I have 6 55 watt t-5s along the top of my tank- i was wondering if anyone could help me with finding LEDS to add with my T-5s to give a halide shimmer. I need the shimmer to over power the t-5s so the shimmer is seen while all my t-5s are one- i know blue leds will shimmer for moon light but the tiny ones dont do anything with all the t-5s on. Thanks
-
Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.
any LED Brainiacs here?
- Thread starter john90009
- Start date
Here is a new site that has gained a lot of attention out at reefaplooza in California. Don't know anything about them personally, but they look pretty cool.
http://dev.ecoxotic.com/
http://dev.ecoxotic.com/
You could add the LEDs around the fixture, but ideally to get the best effect the LEDs would need to be in the Tek fixture. You could use some of the cheap flexible LED strips you can find on ebay with a tight viewing angle and just run them around the edge of the tank if all you are looking for is shimmer. If he needs additional color or PAR, then it's going to take a lot more effort.
if you are looking just to supplement - powerbrites the way to go.
john90009 said:
can you send me a link to these power bright leds? Also can you tell me if they are strong enough to shimmer through all my t-5 bulbs when they are on- i hear some accounts that powerbrights dont cut it and only can use the leds from the solaris which are the phillips luxon leds.
I dont really know if they will be strong enough to give you what you are looking for = you just need to try it and see where it goes.
http://www.current-usa.com/powerbrite.html
LEDs - the topic is almost like can of worms - too many options, not enough knowledge, too many tricks to achieve the point you want to make.
http://www.current-usa.com/powerbrite.html
LEDs - the topic is almost like can of worms - too many options, not enough knowledge, too many tricks to achieve the point you want to make.
john90009 said:
Im looking into 1 watt and 4 watt bulbs- right now i know there are 1 watt each bulb in the powerbrite fixture- however i doubt that 1 watt will reach the depth of my tank which is 18 inches- my cousins are electricians and i asked them and they keep on talking about high hat lighting with leds that are unbearable to look at(like the halides) these bulbs sell for a few hundred and only big companies have the money to afford them basically- im trying to find out what leds are going into those high hat fixtures so i can try purchasing a few and wiring them together. anyone know a store around here that sells strong leds like 1 watt and up also if anyone would know where to purchase the circular reflectors that they put around the solaris bulbs and the powerbrites bulbs?im thinking that these reflectors are worth there price. Most powerbrites i have seen on tanks are on shallow nano tanks and are used with powrr compacts- power compacts arent exactly t-5s lol so its very hard to tell if since it works ok on power compacts that it will even be visible on t-5s- realize it or not t-5s can be stronger than halides- i take coral from halid tanks that are up high and put them in the middle of my tank and they still wanto get moved down- coraline algea only grows inthe shade in my tank.
a few things: stop by Absolutely Fish and ask for their new moonlights - not telling you to buy them, but see them in action and find cheaper on the net.
second - what do you mean by reaching the depth? PAR? light? visual effect? I mean what LED will overpower T5s? I mean you put any LED next to ATI aquablue spezial and I am not sure you can get any shimmer effect.
second - what do you mean by reaching the depth? PAR? light? visual effect? I mean what LED will overpower T5s? I mean you put any LED next to ATI aquablue spezial and I am not sure you can get any shimmer effect.
john90009 said:
Where is absolutely fish? Also i know if you have a high power led which is 1-5 watts generally then when you power them on they hurt to look straight at them- i can look straight at t-5s all day because the led is made of be strong over am amount of distance it will penetrate stronger im guessing. the depth of my tank is 18 inches- i would need a strong led with alot of leds with an angle of 90 degrees light coming from them(concentrated to be powerful straight down)to penetrate deep in the water- im guessing this is why the halides creat shimmer- they are so strong with a 2 foot by two foot focal point that the shimmer occurs- since t-5s arent as strong and not focused into a once inch holder of the gas like in halides- the t-5 can not penetrate the water liek the halide. the visual effect is just the shimmer in my eyes. In solaris fixtures they use the 1 watt or 3 watt bulb- they have a concentration of 25 leds which make up one square- that puts out the par of a halide- im trying to figure out how much of the leds i wi;l need to achieve just the shimmer- if i had the money id buy a a hundred leds and alot of reds and blue ones to make a fixture to replace the t-5s but i dont have the money for that lol. Do you have a feeling liek i have that with a bunch of strong leds with a concentrated line of light that i can get the shimmer? Just think of getting a 5 inch square of 3 watt leds that are now used to replace metal halide fixtures in work shops and parking lots that i can put that over the tank to replicate a halides shimmer(not really the par values because theres not enough. I know some stuff i might not make sense but im trying to experiment and help anyone else that has the problem of no shimmer with t-5s, i know alot of people would change from halides to t-5s is they could keep the shimmer.
Absolutely Fish - fish store up north - Clifton NJ 07013 - on one their tanks they have solaris LED plus some additional LED for shimmer effect. i bet you can get the name of the product and find it for much less on the internet.
ok, here is the dilema I have by looking at your question - if you take strong LED, plus strong focal point - you can burn the corals
I have seen LED supplementing T5s, but not sure if the shimmer effect can be fully replicated. I am not saying you cant do it, but see my second sentence - if you use strong LEDs with focus lenses - arent you running a chance of burning your corals?
ok, here is the dilema I have by looking at your question - if you take strong LED, plus strong focal point - you can burn the corals
I have seen LED supplementing T5s, but not sure if the shimmer effect can be fully replicated. I am not saying you cant do it, but see my second sentence - if you use strong LEDs with focus lenses - arent you running a chance of burning your corals?
john90009 said: