How to best emulate this beautiful tidepool lighting in an aquarium? Can it be done?

[Seancj]

Thanks for the heads up on the Ecoxotics and their bad track record. I will pass on those.
If you guys can give me some ideas on how to make halide fixtures look good mounted over this wide shallow tank, I'd be grateful! The only thing I can think of is a DIY floating canopy hiding them, but that will look quite bulky over the tank and be quite heavy.

 

[djf91]

Thanks for the heads up on the Ecoxotics and their bad track record. I will pass on those.
If you guys can give me some ideas on how to make halide fixtures look good mounted over this wide shallow tank, I'd be grateful! The only thing I can think of is a DIY floating canopy hiding them, but that will look quite bulky over the tank and be quite heavy.

I honestly prefer the look of large floating halide reflectors over floating LED configurations. To each their own I guess.

 

[oreo54]

Well this article has some relevance to the daylight thing.
I don't remember it.
Probably saw it at one time and one chart is familiar.

Anyways and to honor Mr. Riddle who's name has been sadly removed from the forum title

A Different Look at Lighting: Effects of Prolonged Photoperiod, Spectral Quality, and Light Dosage

Some reef aquaria 'experts' have suggested that we understand all we need to know about lighting of reef aquaria. This article will suggest otherwise.

reefs.com

 

[oreo54]

But spectrum is not equal between the 2.. the differences shouldn't be ignored, imo

Well sure but the meaning of the differences isn't exactly proven.
Yeah mh's put out a ton of ir >800nm.
What, exactly does it mean?
Pick a wavelength. Generic mh.

 

[DanyL]

Poor OP.
10 pages of a MH vs LED battle after he explicitly wished it not to become one.

 

[Kfactor]

just get what you want just watch alot of videos of lights and pick lol

 

[Reefering1]

Well sure but the meaning of the differences isn't exactly proven.
Yeah mh's put out a ton of ir >800nm.
What, exactly does it mean?
Pick a wavelength. Generic mh.

I agree that we don't truly know the effect or importance of those effects on corals. But it is part of the spectrum and I don't believe it should be separated to make the point of par being par at a given spectrum. While that may be true, the spectrum is not the same. Would be similar to saying a mercades is the same thing as a Camry, once you remove all the things that make it different

 

[minus9]

Take a look at Quanta Pro Tropic Sun bars. My Meso Blues have some shimmer to them and mix well with my 14k Ushio's. I think you can mix a few different "styles" of fixtures, point source and panel/bars and achieve your goal. Maybe if you do a floating canopy you can hide all the fixtures to give a nice cohesive look?

 

[buruskeee]

Saw in a recent video, a commercial place using the Kessil W2KX for their lagoon - 800 Watt units:

W2KX Interior Landscape / Aquascape Light | Kessil LED

Advanced LED grow light, plant light, aquarium light solutions for horticulture and aquarium applications - W2KX <span>Interior Landscape / Aquascape Light</span>

kessil.com

 

[MnFish1]

However it works out - please send pictures

 

[dca22anderson]

Mr. Anderson says he is getting great growth and coloration of his corals from his Ecoxotic Cannons! They are penentrating several feet down in his big concrete tank. Based on his report, they would likely work well for my application as well. I think 5 10K white cannons and maybe 3 or 4 20K blue cannons would cover pretty well.
Other fixtures are still being considered however.

About 30” depth for these acros at the top back corner of the stack from the cannons…

This whole section sits about 60” in depth from the cannons…

To the left of the orange cap you can see a green acro on the floor of the tank at 96” + from the cannons…

So far so good with a grid of 9 cannons in a 10'x10' space... I do run some XHO Reefbrites too... I'm happy with the Cannons so far!

 

[Stigigemla]

If You want a lot of shimmer on the bottom of the tank You should have few spotlights.
If You want maximum colors on the fishes you should have few spotlights.
If You want evenly grown corals with no dead spots in the shadows You should have an evenly distributed light with as many lightpoints as possible.
This has nothing to do with MH, T5 or LED. It is only about how light works on different materials.