EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal

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I was thinking about six A500x lights recessed into the ceiling; but I am open to suggestions.
I guess I'm still confused. I don't see how any light will be useful 4 feet above the water...

According to Kessil: "Assuming you have a standard 24” tall tank we recommend mounting the A500X 6- 10” above the water."
 

csund

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I guess I'm still confused. I don't see how any light will be useful 4 feet above the water...

According to Kessil: "Assuming you have a standard 24” tall tank we recommend mounting the A500X 6- 10” above the water."
You should let the guys at WWC know. They mounted their Radions far higher than 4’ on their lagoon…
 

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal

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You should let the guys at WWC know. They mounted their Radions far higher than 4’ on their lagoon…
I am not trying to be argumentative, I have just never seen/read about it being done. Seems like you'd lose a lot of PAR unless the lights were so bright that they'd blind you, lol.
If it's been done, that's good news for Sean!
 

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal

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You should let the guys at WWC know. They mounted their Radions far higher than 4’ on their lagoon…
And last time I looked, Kessils were not Radions, so I don't feel the need to let the guys at WWC know anything ;)
 

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I guess I'm still confused. I don't see how any light will be useful 4 feet above the water...

According to Kessil: "Assuming you have a standard 24” tall tank we recommend mounting the A500X 6- 10” above the water."
 
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Sean Clark

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I guess I'm still confused. I don't see how any light will be useful 4 feet above the water...

According to Kessil: "Assuming you have a standard 24” tall tank we recommend mounting the A500X 6- 10” above the water."
They have a 35 degree reflector to allow them to be mounted higher. I have not seen this done with this kind of application but in theory I think it should be possible.

Using a light beam angle calculation if you have a light source with a 35 degree angle, at 4 feet the spot will be 2.52 feet and at 6 feet 3.78 feet. So if I overlap their spots like a venn diagram the question becomes how much par is actually getting through the water.

This is not to scale but shows the general idea. Please forgive my primitive cave art.
1656093473761.png

1656093443545.png
 

rmorris_14

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They have a 35 degree reflector to allow them to be mounted higher. I have not seen this done with this kind of application but in theory I think it should be possible.

Using a light beam angle calculation if you have a light source with a 35 degree angle, at 4 feet the spot will be 2.52 feet and at 6 feet 3.78 feet. So if I overlap their spots like a venn diagram the question becomes how much par is actually getting through the water.

This is not to scale but shows the general idea. Please forgive my primitive cave art.
1656093473761.png

1656093443545.png
Calculating Figure It Out GIF


I do like your primitive art though. ;)
 
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Sean Clark

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Ok this one is more or less to scale and I added a seventh light because it made the math super easy. I figure that I can play with the intensity to balance out hot spots; as you can see there is a ton of overlap. Obviously once the light hits the water and reflects off of the glass who knows where it will actually go.

The bottom rectangle is the tank, the top rectangle is the hood which I will have to remove the top panels from.
Screenshot_20220624-163100_Gallery.jpg

I also like the idea of setting up a rolling sunrise/sunset schedule.

What am I overlooking?
 

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Is par from partially overlapping cones of illumination directly additive? I think so... Not sure. Google has a lot of not through answers.

If I remember correctly, bulk reef supply did an episode on the placement of multiple AI prime lights for use on larger aquaria. Their plan for placing more than one AI prime on a 4 ft tank did not involve equal spacing, but I forget the nuances of their par meter based results. I think you may not need as many lights.

I hate to be blasphemous, but at $5000 to set this up, I do wonder if you would be better off with three 400w radiums and a couple of led light bars (even high mounted) for sunrise and sunset.

If nothing else, it may be worth considering the impact of the shadowing caused by such cone shaped light distribution, but maybe not.
 

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Ok this one is more or less to scale and I added a seventh light because it made the math super easy. I figure that I can play with the intensity to balance out hot spots; as you can see there is a ton of overlap. Obviously once the light hits the water and reflects off of the glass who knows where it will actually go.

The bottom rectangle is the tank, the top rectangle is the hood which I will have to remove the top panels from.
Screenshot_20220624-163100_Gallery.jpg

I also like the idea of setting up a rolling sunrise/sunset schedule.

What am I overlooking?
Not sure what you are overlooking, but this does make much more sense :star-struck: ;)
 
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Sean Clark

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s par from partially overlapping cones of illumination directly additive? I think so... Not sure. Google has a lot of not through answers.

If I remember correctly, bulk reef supply did an episode on the placement of multiple AI prime lights for use on larger aquaria. Their plan for placing more than one AI prime on a 4 ft tank did not involve equal spacing, but I forget the nuances of their par meter based results. I think you may not need as many lights.
I have no idea on how the par would actually measure up, I guess someone needs to try it...

I hate to be blasphemous, but at $5000 to set this up, I do wonder if you would be better off with three 400w radiums and a couple of led light bars (even high mounted) for sunrise and sunset.
True but I can't exactly hide those in a recessed can in the ceiling. Some of the cost would be going to the aesthetics of the instal. I like to do things a bit different then what everyone else is doing.
If nothing else, it may be worth considering the impact of the shadowing caused by such cone shaped light distribution, but maybe not.
I like shadows; they add depth and contrast and that is where I put lower light corals. Shadows also offer a calm place for fish that are looking for a nice quite comfortable hidey spot.
#ShadowsForReefTanks
#BlanketsAreBad
 

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I have no idea on how the par would actually measure up, I guess someone needs to try it...


True but I can't exactly hide those in a recessed can in the ceiling. Some of the cost would be going to the aesthetics of the instal. I like to do things a bit different then what everyone else is doing.

I like shadows; they add depth and contrast and that is where I put lower light corals. Shadows also offer a calm place for fish that are looking for a nice quite comfortable hidey spot.
#ShadowsForReefTanks
#BlanketsAreBad
I have no doubt that your execution will be A+. Looking forward to seeing how it works out. I think it will be very nice.
 
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Sean Clark

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Here is a top down. My circles are not very good because I had to make my own compass. The gray is at the surface and the red is at the bottom of the tank.
Screenshot_20220624-202954_Gallery.jpg

The next step is to calculate the volume of the individual cone segments to attempt to apply an energy distribution for each segment at depth.
 

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I gotta say aside from the few issues I've had with my powerbar (Coralvue is finally replacing it) the Hydros ATO with optical sensor is hands down the best I've ever had
The Spectrapure ATO is nice as well. You also don’t have to have an ATO reservoir near the tank. I have all my tanks pulling off one central 55g RODI tank that auto refills when empty. I’ve yet to change a peritube or even look at one and they’ve been flawless. Eventually one will fail but I’ve thought about adding a NC solenoid and just having the ATO turn on with the solenoid a few times a day. If high water sensor is closed neither turn on.
 

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like shadows; they add depth and contrast and that is where I put lower light corals. Shadows also offer a calm place for fish that are looking for a nice quite comfortable hidey spot.
You nailed this. Sometimes we get caught up over doing things
 
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