What can be used as a diffuser

[Marc.The.Shark]

Yeah, must have happened in the last 6-12 months, cause I referred someone around a year ago & they were still open for business. I'm sure they didn't make the film themselves, but I've checked the paper backing on mine to see if it gives a manufacturer name & it doesn't.

Bigroost found some on Amazon, can't say whether it's the exact one or not.

 

[Codym808]

Yeah, must have happened in the last 6-12 months, cause I referred someone around a year ago & they were still open for business. I'm sure they didn't make the film themselves, but I've checked the paper backing on mine to see if it gives a manufacturer name & it doesn't.

Bigroost found some on Amazon, can't say whether it's the exact one or not.

Someone needs to find a film of equal quality with tests done like the Berlin wallpaper!

 

[Marc.The.Shark]

Someone needs to find a film of equal quality with tests done like the Berlin wallpaper!

I agree. No PAR meter for me tho, only LUX. The guy on RC years ago did a very thorough test on the BelinWallpaper one. He did dry tests on like a 24" deep aquarium, then filled it with water & repeated & put up all kinds of PAR numbers, without diffuser, the with. Sold me right there, figured it was worth a try. I like to build my own lights, but if I ever bought an off the shelf light it would have to have a way for me to add the diffuser, that's how much I like it.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

look at ROSCO gels also LEE filters. they have kinda been making that stuff for a LONG time. color shifts are listed on the swatch

 

[ourcoralreef]

I didint really read everything but any piece of glass and use glass etching cream it gives it that "frosted" glass effect that would diffuse light good luck and tell us what you did in the end

 

[mcarroll]

I use a self stick diffuser material & have been for the past 4 years.

Pic!!

 

[Marc.The.Shark]

Pic!!

Here's a few from when I first set up my new tank a couple months ago. The film is actually pretty transparent

After the tank cleared

Closeup of sand bed. No banding or spotting from the led's or maybe just slightly that the cellphone camera is picking up, but I can't see it.

 

[bigroost]

The next time I order from amazon I think I will try that one for 10 bucks. Salty I know its your business to know, I'm not really trying to change the color of my light just find a way to make it spread more. Right now I am running one channel at 40% and the other at 20%. I don't really mind par getting knocked down simply because I can just turn up the power to counter act. I am mainly looking to make each color spread out more. Is that a reasonable assumption to make? Also with the rough texture I have seen on some of them do you guys think it will cause more light to bleed out around the tank?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

The next time I order from amazon I think I will try that one for 10 bucks. Salty I know its your business to know, I'm not really trying to change the color of my light just find a way to make it spread more. Right now I am running one channel at 40% and the other at 20%. I don't really mind par getting knocked down simply because I can just turn up the power to counter act. I am mainly looking to make each color spread out more. Is that a reasonable assumption to make? Also with the rough texture I have seen on some of them do you guys think it will cause more light to bleed out around the tank?

No its cool. Its just the why of of it all not a judgment its just the science.. and yea your right on track. with spread that's the point to make it bleed more around the tank(hopefully not into the living room).. The sharks example is how you do it right. Its also how the engineers are working on the soloution(ie the phillips light)fwiw if you lived closer Id give ya 5 different diffusions to try out from my garage.

Definitely definitely play with it. My 55 has a canopy with 3 ai sol with half or more of the lenses pilled and the inside of the canopy is coated with reflective material to create a "soft box". My 30 has a 16 in SB reeflight I pulled half the lenses too and the curtain is coated with reflective material too. I lost power on both but ya upped the intensity. I can still hit 7 or 800 par so who cares. Its my experiment. Do yours.

Prep the wife though, cuz i got some pretty dirty looks after dropping all that cash on lights and then taking them all apart

 

[Marc.The.Shark]

I have some light spill over, but I have 4 pucks & two are close to either end of the fixture. But I'll tell you this, until you just brought it up, I've never noticed it. It's definitely a lot softer/muted. I have bare diodes, so if I didn't have the diffuser on there, you would be able to notice a big spill over. It doesn't make it worse, that's for sure. You can see in the pics above how it looks against the wall.

