Lumenbright Mini vs Lumenbright Mini Wide?

[Tremor_Clown]

Can anyone tell me what is a better reflector for a 250w halide on 24x24x24 SPS tank...a Lumenbright Mini or a Lumenbright Mini Wide?
I can mount the reflector as high/low as needed, but I'm unsure if the Mini Wide offers any advantage for my tank size when compared to the Mini.

 

[Justdrew]

I would go with the Lumenbright mini wide. I originally got my mini wide for a 28 x 28 cube and coverage was excellent. While I have not seen it myself, users of the regular mini report a serious hot spot about 6" in diameter. With the mini wide I see no hot spots. I would hit up Jeremy in the Coralvue forum or the guys in the Reefspecialty forum. There is a Lumenbright thread in the Reefspecialty forum that is pretty extensive.

 

[dkerns06]

I have the mini on my 54 corner about a foot off of the water and it works great.

 

[Tremor_Clown]

Justdrew: thanks a lot! I never saw anything before about the hotspots but that makes sense. Does your lumenbright mini wide spill out any light outside your tank? I thought I had read that the mini wide was more for 30 inch wide tanks but can't remember.

dkerns06: thanks! Roughly, how high do you have your lumenbright mini raised?

 

[karsseboom]

Those are a great reflector and which ever you choose will be great.

 

[dkerns06]

The tank is 28" from the front to the back corner. 28" from the back corner to the middle of the bow and 38" from left to right corners. The light is hanging about 9 3/4" from the glass to the water surface and 13 1/2" from the bulb to the water. I get great light every where in the tank. The sides are a little dimmer than the middle, but not drastically. I do keep lower light sps on the sides to account for this.

 

[Justdrew]

Right now I have a 400 watt Radium in the mini wide over a 40 Breeder. I have the pendant at 19" above the water line. I get a ton of light spillage, but I don't mind, as I have failed to find a comparable bulb to the 400 watt Radium. I want to go to 250 watt and lower the pendant back to about 12" - 13", but until I find the right bulb I will leave it high.

 

[Tremor_Clown]

dkerns06: thanks for the input!

Justdrew: that was what I was going to do - a 400w Radium on the old PFO HQI/HPS ballast. I've heard a lot of opinions the 250w on HQI vs the 400w on HPS, have you seen both?