Lighting ideas

[Joshuakahan]

Hi, what would be a good natural looking light? I’m looking for a nice and very natural shimmer as well. I have some kessil a80s both blue and sun and they are pretty with good shimmer, but they don’t really look natural to me and the shimmer is more strobie than what I see in lakes. I’m looking around the $200 range
Thanks for any input!

 

[Backfromthedead]

I like the fluval aquaskys, all my friends seem to like them too. They dont break the bank and ive been running at least one strip for 5+ years now no problems. They feature an easy to use app to control them on your phone.

I think the shimmer effect has more to do with the surface agitation in the tank, and the light shining off different surfaces at different depths.

 

[tlindsey]

I like the fluval aquaskys,

I also like this product.

I think the shimmer effect has more to do with the surface agitation in the tank, and the light shining off different surfaces at different depth

Yes.
You will definitely get the shimmer affect due to the power head.

 

[Joshuakahan]

I also like this product.

Yes.
You will definitely get the shimmer affect due to the power head.

This tank doesn’t have a Powerhead, just two AC 70s, but still has good agitation

 

[Joshuakahan]

I like the fluval aquaskys, all my friends seem to like them too. They dont break the bank and ive been running at least one strip for 5+ years now no problems. They feature an easy to use app to control them on your phone.

I think the shimmer effect has more to do with the surface agitation in the tank, and the light shining off different surfaces at different depths.

Thanks for the suggestion
Shimmer is a combination of surface agitation and light coming from a single point vs several points acting as one. That’s why I get so much with the kessils. It just doesn’t look natural to me. Maybe I’ll try the Aqua Sky along with the kessils set on low

This is how I have the Kessils currently set

 

[Cal Amari]

I use a current usa model, I think it's called sattelite plus, only had it a year or so but like it quite a bit. You're getting better ripple style shimmer than I do, but it has a few active weather settings, and a couple of them are good sun/cloud effects where the brights comes and goes, but not the whole light, all at once, it's a very natural look to a cloud covering part of the water and moving away . I only ever use like 2 or 3 options out of the 20 or so available.

 

[Joshuakahan]

I use a current usa model, I think it's called sattelite plus, only had it a year or so but like it quite a bit. You're getting better ripple style shimmer than I do, but it has a few active weather settings, and a couple of them are good sun/cloud effects where the brights comes and goes, but not the whole light, all at once, it's a very natural look to a cloud covering part of the water and moving away . I only ever use like 2 or 3 options out of the 20 or so available.

Thanks! I’ll check those out

 

[Cal Amari]

I jumped on amazon to try to find my model, but it looks like they've updated it since I got mine, now it has 24 hour programmable features and sound effects lol, more stuff I wouldn't use but the dynamic weather effects are still there.

 

[Deadeye]

Another vote for the aquasky

 

[Joshuakahan]

Thanks for the suggestions and I’ll definitely check these lights out, it occurred to me a little while ago that the light might not be the issue, maybe I need a way to make the surface agitation more natural, like crisscrossing waves and that might create a more natural shimmer. I have no idea how to go about this yet though lol