LED Light Diffuser - Hydra 52 HD

[Moonrock]

Hey All,

So recently I've been considering changing out my HD Hydra 52's out for some Radion XR30's. One of the reason's I've been considering this change is because the Hydra's seem to create hot points directly under the lights. I seem to get extremely high par directly under the lights but around them its pretty mixed. When attempting to get most of my tank in the 200-300 par it seemed impossible because I always had hot spots directly under the lights. This is when I saw the Radion's have Diffusers. I just got back from my local LFS and was ready to checkout with 3 XR30's until I spoke to someone there about the diffusers. The store showed me before and after with the diffusers and it seems to really spread the light out quite a bit. sadly said, they don't seem to have any diffusers for the Hydra's BUTTT luckly there was another person at the store who had experience with projectors and pointed out that the diffusers are basically "double matted mylar". I quitly decided not to purchase the radion's and try a DIY. After searching the internet for double matted mylar I found "Mylar Projection Screen" material which looks identical to the material used in the diffusers and started to think about making my own diffuser for the Hydra's. After some research I polycarbonate diffusion material which seems to be identical to what the Radion diffusers are actually using.

Here is some info I found on a video I found interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRC6nftsb0iFp9xS1o5aSyw

Here's the video showing the PC8080 product that seems to be identical to what the Radion diffuser is actually using.


https://www.curbellplastics.com/Research-Solutions/Industry-Solutions/Markets/Lighting
Which plastics are the best choices for diffusing LED light?
OPTIX® LD acrylic sheet, Plexiglas® Sylk acrylic sheet, Makrolon® LD polycarbonate sheet, Makrolon® Lumen XT polycarbonate sheet, and Makrofol® LM polycarbonate films all have excellent LED light diffusing characteristics.

I was going to contact the company above to see if I can get some of the material above but I found this material on Amazon and just ordered it. Willing to give it a try since it's under $10

https://www.amazon.com/Rosco-Cinege...rd_wg=yentB&psc=1&refRID=F1S7KEAVC0RJXNB3M16Q

https://www.amazon.com/Rosco-Roscol...rd_wg=bR6Ak&psc=1&refRID=D1P3MYH4XDXJTSPQE5T7

Anyway, I've only done a bit of research but wanted to see if anyone has gone this route and has made their own diffuser. I took apart the Hydra and see that I can take out the current glass under the LED's and probably replace it with some of the diffuser sheet and technically it should work. Even if I didn't want to take apart the Hydra I was thinking that I could easily cut a sheet out the same exact size as the hydra and pre-drill the corners where the Hydra has screws and could screw the diffuser perfectly under the hydra. Either way, these are all idea's. I wanted to hear some feed back from others to see what people thought about a diffuser on the Hydra's.

 

[atoll]

How did you get on with this? I found this in the UK which seems like it may do the job. They will cut it to size and even round the corners off for you. They also drill holes in it if required.
https://www.simplyplastics.com/cata...bonate-light-diffusing-sheet/c-24/c-110/p-673

 

[Moonrock]

I just ordered it. Should arrive this week and I'm going to give it a shot. The one you found seems to be exactly what we need. Care to ship some to the US ?

 

[atoll]

I just ordered it. Should arrive this week and I'm going to give it a shot. The one you found seems to be exactly what we need. Care to ship some to the US ?

Would cost more in shipping than its value

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I made my own diffusers by sanding acrylic sheets
The denser the material used the more the spectral shift.

 

[jeffthomas]

Just talked with a rep at B&H and she recommended this one https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/44048-REG/Rosco_RS302811_3028_Filter_1_4.html Said these can be stacked to dial in just the right amount of diffusion and trade off with loss of intensity. Anyone done any PAR readings with and without Rosco Cinegel or similar thin diffusing filter material?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Just talked with a rep at B&H and she recommended this one https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/44048-REG/Rosco_RS302811_3028_Filter_1_4.html Said these can be stacked to dial in just the right amount of diffusion and trade off with loss of intensity. Anyone done any PAR readings with and without Rosco Cinegel or similar thin diffusing filter material?

Yes. For a living.

