Par 38 led lamp light up whole room?

[Soggytoes]

I am setting up a 29g in my sons bedroom and planned originally to be fowlr but may want to add some coral down the road. I am thinking about a par38 led lamp. Do these concentrate the light to the tank or do they light up the whole room like a desk lamp would? He is 3 years old and easily distracted : )

[Benson0219]

They do not light up the whole room. The do concentrate the light. The light from the tank will then light up the room a bit.

[tomgndallas]

depends on the optics. not the whole room but a nice spill over effect. the wide the optic, the more spill. I can make a recommendation for a specific light if you PM me.

[Nanofreak79]

LEDs are super bright dude. I have mine roughly 14" off the water, on a tank that sits on a 32" stand. He will deffinetly catch the LEDs in the eyeballs if he looks into it. Mine has 60degree optics which keeps spill to minimum, but sitting on the couch I can still be annoyed by it at times. I have three boys, so just giving my two cents. Mine are easily distracted.......by well everything. Better him to the fish tank though at least!

[D-Nak]

Something like a Kessil A150 would work a lot better than a PAR38, since the Kessil has a lens that focuses the light down into the tank. The closer you put the light towards the tank, the narrower the beam. Of course, the investment is a lot higher than a PAR38, but you'll definitely get less light spillage (and Kessils have very good re-sale value). You should be able to find used A150s since many people have upgraded to A350s.

[tomgndallas]

i dont seem to have the getting hit in the eye problem, and when I am sitting on the couch, my tank is elevated on the counter and still not really an issue.

for the cost and choice of optics and different LEd color mixing, par38 is my choice all the way. i bought from these guys, i love their par light and they have great pricing too.

www.marinelifetech.com

[Soggytoes]

Something like a Kessil A150 would work a lot better than a PAR38, since the Kessil has a lens that focuses the light down into the tank. The closer you put the light towards the tank, the narrower the beam. Of course, the investment is a lot higher than a PAR38, but you'll definitely get less light spillage (and Kessils have very good re-sale value). You should be able to find used A150s since many people have upgraded to A350s.

Could I get away with 1 of these over a 30" 29g? How about 1 of the a350w? I plan to mainly have a fowlr maybe a few hearty soft corals.

[D-Nak]

Could I get away with 1 of these over a 30" 29g? How about 1 of the a350w? I plan to mainly have a fowlr maybe a few hearty soft corals.

I think you could get away with one A150 for now since you plan to keep softies which don't need a lot of light. If you plan on moving to SPS you can get another A150 or even trade up to the A350W as you mentioned.