To shimmer or not to shimmer?

Conrad Noto

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My first lights were T5, then Metal Halides which quickly became my favorite. The shimmer gave shadows and depth, gives the water life, reveals movement. Kessils are close. Do you like shimmer? or prefer shimmerless?
 

Victor_C3

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I have T5’s and have only ever had T5’s, so shimmer isn’t something I’ve ever had. I also have never missed it.

I’ve gotten some shimmer in the past when I place a powerhead at the top and agitate the surface some.
 

Bo.

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Conrad Noto

Conrad Noto

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Never cared for it when I had LED's. I run T5's now and certainly do not miss it.

LED shimmer and metal halide shimmer look completely different. IMO
I agree, metal halides can have all the par and power without that brightness that floods over into room, they give depth and sort of darkness with the brightness and shimmer.
 

attilak

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I have two tanks, a Red Sea max 250 w/ T5s and a 210 gal that I have Kessil Tuna Blue 360x... and love the shimmer! I am trying to figure out the best way to mount a kessil 700 into the hood of my Red Sea, mainly for shimmer but will also take care of tank running so darn hot with the T5s.
 

LoneStarReef

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Building a canopy now that will house 2 Kessil 360’s and one 48” 2 bulb T5 light. That combo is, in my opinion, one of the best. You get the shimmer from the Kessil’s and the spread from the T5’s.
 

attilak

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LoneStar, be very careful as to how high you are mounting the Kessil's from the water surface! I have 3 Kessil's on a 72" 210 gal tank and they kept going out and had nothing but problems. Maybe salt creep, or splashing from larger fish. Anyway, Kessil has been great and worked with me replacing the units but this last time they told me to send several pictures of my setup as it didn't seem right for them to go bad as they are maybe 18 months old. So, I had completely re-designed setup and now seems to be a lot better... I will take pics of what I did and also have fans to cool under canopy.
 

salty joe

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I have a CFL (100W equivalent) in a recessed fixture for my fishroom, about 4' above the tank's surface. At night with no tank lights, it gives great shimmer lines. It's not even mounted directly over the tank. I like it.
 

Lizbeli

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My newest build has Kessils and I love the shimmer. However, I have an aquatic life hybrid on the way to help with my acros. I hope I still have enough shimmer. I was not a fan of the flat T5 only look.
 

LoneStarReef

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LoneStar, be very careful as to how high you are mounting the Kessil's from the water surface! I have 3 Kessil's on a 72" 210 gal tank and they kept going out and had nothing but problems. Maybe salt creep, or splashing from larger fish. Anyway, Kessil has been great and worked with me replacing the units but this last time they told me to send several pictures of my setup as it didn't seem right for them to go bad as they are maybe 18 months old. So, I had completely re-designed setup and now seems to be a lot better... I will take pics of what I did and also have fans to cool under canopy.

Thanks so much for the heads up! I’ve had 2 Kessils over my current tank for about 3 years and haven’t had any problems whatsoever. However I would like to see a bit better growth rate for my SPS corals which is why I’m adding T5’s. As to the canopy, mine will be a floating canopy with an open top so it won’t simply be a big box over the tank to trap heat. I’m hoping that will be good enough for ventilation. What do you think?
 

flyfisherman

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Stick a par meter under a metal halide and see what happens with shimmer to learn the secret ingredient...
 

trmiv

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Shimmer! The shimmer I’ve seen from the Red Sea Reefled 90s is the best since the radium 250w halides I had on my last tank. I’ve had kessil in the past but the shimmer was a little too extreme. The shimmer on the Reefled 90s is as close to halide shimmer as I’ve seen in an LED.
 

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