Look for half Opal , Hampshire frost , opal , 250 , 251 , and In Europe Lee filters offers the same.

Half 216 is 250.

Par will be deceiving with all diffusion’s , I would go with intensity AND par.
The thicker the diffusion the more the spectral shift. But it’s minor in thinner pieces , but the intesity drops more.

If you have a lux or footcandle meter, it also works.

You would need a spectrometer to identify where the shift occurs precisely. But each diffusion will in fact show you where that is in the specs. Look for the mired shift info, but again , its minor.

By having sevral pieces to try , you can pick one that spreads the best for your tank, and then adjust intensity to compensate based on the loss.

On my Ai sols and SBreeflight, I used the sanded acrylic and made it less dense than all those diffusion’s I listed. (Controll freak)

Fwiw , I have many rolls of this stuff in my garage.

 

[hart24601]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B75TTE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used this on reefbreeder v2 photons and was shocked what a difference it made, IMO all leds should have something like this. I looked at both putting the diffuser 1" under the light and right on the bottom of the light. 1" down worked better but was a bit ugly to mount. Even right on the bottom of the light it did help get rid of disco colors. However it also gives a lot more light spill, which I didn't want with the tank next to the sofa and no canopy, so I moved the lights down more. Sadly I can't remember what the PAR change was and I sold that system a while back.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B75TTE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used this on reefbreeder v2 photons and was shocked what a difference it made, IMO all leds should have something like this. I looked at both putting the diffuser 1" under the light and right on the bottom of the light. 1" down worked better but was a bit ugly to mount. Even right on the bottom of the light it did help get rid of disco colors. However it also gives a lot more light spill, which I didn't want with the tank next to the sofa and no canopy, so I moved the lights down more. Sadly I can't remember what the PAR change was and I sold that system a while back.

It’ll be the way of the future soon. More smaller led clusters and likely a diffusion I think.

And yep the farther away from the light the better the spread.
That’s why I don’t clean my lids much.

 

[P-Dub]

Interesting. Let us know your thoughts and a proper review would be helpful.

 

[Moonrock]

Just finished it. Tomorrow ill test PAR levels but from what I can tell. Its doing an amazing job blending the colors..

 

[Daveyy]

Jon, this look awesome, how is the par result ?

 

[atoll]

I made these for Hydra 26s for a mates tank. Work very well indeed and only 11% drop in PAR.

 

[Daveyy]

Interesting design! Could u give us an idea how you accomplish this? Looks well made!

I made these for Hydra 26s for a mates tank. Work very well indeed and only 11% drop in PAR.

[/QUOTE

 

[hart24601]

I made these for Hydra 26s for a mates tank. Work very well indeed and only 11% drop in PAR.

Dang, nice job!

 

[atoll]

Interesting design! Could u give us an idea how you accomplish this? Looks well made!

I tried 3 types of diffusers before settling on these. I worked with a light diffuser specialist who cut them to my size. I then finished them off including rounding the corners and drilling the holes for the new longer fixing screws. I also sourced both black and white spacers. Finding the right sized thread and length was a bit of a problem. The diffusers are made up of hundreds of tiny pyramid prisms and are clear not frosted like some.

 

[Mattrg02]

Could we get a parts list and possibly a drill pattern? I’m going full in on the hydra26hd by installing a second one along with the hms kit.

 

[Mattrg02]

Could we get a parts list and possibly a drill pattern? I’m going full in on the hydra26hd by installing a second one along with the hms kit.

Edit, found a supplier that will cut

Any update on how corals reacted?

 

[Moonrock]

It was doing good until i decided to go with radion g4s. Unfortunately, i dont think the hydras can compare to radions after having both.

 

[cpschult]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B75TTE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used this on reefbreeder v2 photons and was shocked what a difference it made, IMO all leds should have something like this. I looked at both putting the diffuser 1" under the light and right on the bottom of the light. 1" down worked better but was a bit ugly to mount. Even right on the bottom of the light it did help get rid of disco colors. However it also gives a lot more light spill, which I didn't want with the tank next to the sofa and no canopy, so I moved the lights down more. Sadly I can't remember what the PAR change was and I sold that system a while back.

How did you attach it?