picturemagic
New Member
This is my first post here, been a reader of posts for a while. I'm not new to the hobby, but certainly don't claim to know a lot. I currently have a 28g NanoCube. My first NanoCube had the t5 lights, this one began with the Pro Series LED fixture, which in my opinion was total junk. I began modifying it by replacing different LED's on LED strips. This proved to not give me the results I wanted as well. I then gutted the fixture and replaced it with a hydra26. The Hydra26 fits in the gutted hood nicely. I've had that set up for about two years now. It's OK, but I still feel I want better colors. Growth is not exceptional, but I'm OK with that since the tank is so small. I just want the colors to "pop" more. I have also built a custom hood riser to get the lights off the top of the tank about six inches.
Recently I was reading the posts about LED vs Halide lighting. One post caught my eye and thoughts when they said Halide lights have better reflective properties compared to LED being too spot light type lighting and the spectrums don't spread out. So I got to thinking why not intensify the light along with diffuse it at the same time. (I know, that doesn't make sense.) Here's what I've come up with so far. I have placed a fresnel lens about two inches below the light. (A fresnel lens in this case is a page magnifier that can be found at Staples for just under $8.) This literally magnifies the light source. by its' self the shimmer was stronger and light looked maybe a little better. I then placed a piece of diffusion material much like gossamer between the light and the fresnel lens. This, I am thinking may "blend" the light spectrums together with the intent to make the LED less "spot light" effect. Just wanting to know your thoughts and ideas. I've got it set up and going to give it a try. It will take some time to know. Thanks for your time in reading this post and throwing your thoughts into the fire as well.
Recently I was reading the posts about LED vs Halide lighting. One post caught my eye and thoughts when they said Halide lights have better reflective properties compared to LED being too spot light type lighting and the spectrums don't spread out. So I got to thinking why not intensify the light along with diffuse it at the same time. (I know, that doesn't make sense.) Here's what I've come up with so far. I have placed a fresnel lens about two inches below the light. (A fresnel lens in this case is a page magnifier that can be found at Staples for just under $8.) This literally magnifies the light source. by its' self the shimmer was stronger and light looked maybe a little better. I then placed a piece of diffusion material much like gossamer between the light and the fresnel lens. This, I am thinking may "blend" the light spectrums together with the intent to make the LED less "spot light" effect. Just wanting to know your thoughts and ideas. I've got it set up and going to give it a try. It will take some time to know. Thanks for your time in reading this post and throwing your thoughts into the fire as well.
