# Kessil too much shimmer



## Ryan Thang To (23 Nov 2016)

Hi
I was wondering if there was any thing i can use or diy something that can reduce the shimmer. I have 2 kessil a360 and the shimmer is getting annoying now. Kessil do have a light diffuser but only for the ap700 model and they are going for £50. 

My tank is 4ft long and i have 2 filter that make a lot of ripple so guys if you know let me know please

Cheers
Ryan


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## Easternlethal (24 Nov 2016)

Try adding a third light source


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## Ryan Thang To (24 Nov 2016)

Not sure about adding another light lol


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## rebel (24 Nov 2016)

There are three methods. 

1. Reduce point source light. Ie add more or add diffusers. 
2. Reduce reflection off water. Add a tank cover with diffuse glass/frosted
3. Reduce surface rippling.


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## zozo (24 Nov 2016)

4. Add floating vegitation


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## tadabis (24 Nov 2016)

You just dont like the look or smth else?


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## Ryan Thang To (24 Nov 2016)

Hello everyone

Thanks for taking your time to help me. I didn't make my self clear i meant i wanted to make something that i can attach to the kessil to get less shimmer

I don't want to add anything over the tank as that will be ugly. 

I was wondering if there was anything like arcylic or some sort if glass i don't know. Kessil is using some sort of silicon which let light go through and spread the light out

This is my tank


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## Ryan Thang To (24 Nov 2016)

tadabis said:


> You just dont like the look or smth else?


There nothing wrong  just the shimmer is abit too much. Up close is ok but from far is not noce to watch. Sorry what is smth means?

Cheers
Ryan


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## Ryan Thang To (24 Nov 2016)

zozo said:


> 4. Add floating vegitation


I would like too but they block too much light


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## zozo (24 Nov 2016)

Ryan Thang To said:


> I would like too but they block too much light


Why would that be? You at least can reduce the shimmer a bit, since the plants will all be pushed to the right side of the tank.. I do not realy see any high light demanding plants there.. 

I guess a frosted cover in front of the lamp will block maybe as much light and it might not reduce the shimmer. The shimmer is created by the water surface movement. I have a simular setup as yours with 5 bundles of light instead of 2 and also have shimmer. Half of my tanks surface is covered with floaters the other side at the filter outlet is pushed free from it by the flow. Even if i reduce the light strenght by 80% at this side there still is about the same shimmer. Under the floaters (right side) there also still is a shimmer from the spreading of the lamps at the far left but it's much less.

As long as there is a surface riple there will be shimmer.. And bundled lights like LED gives more shimmer.

But beautifull tank you have there ..   Some hygroryza aristata would look terrific imho.. And very easy to controll..


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## Nelson (24 Nov 2016)

I like the shimmer .
Give them to me,and get yourself some T5's .


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## foxfish (24 Nov 2016)

I wonder if you could bring the light forward a bit & slightly angle the beam across the surface?
I don't know if that will work but, I think it might...


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## Ryan Thang To (24 Nov 2016)

zozo said:


> Why would that be? You at least can reduce the shimmer a bit, since the plants will all be pushed to the right side of the tank.. I do not realy see any high light demanding plants there..
> 
> I guess a frosted cover in front of the lamp will block maybe as much light and it might not reduce the shimmer. The shimmer is created by the water surface movement. I have a simular setup as yours with 5 bundles of light instead of 2 and also have shimmer. Half of my tanks surface is covered with floaters the other side at the filter outlet is pushed free from it by the flow. Even if i reduce the light strenght by 80% at this side there still is about the same shimmer. Under the floaters (right side) there also still is a shimmer from the spreading of the lamps at the far left but it's much less.
> 
> ...


hey thanks the tank is over 10 weeks old now. hygroryza aristata is a nice plants do they over take the tank?


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## Ryan Thang To (24 Nov 2016)

foxfish said:


> I wonder if you could bring the light forward a bit & slightly angle the beam across the surface?
> I don't know if that will work but, I think it might...


 just try it no luck. too much light facing forward   
if only I know what kessil is using for there light diffuser


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## foxfish (24 Nov 2016)

I mean to angle the light back toward the back of the tank, I just tried it with my LEDs and it seems to work but throws the shimmer over the back wall... I quite like that!


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## Ryan Thang To (24 Nov 2016)

oh I see yes it does help but like you said there a lot going at the back. I just have to live with it for now hahaha


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## zozo (24 Nov 2016)

Ryan Thang To said:


> hey thanks the tank is over 10 weeks old now. hygroryza aristata is a nice plants do they over take the tank?


They can be pretty fast growing and is a very hungry plant and like a rather high NPK regime to flourish realy well. But with it's larger leaf size it is also a very easy plant to control with trimming so they do not take away to much light.. This is different if you combine these with salvinai and duckweed as i did, this can become a very tight surface mass and can block light significantly, i notice with some taxiphyllum peacock moss growing slower and even reducing in mass while the surface layer gets denser. But with hygroryza aristata as single floater i didn't have these issues. 

Surface vegitation is great in many aspects.. For example 50cm high tanks are regarding our light specs deep. But compaired to nature this is still relatively shallow. And i have only 35 cm high tank and notice some barbs which stay rather at the substrate level with a free surface, being all over the tank when there is sufficient surface coverage.  Even the shrimps hang around in the roots of anything floating or near the surface and sometimes i even see them climb partialy emersed to sunbade in the lights.

Unfortunately i yet not managed to get a real clear macro picture from it, still on the hunt for that.


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