Best option for minimal light runout

[Defiant Arms]

Hey guys I'm so back and forth on lights originally was planning on a set of Hydra 26's or a 52 tank size is 32x24x24 I need a light that has minimal runout or overflow into the living room i looked at the ocean revive t247 and that things like a lantern also would like the ability to have it programable. any opinions?

 

[Antics]

A lot of it has to do with placement/height above the water. You're going to have significantly higher light bleed depending on how high the light is in relation to the surface of the water.

 

[twilliard]

And the optics play a big roll in this ;)

 

[Defiant Arms]

A lot of it has to do with placement/height above the water. You're going to have significantly higher light bleed depending on how high the light is in relation to the surface of the water.

I did read that on another thread.

 

[Defiant Arms]

Anyone want to talk me out of a ghl Mitras?

 

[ReefRocker]

Anyone want to talk me out of a ghl Mitras?

Nope, you're pretty much looking at the most powerful LED out there. A single GHL Mitras will cover your tank without a problem and blend all 9 channels of LEDs so well that there is no disco effect what so ever. GHL uses custom reflectors which reflect 99% of the light emitted and blend it perfectly for the most natural look and pleasing shimmer.

Best of all these are on sale right now and less expensive than their closest competitor.

 

[mcarroll]

You'll want a light that's close to the shape of your tank, ideally, so Hydras or anything similar is not ideal. (Go for more of the smaller lights vs fewer larger lights if you do go that route anyway.)

Your tank is long, rectangular. So get a long, rectangular light. Other shapes will make you struggle (and spend) more to cover shadows.

This way the light will best-fit the tank.

Start with that.

Then (based on the lenses used) you calculate the height off the water your light needs to be.

One light I'd recommend is Current USA's Orbit Marine PRO.

• It has 60º lenses.
• They recommend two units for a 24" wide tank

With a little triangle math, you can know that 60º lenses need to be around 9"-10" off the water to generate enough coverage, but not spill light.*

So two Orbit Marine Pro's (model 4112) hung around 9" from the water would do the trick.

* There will always be some light leaving the tank by reflection or spilling unless you put a canopy over the tank.....just FYI. A light that the ideal shape and hung at the right height will minimize this.

 

[Defiant Arms]

You'll want a light that's close to the shape of your tank, ideally, so Hydras or anything similar is not ideal. (Go for more of the smaller lights vs fewer larger lights if you do go that route anyway.)

Your tank is long, rectangular. So get a long, rectangular light. Other shapes will make you struggle (and spend) more to cover shadows.

This way the light will best-fit the tank.

Start with that.

Then (based on the lenses used) you calculate the height off the water your light needs to be.

One light I'd recommend is Current USA's Orbit Marine PRO.

• It has 60º lenses.
• They recommend two units for a 24" wide tank

With a little triangle math, you can know that 60º lenses need to be around 9"-10" off the water to generate enough coverage, but not spill light.*

So two Orbit Marine Pro's (model 4112) hung around 9" from the water would do the trick.

* There will always be some light leaving the tank by reflection or spilling unless you put a canopy over the tank.....just FYI. A light that the ideal shape and hung at the right height will minimize this.

Thank you for the awesome reply and help!!

After doing math on cost of multiple lights and aesthetics i just purchased the GHL Mitras LX 6200HV only option it didnt have i wanted was Wifi but i feel i will be adding the controller soon and with that comes wifi capability.

The light measures at 13.38" long 7" wide and 1.5" tall with coverage of ~ 31.5x20.9 at 29" if my math and converting is in order....

I will try and fashion a mount arm for it or maybe just mount it off the wall but i have never been a huge fan of the strings, hanging light look.

 

[mcarroll]

Can't find any good stats....what lenses does it have and how many watts?

 

[psidriven]

another option is to mount the fixture closer to the front of the tank and tilt the fixture backwards.

 

[Defiant Arms]

Can't find any good stats....what lenses does it have and how many watts?

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2013/8/review

heres a great review with comparisons and stats.

 

[mcarroll]

Ok....tell me if this is wrong:
https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/products/ghl-illumination/led-illumination/

This seems to be a shoebox size light with a PAR peak of around 40,000 lux (600-700 PAR) @ 12" from the water. (8" is the minimum hanging height.) It's hard to judge from their PAR umbrella, but it looks like you should get about a 14" diameter of coverage at 12". I don't see it published, but I think that computes to 60º lenses? I presume that's what makes the 6200 their "deep water" option.

I think you will want two units, but tell me if I got any details wrong?

 

[Defiant Arms]

Ok....tell me if this is wrong:
https://www.aquariumcomputer.com/products/ghl-illumination/led-illumination/

This seems to be a shoebox size light with a PAR peak of around 40,000 lux (600-700 PAR) @ 12" from the water. (8" is the minimum hanging height.) It's hard to judge from their PAR umbrella, but it looks like you should get about a 14" diameter of coverage at 12". I don't see it published, but I think that computes to 60º lenses? I presume that's what makes the 6200 their "deep water" option.

