30 gallon cube and Radion

[hurley12]

I have a 30 gallon rimless cube with a radion pro over it which is plenty of light, but I get some shadows I'm not crazy about. I would love to be able to add T5's, but it would kind of kill the look I'm going for on my rimless cube. Is adding another radion and turning them both front to back a horrible idea if I dial them down?

 

[jmp21677]

That's a lot of $. Have you tried the wide angle lenses? I had one xr15 over a reefer 170 and very little shadowing. I wasn't loving the results with the light and did just go back to t5/led hybrid, but the shadowing wasn't the reason

 

[hurley12]

Yes I already have the wide angle lenses, maybe it's just me but I see a lot of shadows on my corals... I do know it's a ton of money, but I do intend to upgrade once I move so that's why I thought about it.

 

[bubblemytip]

If you have the cash, go for it. I am experiencing the same shadowing creeping in on my 18" cube running a Hydra 26HD.

I am considering moving to a panel style LED like the Triton LANI or just adding a few more Hydra and then running them at a lower intensity.

 

[smokin'reefer]

I built a kind of "lamp shade" for my radions to capture a lot of the light spill and direct it into the tank. Works good with the wide angle lenses to create more of a soft light.

 

[hurley12]

Do you have a picture of the "lamp shade"

 

[smokin'reefer]

You see it's not full canopy, but helps.

 

[hurley12]

Very cool, what did you make them out of?

 

[smokin'reefer]

I used PVC (plastic) moulding. I think about 3/8" x 5". It is smooth on one side and a faux wood embossed on the other that I painted black. Made some 22.5° miter cuts to give me the flare you see. I played around with cardboard templates til I got the look I liked.

 

[smokin'reefer]

And they are attached to lights by 2 small bungys like suspenders.