# LED "Shimmer Effect": Finnex Ray II vs. Marineland Double-Bright



## growitnow (Feb 26, 2007)

Hi,

I tried out the Marineland Double-bright LED, 24"-36" fixture. I had never seen LED in person before and thought the "shimmer effect" from the light was really fantastic!! Tres cool. But for me the Marineland double-bright was way too dim for my 24" deep tank.

The Finnex Ray II 24" fixture has many more LEDs (192 LEDs, I believe) than the 24" Marineland fixture (8 white LEDs); I assume because Finnex has smaller LEDs more tightly packed.

Does the Finnex Ray II give a good/pleasant "shimmer effect", like the Marineland? Or does the Finnex Ray II just generate brighter more uniform light, with no shimmer because of the tight packing of LEDs. I'm more interested in the shimmer, and less concerned about actual PAR.

thanks,
growitnow


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## seandelevan (Sep 24, 2006)

My 48" ray 2 on my 75 gives no shimmer effect at all. In fact it looks exactly how my Catalina T5HO 3 bulbs looked that was on there before, can barely tell the difference. But that is fine with me.


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## growitnow (Feb 26, 2007)

Thanks very much, that's a drag. 

I 'm looking for LED fixture that would fit a 30" long, 24" deep tank. The fixure would 

(1) give nice shimmer effect 
(2) not be super-duper expensive (say $150ish or less)

I want the tank to be perceived as moderately to brightly lit, but PAR values are not important for this tank. Though for comparison, the Marineland I tried was 19 PAR at bottom of tank (from LED compendium post here) and I definitely want brighter.

Does anyone have any suggestions, I'd love some feedback from folk who use LEDs and have seen what they look like. I've only ever seen the Marineland and thought it was great but too dim.

thanks,
growitnow


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## jester56 (Oct 28, 2012)

I've got 2 - 36" Ray 2's on a 50G Acrylic. Super bright, (I have to cycle to fixtures on and off at intervals with timers). But the only shimmer effect I get is under the spraybar flow. Seems the brighter the LED, the less the shimmer. I've got a 5G Fluval "nano" tank that came with an 30 LED lamp . It shimmers with the whites, but really goes with the 2 blue moonlight LEDs. And I didnt buy the Marineland because of what you said... too dim... Good luck!


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## Mostro (Aug 26, 2012)

jester56 said:


> Seems the brighter the LED, the less the shimmer.


Shimmer is the result of light emitting from a defined punctual source to create shadow. That's why it is evident with LED or metal halide setups using single or small clusters of emitters and not with fluorescent tubes whose light is broadcast diffusely.

If the Finnex Ray 2 had the same brightness but achieved it with fewer emitters (less diffuse) it would produce more shimmer.


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## BriDroid (Oct 7, 2012)

I also only get shimmer with my Ray 2 right under the spray bar where the ripples are biggest.


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## james1542 (Sep 8, 2011)

Try the kessil LED pendants, or go cheap with an LED flood light/s, or PAR 38 pendant/s, then just make sure you have some surface agitation and you will get lots of shimmers . As Mostro said, you need a point source light, and something to make the shadows. And bright light will make the shimmer more noticeable in fact. Look at the par values of HQI metal halides they are through the roof and they are best known for creating shimmer effects.


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## NYREPS (Aug 31, 2010)

All LEDs gives out the shimmering effect ,the water on top needs to be moving to get that effect.


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## 57770 (Nov 14, 2012)

There is an amazing shimmer effect on my 75G using the buildmyled.comf fixture. I built it with a 75 degree lens and the freshwater planted layout.

That said I have small ripples at the top of my tank.

Shimmer is great, checkout my review for pictures.


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