My pair of previously mentioned LED spotlights arrived today. Taking a quick peak at work, they appeared to be made with every bit of attention to detail and quality as they were reputed to be online. I plugged one into my coworkers desk lamp and may have unintentionally stunned him with the brightness. These guys are bright, no doubt about it.
I still haven't found the right fixture for mounting these over the tank. For temporary testing purposes, I used a standard reptile lamp fixture I had lying around from a previous turtle tank build. The following photos were taken with the same white balance and aperture, with minimal curve and level adjustments.
My 150 watt metal halide fixture with a 14k bulb:
The PAR38 spotlight in 20k with 40 degree optics:
As a color sensitive designer, I should have known better than to switch both the lighting technology and the color spectrum at the same time. I find the change to be more than a little extreme. The spot is about as tight as I expected at six inches off the water, but the blue is much darker than I anticipated. I expect this is exaggerated by the spotlighting.
Also I've noticed that shadows cast by corals and rocks within the light create an unnatural blue/yellow banding on the substrate and rock. This above all else is bothering me right now:
Even combining the spotlight with my standard MH fixture, the colors do not blend. The LED clearly overpowers the MH in the area of its spotlight, and the same blue/yellow banding is visible.
I will hold out final judgement until I can install both lights over the tank at the same time. How the corals react to two different light points will be interesting, but the most important factor right now is the overall aesthetic of the tank. I don't want to turn a decent looking aquarium into a dance floor with these lights.
I still haven't found the right fixture for mounting these over the tank. For temporary testing purposes, I used a standard reptile lamp fixture I had lying around from a previous turtle tank build. The following photos were taken with the same white balance and aperture, with minimal curve and level adjustments.
My 150 watt metal halide fixture with a 14k bulb:
The PAR38 spotlight in 20k with 40 degree optics:
As a color sensitive designer, I should have known better than to switch both the lighting technology and the color spectrum at the same time. I find the change to be more than a little extreme. The spot is about as tight as I expected at six inches off the water, but the blue is much darker than I anticipated. I expect this is exaggerated by the spotlighting.
Also I've noticed that shadows cast by corals and rocks within the light create an unnatural blue/yellow banding on the substrate and rock. This above all else is bothering me right now:
Even combining the spotlight with my standard MH fixture, the colors do not blend. The LED clearly overpowers the MH in the area of its spotlight, and the same blue/yellow banding is visible.
I will hold out final judgement until I can install both lights over the tank at the same time. How the corals react to two different light points will be interesting, but the most important factor right now is the overall aesthetic of the tank. I don't want to turn a decent looking aquarium into a dance floor with these lights.
Labels: Equipment, LED, Lighting, Reef Aquarium
