Lighting and little ones??

[rjpotts]

Just had a thought. The place and height I plan on putting my tank are perfect for adult viewing, and also high enough and far enough back on a stand that small children that don't know better can't reach the tank to bang on it. But.... The light fixture will be in such a place that little ones that may look up to see the display would basically be staring right at the lights.
I know some LEDs have a warning about looking directly at them and obviously these are out of the question, but what about the other LED colors. And for that matter all other types of reef compatible lighting?
If corals can't tell the difference b/t real sunlight and artificial, can our retinas?
I want back in the hobby but not at the expense of my 1 yr olds vision.
Thanks,
R.J.

 

[picoreefguy]

if at all possible i would build a canopy so that way none of the light that doesnt make it in the tank ends up in your kids eyes and it also looks good as well if it matches the stand

 

[ripped tide]

Picoreefguy;806329 wrote: if at all possible i would build a canopy so that way none of the light that doesnt make it in the tank ends up in your kids eyes and it also looks good as well if it matches the stand

Agreed.

 

[rdnelson]

Staring directly into any birght light is not good. I agree with the others. Canopy would be a good option for you.

 

[rjpotts]

I guess I'll lose some adjustability as far as the height of the fixture. But I guess it's a canopy or nothing. I had thought about a canopy, it just seemed in my head like it would look funny. The canopy would have to be so tall to eliminate the possibility of direct contact. Hopefully it's just in my head. The shape of the tank isn't going to make it any easier as its a corner bowfront. I'd considered a lip on the edge of the stand made out of some very dark shaded acrylic that I have access to also.
I'll figure something out or I'll just ditch this tank and set up my 150 in my man cave where there isn't much/any under 3' traffic.
Thanks,
R.J.

 

[sleepyreef]

I'm totally confused. I am unable to stare at bright objects such as the sun, metal halide lights, or bright LEDs. Do kids have this ability?

I tried to stare at the sun once, it freaking hurt and all I did was glance at it.

 

[ralph atl]

I have 2, 400 watt Radiums hanging.....I also have a step stool available for the little ones...

 

[rjpotts]

Im pretty sure kids eyes hurt looking at bright lights the same as adults but looking at an led or mh is nothing like looking at the sun IMO. Nowhere near the intensity even if the potential for damage is close to the same depending on color. However adults know better than to do it again if the result was negative the first time...well some know better.
I guess I'll be building a canopy.
Just an example, the welder I typically use at work when run at 1000 amps for gouging (in theory) is 30 times more damaging to the eyes than direct exposure to the sun but if/when I accidentally glance at the arc or there is a reflection (which is just as bad) in my hood it doesn't hurt my eyes as bad as a glance at the sun for the same amount of time. And this is what I was concerned about.