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LED and shimmering effect ( is it possible? )

5K views 18 replies 9 participants last post by  philscichlids 
#1 ·
Hi,

Can anyone tell me if led lights can give shimmering effect like Metal H. lambs?

I can tell that, this light wave "shimmering" effect increases if you put your bulbs
like 40-50cm over the tank. Is it possible to have this effect with
LED lighting without attaching them 50cm above the water line? Will it look like MH lambs? I want to see very strong shimmering effect, what are your suggestions?
 
#5 ·
Thats a pretty intense shimmer, not sure I could stand that in my living room.
I didn't have covers on the tanks yet, they toned it down a bit. But, all in the eye of the beholder.

I have been looking at these lights for awhile now. How hard are they to wire?
I did 10 of them on a Saturday. I used 18-2 SJ cord and a plug that I got at Lowe's. You have to:

open the back (4 screws),
cut out the old wire and some waterproofing stuff that looks a lot like Elmer's glue,
loosen and remove the widget thing that holds the wire in place on the box and seals it,
add the new wire and secure with two wire nuts,
put the box back together being careful to align a rubber gasket that seals it up,
then add the plug.



 
#6 ·
I like the look of your room Tim!

Jim,
You could always reduce the shimmer by adding in a couple of fluorescent tubes to even out the light.

I am going to be doing the same thing as an accent light (supplementing some fluorescents) in my fish room but using some 5 watt GU10 LED's that I have. They fit in a standard GU10 Halogen track light that I will be using around the walls of the fish room.

The key is the point source illumination. The fewer the points you have the more shimmer you get. The LED Aquarium fixture strips have lots of points of light and that reduces the amount of shimmer.

Andy
 
#8 ·
Yes, the LED driver comes with it. You just have to swap out the cord or hard wire it.

I did exactly what you mentioned on my 180, Andy. I added a 20w LED flood to my CF fixtures. Adds a touch of shimmer and a bit of light in the center of the tank where it was a bit dim. Combos can work great.
 
#9 ·
Thank you Prov for detailed answer, can you tell us how many 10w led bulbs needed for shimmer effect?

My tank is 160cm long, 65cm deep ( 64" x 26" x 26" )

I'm thinking to use 4 florescent tube and some leds for shimmer effect. Do they work well with each other?
 
#12 ·
Furcifer said:
Thank you Prov for detailed answer, can you tell us how many 10w led bulbs needed for shimmer effect?

My tank is 160cm long, 65cm deep ( 64" x 26" x 26" )

I'm thinking to use 4 florescent tube and some leds for shimmer effect. Do they work well with each other?
In the pic, there's only one over each tank. Sometimes they span two tanks. For your tank, a 20W would probably be about right, but you could go with two 10's if you wanted to light different areas of the tank. They do work well with each other, but if the fluorescent lighting is strong enough, it can greatly reduce the shimmer effect. I haven't tried all combinations. Sometimes you just have to experiment.
 
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