Metal halides "shimmer" only because they are what is known as a single point light source. the arc is a relatively very small area from which light emanates, so when that light hits the surface of rippling water, the ripples are shown as light passes through and is diverted. light emanates from all points on a fluorescent bulb so even though the light is diverted as it hits the ripples, the shimmer effect disappears because the light is coming from a whole lot of different angles at a time.
have you considered keeping the halide and supplementing with T5? that should mask the dark area from the brace but still allow the halide to shimmer.
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