Lighting for Reef 92 Gallon Corner Tank

Yeah, that pendant sure does look like a Coralvue Lumen Bright, but it's different. The Lumen Bright has vent holes all over it's sections, and screws holding the sections together--which I don't see her on Chris's fixture; maybe it was an early prototype or something. Anyway, it's almost the same thing. You can get a good look at the Lumen Bright here:

http://finsdepot.com/pro1328034.html

Chris: How is the spread across the 92g corner with this pendant and reflector. I have heard that the Lumen Bright is much more spot-light like than say it's biggest competitor, the Lumenarc III. The Lumenarc is suppose to have a better spread, but it's SOOO butt ugly and industrial looking. This pendant is not bad (maybe a tad umbrella-eee).

But can it handle spreading the power of the single 400 watter over the almost 48" central arc of this unique shaped tank? Mmmmmmm....

That is the big question I would like answered as I am considering this 92 corner tank with this same light (400W Radium/HQI-SunAgro)...
 
Hey, Chris, if you can get around to taking a full frontal with the new 400w'er in that pendant, I know a lot of us would find that very helpful and we would be forever gratful...!
 
I've got a single 400watt in a LumenarcIII over my 92. I've had it like that for about 2 years.. Works great..Mine is in a canopy though. I dont like the light spill you get from hanging pendents.. IMO a single lumen bright would not work with a 92..It doesn't have a very good spread.. Its made to get the light to the bottem of deep tanks. The only fix for this is to raise it up high off the tank.. But that looks bad and wastes alot of light.

Here is an old pic of mine
256994228.jpg

256994226.jpg


Will
 
Wow, Will, that is really great--thanks! It sure does work well, and the Luminarc was the reflector I was seriously considering--for a wider spread. I can see why you prefer the canopy. In order to get that width of spread from one bulb, you really have to hang the pendant a little high, don't you? That light spill is no joke...!

How high off the tank is your Luminarc mounted? Is that the standard Luminarc (20" x 20") or the mini?

Thanks again, most helpful...!
 
Mine is the standard one.. I have 5 of the Mini's though lol. It covers the tank easy.. Mine is only about 7"-8" off the water. This isn't really for spread. I didnt' really adjust if for that. I just placed up enough to keep splashes off the bulb.. It just happen to cover the entire tank. See the coraline algae on the walls of the tank. My reflector is turned different then you would probably think though.. The corner points to the front of the tank insted of the flat spot.. I did this cause when you look at the flector over the tank it just seems to make since to point the corners of the reflector to the corners of the tank.

Will
 
BTW FWIW. It might not look good I have no idea since I never got around to trying it.. Before I decided to build a full canopy and put it on a lift.. I was going to try and find one of those carboard tubes they use for concrete foundations and light posts.. They make some pretty big ones.. Like 24". I had thought about putting my LumIII in and painting it black.. Maybe using some foil or something on the inside to help with heat on the cardboard..I figured a Circle pendent would look better then a square pendent on a curved tank.. Was just an idea though.. I agree the plain reflectors are pretty ugly
 
Mine is a LumenBrite III currently with a 400 W 20,000K bulb. I painted the outside with flat black BBQ grill paint. When I went to 20,000K I lowered the pendant to about 4" over the surface. That minimized the leakage. I get decent depth penetration, but the two outside corners are dim.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12573287#post12573287 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ChrisBuono
Mine is a LumenBrite III currently with a 400 W 20,000K bulb. I painted the outside with flat black BBQ grill paint. When I went to 20,000K I lowered the pendant to about 4" over the surface. That minimized the leakage. I get decent depth penetration, but the two outside corners are dim.
Click to expand...

Is that the mini or regular size LumenBrite?
 
naprestsleep: How high is your Lumen Bright from the water?

We will probably only do 6" max to avoid light leakage. Plus, we're planning on putting those specimens that require less light towards the outside of the tank.

Or...we might just build a canopy.

Decisions, decisions. :confused:
 
Im somewhere between 10-11" per the recommendation of the vendor I bought through.... but I may also lower it b/c of the light leakage.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12569461#post12569461 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 8BALL_99
256994226.jpg
Click to expand...

What did you use for those vertical rails? That is a very good idea and just wondering how to do it. :)

Do you still have your plans?
 
Is everyone that is running the MHs on the tanks, also running chillers? I'm wanting to get the most light possible for my 90 gal corner, without having to get the chiller. Any suggestions?
 
I've never had a chiller, but I didn't have MH. I used T5 lights and living in San Francisco, it doesn't get too hot over here, so my tank temps hardly get into the 80s.

It wasn't too hard to light the 92 gal with retros, but once I switched to a fixture, the corners were a little dimmer than the center.
 
Human, if you click on my redhouse its got info on what I used and where i got it.. The slides are just heavy duty cabinet slides from Home Depot or lowes.

I've got MH on all of my tanks with no chiller. Most people I know with mh dont use chillers..Really no way to tell exactly what lights will work without a chiller.. Depends on room temp, ventilation ect ect.. I've got a 400 over my 92 and a 250 over the frag tank connected to it without a chiller.. So thats 650 watts on a system thats about 145 gallons including sump..
 
We keep our house at 72-73 I keep our tanks under 82 as well.. I shoot for 78-80.. But 81 point somthing is pretty common in middle of summer. Anything under 84 and your pretty safe.
 
t-5 t-5 t-5 t-5 t-5 t-5!!!!!!!!!!!! simple high output, cheap, and loooooong bulb life. With a mixed reef, you will be just fine. Imo.
 
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