Reef Central Online Community - View Single Post - Novices need LED lighting questions answered.

mpyers · 08/27/2016, 10:50 PM

Ron,

Is it worth taking water light transmission into consideration? I'm not sure how much it varies. I would assume it does greatly. I know before I got everything squared away, I had problems keeping the clarity of my water perfect. Looking on from the front pane, it didn't seem cloudy, but if viewed from the side, I couldn't see through the length of the tank.

I would assume this would have a considerable effect on the lights ability to perform, therefore making water clarity an important factor on the efficiency of your lighting.

Also, if you're using Acrylic or glass to protect your lights from splashes, there is an LT value associated with each material. I work for an acrylic manufacturer, and our average LT for High-quality clear acrylic is about 93% This seems insignificant, but if you think about it, that is 7% of your light that doesn't even make it to the surface of the water.

Any material is going to have this effect, because if it has 100% LT it would be invisible.

Also if you keep the lights too close to the water, they tend to have salt buildup on the surface of the splash guards, and that will decrease the light transmission as well. I wondered how much effect this had, and so I took a piece into work, and after a week the LT had dropped from 93% to 88%. With a significant spike in Haze (Light scattering) as well, which will re-direct light in seemingly random ways. Personally, I'm going to use the thinnest possible splash guard, with a high LT, and I will be cleaning it regularly.

08/27/2016, 10:50 PM	#112
mpyers Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Cambridge, OH Posts: 311	Ron, Is it worth taking water light transmission into consideration? I'm not sure how much it varies. I would assume it does greatly. I know before I got everything squared away, I had problems keeping the clarity of my water perfect. Looking on from the front pane, it didn't seem cloudy, but if viewed from the side, I couldn't see through the length of the tank. I would assume this would have a considerable effect on the lights ability to perform, therefore making water clarity an important factor on the efficiency of your lighting. Also, if you're using Acrylic or glass to protect your lights from splashes, there is an LT value associated with each material. I work for an acrylic manufacturer, and our average LT for High-quality clear acrylic is about 93% This seems insignificant, but if you think about it, that is 7% of your light that doesn't even make it to the surface of the water. Any material is going to have this effect, because if it has 100% LT it would be invisible. Also if you keep the lights too close to the water, they tend to have salt buildup on the surface of the splash guards, and that will decrease the light transmission as well. I wondered how much effect this had, and so I took a piece into work, and after a week the LT had dropped from 93% to 88%. With a significant spike in Haze (Light scattering) as well, which will re-direct light in seemingly random ways. Personally, I'm going to use the thinnest possible splash guard, with a high LT, and I will be cleaning it regularly.