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thanks mr X. your opinion is certainly valued. My concern is that they recommend hanging them about 10" above. If I do buy these fixtures for a glass canopy should I get the standard, 60 degree optics, or 90 degree optics? Does it matter?

PS I have a standard 75 gallon.

They recommend this so they dont get wet, it specifically states the fixture is not waterproof and should be hung at a safe level above the tank.
 
It can sits on top of the tank like the marine land double bright or the one you linked. It also can hang it. I would always recommand people to hang their LED at about 6-10" above water level. That shouldprovide you the best even spread.
 
thanks mr X. your opinion is certainly valued. My concern is that they recommend hanging them about 10" above. If I do buy these fixtures for a glass canopy should I get the standard, 60 degree optics, or 90 degree optics? Does it matter?

PS I have a standard 75 gallon.


choice of the degree of the optic depend on your needs. smaller degree, provides strong focus spot light effect directly under the fixture. It has higher PAR /PUR due to the concerntration of the LED light beams. However, it gives up a lot of spread. Some people love how that can have spot light feeling with strong shimmering effect and doen't mind some shadow on the sides.
On the other way around, larger degree lenses will spread the light more evenly and can light up larger area, but you will have less PAR /PUR under the fixture. It would be up to you what you think about your tank. Afterall, it would be yourself and your family enjoy the aquarium, just like choosing kelvin of fixture, do you go with 14000K or 20000K, both would work, but might have different impact on viewing
 
So ninety degree would give me a lot more spread than the standard? I think that would be better as the lights would be directly on the tank
 
with no lens - its basically 120 degree spread

Add a smaller number optics - the 90 degree - will make the LED beam more narrow
 
I posted on RC. It might take forever to find my post. I would not be surprised it you guys took hours going through that single thread.
 
I'm doing pretty good without the optics and reds and greens. My tank is 25" deep also. I'm curious to see what difference they (red and green) actually make.
 
I'm doing pretty good without the optics and reds and greens. My tank is 25" deep also. I'm curious to see what difference they (red and green) actually make.

I wonder if your corals will actually notice any difference or maybe if your eyes will see the tank's color a little differently... Kinda interested in your results and ive grabbed a beer and settled into my chair in anticipation :)
 
I'm anxious and this guy reefbuilders is dropping the ball. I'm almost tempted to cancel my order and order one of those ones with optics-
Aliexpress.com : Buy Hot sale 120W LED aquarium light with 32B + 19W + 4Violet with Secondary intensity lens from Reliable aquarium led lighting suppliers on EverGrow Lighting

Any reason you'd use this site Doug? It was brought to my attention once before and I wanted to shy away from it since it looked like a shady wanna be ebay.
 
Well, the folks in the link above (RC thread) seem to be happy with the LED units coming out of there. From what I have read, buying from certain folks advertising on that site are buying directly from the manufacturers and not from American middlemen. the only thing I fear is having to return the product because it's faulty. Credit cards are global and you have enough recourse. As a matter of fact, I bought a new Blackberry from China a few months ago that came to me non-functional, and the seller lied and said I never mailed it back...yada yada yada. My credit card company zapped my money right out of his account. ;)
 
Well, that is good to hear. I like cheap, but when working in court ordered juvenile placement I'd rather not deal with hassel outside of work when possible...LOL. Thankfully my tank is more than covered with my radions.
 
Got the lights today and have them hung! They look awesome! This picture is from my phine so it doesnt do it any justice but ill try and get some better ones later...
 

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