering how much will be the PAR at the top and bottom. The tank is 16 inch deep.

Combos are tricky as t5 use 50 generally a bit less or so as a conversion at about 20k. 40 at lower colortemps it seems.
DRiddle in his led conversion article averages the numbers so you'd probably be in the 50 range as well.

What you can do is do the math at 45 50 and 55.

More blue in led is a higher number btw. I.e. A mars at a 1:1 ratio.
For led 1:1 (generally 16k) 23000/60 is 383.
At 50 is 460.


To test the bottom you would need to submerge the meter of course.

 

[Christa50]

One of the issues - if not the only issue - with LEDs can be the "hot spot" created from single point lights. The high output from the actual LED lamps and impressive but lacks the balanced spectrum that a T5 or Halide has; this is made up by various colors of LEDs

Companies combat this by sandwiching the LEDs closer together - the thought being that there will be more time for the individual spectrums to blend together the farther in proximity they are to the tank. Usually these are the fixtures that carry the heavy sticker prices.

So where does that leave people like me?

I currently use 4x SB Reef lights and a 250w Radium and am concerned about 2 things:

1.) The blending of the SB LEDs

and

2.) Since I have a floating canopy - I dislike being able to see the fixtures plainly from the space between the top of the tank and the bottom of the canopy.

Does anyone have experience here?

Here are my thoughts:

Option 1: This is a type of diffusing film which is adhered to glass or plastic. I am pretty much committed to a glass base at this point to deal with the heat from the halide.

PROS: Cheap, adheres directly to glass. CONS: Have to buy in sheets.

Option 2: A "cracked ice" panel. this would be placed under the glass - with the glass separating this sheet and the halide.

PROS: Lots of refraction, affordable. CONS: Will probably see fixtures still.

Option 3: This is something called Makrolon Lumen XT. The product lists different light transmission levels and different diffusing options. I would be using this in the same fashion as the "cracked ice"

PROS: Seems the most thorough of all products. CONS: Very pricey

Any more ideas? Experience? Comments?

Thanks in advance - this is a tricky one for me.

I just sanded a piece of acrylic and placed it on top of the tank. I imagine you can fit a piece to your fixture. Because of all the tiny scratches the light is scatteret it takes away the shimmer. Some par and evens out the light. Blending everything together. Giving your tank the t5 look

 

[Christa50]

I just sanded a piece of acrylic and placed it on top of the tank. I imagine you can fit a piece to your fixture. Because of all the tiny scratches the light is scatteret it takes away the shimmer. Some par and evens out the light. Blending everything together. Giving your tank the t5 look