Shadow help!

johnyboy · Jul 18, 2016

Hey reefers,

I have the AI hydras and I'm having a problem. They are very good lights but I'm getting a lot of shadows. These shadows are affecting my corals because obviously where there are shadows the corals don't grow. Is there anyway I can rid or reduce these shadows?

Thank you !

Diesel · Jul 18, 2016

Fill in some light with T5's.
I ran radions for 3.5 years and I'm glad I be back to the 95% T5 side of the hobby.

Salty1962 · Jul 19, 2016

I use both to have the output of the LED and the filler of the T5. A hybrid system.

mcarroll · Jul 19, 2016

johnyboy said:
I have the AI hydras and I'm having a problem. They are very good lights but I'm getting a lot of shadows. These shadows are affecting my corals because obviously where there are shadows the corals don't grow. Is there anyway I can rid or reduce these shadows?

Wrong Flavor?
I would suggest you picked up the wrong flavor of LED fixture. Popular, but they sort of emulate halide lighting - which means some shadows. Realistic, but maybe not desirable - especially if you are used to florescent lighting.

Consider using strip-format lights such as the Orbit Marine Pro's.

Or Not Enough Flavor?
As far as the shadows affecting your corals the way you describe, it's possible you have too little light in the tank vs it being a problem with the type of light. Corals are extremely adaptable and will actively grow in light from as little as 10,000 lux up to 80,000 lux, or more.

Have you measured the surface intensity to see what highs and lows you get and where they are?

If you don't have a light meter yet, start with a [HASHTAG]#lux[/HASHTAG] [HASHTAG]#meter[/HASHTAG]. You can download a $free one to your smartphone to begin with, but a $15 LX-1010B handheld meter from Amazon or ebay, etc is much better and safer to use around your tank.

Can you post some measurements here? I'm curious if you find many spaces getting less than 20,000 lux...if so, how much less?

mcarroll · Jul 19, 2016

Also, @johnyboy how high are your Hydras mounted?

And do they use 90º lenses?

johnyboy · Jul 19, 2016

@mcarroll my lights are about 10inches from the water surface. I am downloading the app now and I will post the numbers

johnyboy · Jul 19, 2016

Where should I point the lux meter at?

mcarroll · Jul 19, 2016

Angle the camera toward the fixture to generate the highest reading you can from the location you are sampling.

(Make sure it's using the right camera....usually that means the front camera so you can sample AND see the screen. You may have to change a setting in the app for this.)

Lenny_S · Jul 20, 2016

mcarroll said:
Also, @johnyboy how high are your Hydras mounted?

And do they use 90º lenses?

+1 on the height.... what is the footprint of the tank (LxW) and how many/what kind of Hydra's do you have? Usually raising them higher and turning up the channels will do the trick.

Waboss · Jul 20, 2016

Lenny_S said:
+1 on the height.... what is the footprint of the tank (LxW) and how many/what kind of Hydra's do you have? Usually raising them higher and turning up the channels will do the trick.

That's exactly what I did to minimize shadowing on my tank. My tank only has a 24x20 footprint but I was getting annoying shadows. I even added another 26HD, which did the trick as well, but man that was a lot of light and $$$ tied up in lighting that tank. I took the second one off, and raised the light a bit.....looks much better now.

915MANG · Jul 20, 2016

+1 On The T5s. You only need a 2 bulb retro kit. I did a few videos if youre interested

saltyfilmfolks · Jul 20, 2016

As mccaroll stated moving the lights up not only gives better coverage I t allows light to bounce off of the glass.
Shadowing is the main reason I kept my canopy. It's coated with Mylar. In photography it would be a light box or soft box. It makes the light a larger source. I have a wooden canopy on the 55g and a floating canopy on the 30 cube. Led on both. I did pull lenses on my led's too. Ai sol and SBreef light. It gives a 180 spread rather than 40 70 or 90.