using LED's to accent your tank.

[quigimon]

When playing around with my LED fixture for my 20g and placed it on my 55g tank i realized that i really liked the way that it lit the tank, it highlighted the center of my tank where my rock scape peaks, and had a nice fall off to the sides which really appealed to my artsy side. With that said i think i am going to design my Lights for my 55g to recreate the same effect by concentrating my light to the center and have the concentration of the led's thin out to the sides, however i'm a little concerned about the colors separating in the shadows so i may utilize some CREE 3 in 1 led's 3UP CREE XT-E Royal Blue XP-G Neutral White . As of current i am perfectly content with my 20g fixture on my 55 so i may just replicate it, i'm not sure if the intensity i adequate for more light demanding corals but if placed appropriately i can utilize proximity to light to my benefit and place less light demanding pets to the sides. SO... with that said, if anybody has any interesting bits to add or food for thought let me know, and i'll keep everybody posted on how it goes.

 

[bknapp]

Look into spotlighting, it's a pretty cool effect. A lot of Japanese tanks use spotlighting.

 

[Bishop]

I would aim to light the whole tank. Get some deep royal blue like 453nm LEDs for the sides. Add the normal mix of adjustable LEDs in the middle. This will give you the light you need through the whole tank for coral growth and illumination while adding the appearence of bright white in the middle, light falloff and darkened sides without sacraficing PAR as well as adding a nice dynamic effect with the corals glowing under the royal blues.

It's only an idea in my head but I do like it. Still leaves it a matter of seeing it. There are other options as well such as fully lighting the tank but doing so at different times. There is nothing that says you can't pick a time of day to have a single LED spotlight on a single coral just because you like the look if that is what you want.

 

[bknapp]

Another idea would be to make three separate dimmable LED lights and keep the one in the middle brighter than the ones on the side.

 

[quigimon]

I would aim to light the whole tank. Get some deep royal blue like 453nm LEDs for the sides. Add the normal mix of adjustable LEDs in the middle. This will give you the light you need through the whole tank for coral growth and illumination while adding the appearence of bright white in the middle, light falloff and darkened sides without sacraficing PAR as well as adding a nice dynamic effect with the corals glowing under the royal blues.

It's only an idea in my head but I do like it. Still leaves it a matter of seeing it. There are other options as well such as fully lighting the tank but doing so at different times. There is nothing that says you can't pick a time of day to have a single LED spotlight on a single coral just because you like the look if that is what you want.

Good points and I could possibly achieve that desired look using those Crees if they aren't using a common ground or positive but even that's possible if I look closer at their die.