Judging the from the lighting outline on the wall in that third photo, it looks like at the present height the light has around a 6' diameter of spread. Assuming your light is about 6" off the water/top of the tank, that's about 160º of spread.
It might be overkill for your light levels, so I guess be mindful, but dropping the lights down until you aren't spilling so much light should be possible. Some "yo-yo" light mounts would help during maintenance!
Dunno if you will be able to completely solve the issue this way tho.....T5's are designed to broadcast light, and even with reflectors they do!
I think dropping the light down by as little as 1"-2" (i.e. four to five inches from the water surface) would eliminate a lot of the spilled light - at least from the sides. For the front and back you'd have to drop the light to 2" above the water (or tank rim) to get most of it.
Another solution that might help - along with or without adjusting height - is to fashion some "barn doors" for that light to block at least some of the excess light-spread.
They do not need to be reflective, or even metallic to get the job done you need, which is just light-blocking (I've used paper), so feel free to be creative. This will give you an idea if you have no idea what I'm talking about.
Hope this helps!
-Matt
It might be overkill for your light levels, so I guess be mindful, but dropping the lights down until you aren't spilling so much light should be possible. Some "yo-yo" light mounts would help during maintenance!
Dunno if you will be able to completely solve the issue this way tho.....T5's are designed to broadcast light, and even with reflectors they do!
I think dropping the light down by as little as 1"-2" (i.e. four to five inches from the water surface) would eliminate a lot of the spilled light - at least from the sides. For the front and back you'd have to drop the light to 2" above the water (or tank rim) to get most of it.
Another solution that might help - along with or without adjusting height - is to fashion some "barn doors" for that light to block at least some of the excess light-spread.
They do not need to be reflective, or even metallic to get the job done you need, which is just light-blocking (I've used paper), so feel free to be creative. This will give you an idea if you have no idea what I'm talking about.
Hope this helps!
-Matt