I think you will want two units, but tell me if I got any details wrong?

I'm not sure I more less went off what others have said another forums and around the web. and they all say one on my size tank is plenty. ill find some of the threads I read.

 

[mcarroll]

Is your tank 80 gallons, BTW? (It's long side is not 36" but instead it is 32".)

At 190 watts, that gives you about 35 watts per square foot. So it looks like the Mitra should have enough power on paper, so it depends what you like.

With the lights so compacted into a small fixture (like the Hydra and Radeon, et al) I think you'll have significant spill if you try to light the whole tank with one fixture. You will also have more shading around the corners than you otherwise would.

The effect is clear even in these old PAR maps from that AA article:
image_full
I guess they don't allow image linking....their loss. You'll see what I mean if you click back to the article.

• See how the 50-100 PAR circle rolls off all four sides? That's a 36" x 36" square.
• As you can imagine, your 32" x 24" tank will be spilling more in all four directions than those maps show.
• Plus, those 0-50 PAR dark corners will be twice as big.
• The dark corners will encourage you to raise the light more, causing even more spill.

 

[Defiant Arms]

Is your tank 80 gallons, BTW? (It's long side is not 36" but instead it is 32".)

At 190 watts, that gives you about 35 watts per square foot. So it looks like the Mitra should have enough power on paper, so it depends what you like.

With the lights so compacted into a small fixture (like the Hydra and Radeon, et al) I think you'll have significant spill if you try to light the whole tank with one fixture. You will also have more shading around the corners than you oltherwise would.

The effect is clear even in these old PAR maps from that AA article:
image_full
I guess they don't allow image linking....their loss. You'll see what I mean if you click back to the article.

• See how the 50-100 PAR circle rolls off all four sides? That's a 36" x 36" square.
• As you can imagine, your 32" x 24" tank will be spilling more in all four directions than those maps show.
• Plus, those 0-50 PAR dark corners will be twice as big.
• The dark corners will encourage you to raise the light more, causing even more spill.

I see what you're saying and I am new to this, I won't be setting the tank up for a few months just getting things gathered.

The tank is 32x24x24 I plan to have sort of a center island aquascape with nothing on the outsides of the tank.

I also don't plan on having lots of corals well plan on haha can always get another down the road if need be.

 

[mcarroll]

Bump AA for not allowing hot linking...here's GHL's PAR umbrella:

86 x 65 cm = about 34 x 25 inches
Deep red shows the dark zone.

 

[Defiant Arms]

Bump AA for not allowing hot linking...here's GHL's PAR umbrella:

86 x 65 cm = about 34 x 25 inches
Deep red shows the dark zone.

Guess I need to learn how to read those better before throwing $ at a light

 

[mcarroll]

It's definitely not a bad light, just not an ideal fit for the requirement of no light spill.

And as you said you can always add a second fixture later....or now if the budget is there, of course. And you can always rig up a hood of some kind or some "barn doors" on the fixture itself to contain the light-spill - that's not an impossible scenario to deal with....just not ideal to have to deal with it. :) (It may be easier to sell one than two if you decide to change gears altogether, too.)

Aside: You happen to be familiar with Bob Ross the painter? ;)

 

[Defiant Arms]

It's definitely not a bad light, just not an ideal fit for the requirement of no light spill.

And as you said you can always add a second fixture later....or now if the budget is there, of course. And you can always rig up a hood of some kind or some "barn doors" on the fixture itself to contain the light-spill - that's not an impossible scenario to deal with....just not ideal to have to deal with it. :) (It may be easier to sell one than two if you decide to change gears altogether, too.)

Aside: You happen to be familiar with Bob Ross the painter? ;)

Thanks I get what you're saying and yea been awhile but I remember ol bob

 

[slief]

I have a Mitra 6200 over one of my tanks. I've run LED's now for the last several years over my tanks and the Mitra is by FAR the most powerful fixture I have used or tested. Without a doubt, it will cover your tank just fine and it will support pretty much any corals you want to keep though SPS would be better suited along the center area unless you are spreading your rock across the entire length of the display. Keep in mind that most of us don't run our live rock or aquascape from end to end. Instead we leave the ends open so we can clean the glass. That means you don't necessarily have to cover the entire tank from top to bottom. Even if you did, it would cover it fine but given that you likely don't, that will allow you to run it lower to mitigate light bleeding out into the room.

Of all the fixtures I have used and or tested, this is one of the nicest and it blows the doors off the Radions and the Hydra's in terms of power, spread and color channel mixture. You also don't get the disco ball effect with different color channels showing on the sand bed. The channels and lights spread very evenly and you have control over every channel which allows you to mix the channels to get colors out of your corals that would go otherwise unseen. That said, shadowing can be an issue with ANY led. You may have a bit of shadowing on the ends of the tank and regardless of what LED fixture you choose, that will be a factor unless you run multiple fixtures. If the light is centered over the tank, there should be very little to no shadowing along the center line due to the way the LED clusters are spread around the fixture.