Mounting Lights

[scttwhtmr]

I have seen several posts regarding led lights being mounted above the water a certain distance (usually around 14 or 16 inches). I have also seen several led light systems that are frame mounted and are much lower to the water. Why the difference? Can I not mount a mars aqua (just for example) lower to the water if I need to? Is it for the coverage? I'm new to led lights and just want to make sure that when I put some in I do it right.

 

[Grant]

With LED lights you should be able to raise and lower them as needed to get the coverage you want, just realize that as you raise them you're going to loose some intensity to get the wider light spread. I don't think my LED lights are anywhere near 14-16" above the water. I'd guess closer to 10" but I'd have to measure them when I get home. I didn't pick a certain distance, just set them at the height that gave me the ability to get light to the edges of the tank without having it lighting all around the tank, too, then used the dimming feature to adjust the light to the intensity I wanted.

 

[scttwhtmr]

Thank you. That helps a lot. I've been looking at several systems and wanted one I could expand later if I wanted to but I wasn't sure I'd be able to use one that would. If the distance is less critical then I can get the ones I wanted with the intent to expand later when I get a larger system.