 

[Codym808]

Here's an update of the Amazon diffusing film I used on my reef breeders led. I'm sure you guys can guess which photo is the result of adding the diffuser, I'm not sure how much of a difference in par it's made but I'm sure I can increase my light intensity to make up for the loss in par. You can really notice the decrease in shading as well as a dramatic decrease in "disco ball effect".

 

[ourcoralreef]

Here's an update of the Amazon diffusing film I used on my reef breeders led. I'm sure you guys can guess which photo is the result of adding the diffuser, I'm not sure how much of a difference in par it's made but I'm sure I can increase my light intensity to make up for the loss in par. You can really notice the decrease in shading as well as a dramatic decrease in "disco ball effect".

What is the item you used in the end
(Amazon link please)

 

[Codym808]

Here's the link:
www.amazon.com/dp/B000B75TTE/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdb_2lTmybX2SXM7J

This shade still has a little shimmer but nothing near the disco ball effect and not color hot spots. I highly recommend it

 

[Marc.The.Shark]

Here's an update of the Amazon diffusing film I used on my reef breeders led. I'm sure you guys can guess which photo is the result of adding the diffuser, I'm not sure how much of a difference in par it's made but I'm sure I can increase my light intensity to make up for the loss in par. You can really notice the decrease in shading as well as a dramatic decrease in "disco ball effect".

The pic of the underside of the light looks pretty close to what mine does, minus the lenses. It's pretty transparent. Probably the same stuff, if so, you won't lose much intensity/par. Glad it worked out for you, you'll be a lot happier with your led's now!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Pretty stinking cool IMO.

 

[ourcoralreef]

Thanks

 

[Velcro]

The longer I stay in this hobby, the more I see selling strategies swing from one subject at one extreme, then back to the other side to another extreme, with little or no independent laboratory testing done.
Back in the day (for me, early nineties) metal halides were the pinnacle of reef lighting. They grew everything under them, but at a cost. The best tanks full of thriving SPS corals had tons of "shimmer".
People with T5's tried to emulate this "shimmer" by adding LED's strips.

Now, "shimmer"/"disco ball effect" is being labeled "hot spots" and to be avoided like the plague with NO empirical data to back up the claim, just personal interjection and loose "popular today, unpopular tomorrow " rhetoric.

Now, light diffusers are becoming popular based on personal opinion, not independent Laboratory testing. (Back in the day everyone would have thrown any light diffusers in the trash.)

Be careful of "sales" hype.

Spread similar to ATI T5 isn't a huge step for LED?

Huh.

 

[Mpierce]

I would try something like this. https://www.inventables.com/technologies/light-diffuser-films

I had some very similar to my original DIY LED that had a linear layout and the diodes were spread somewhat "far" apart. Film helped blending and got rid of the disco effect. Still had shimmer, but much more natural. Biggest thing I would look for is high light transmission (85%+) so you don't loose a lot of par. The single sided vs double sided sheets have different transmission rates.

 

[DipSpit]

Ok so, sorry to resurrect a sort of old thread but I have a huge interest in this for a few reasons. Pic below for reference:

So inside of the canopy (which measures 36" x 36" OD) I have 4 SB reef lights and a 250w Radium w/ Spyder reflectors. I want to put a sheet of wither polycarbonate or glass over the bottom to either help diffuse the light into a uniform source (I do know MH's don't need this but, it wont hurt it I don't believe) or simply for aesthetic reasons (so that when viewed from below it is a single glowing pane).

Is frosted glass my best bet? The top of the canopy is open air so heat dispersion shouldn't be an issue. Tank will be SPS dominate if it helps.

Side notes: * I have had some expressed interest in a build thread which I will do upon completion . *I'm not sure if allowed but I may or may not repost this in its own thread.

 

[Codym808]

My suggestion to using some sort of film as a diffuser would be to get a clear pane of glass or acrylic instead of a frosted one. That way you can try out different diffusing materials with the ability to easily change them out.