New Lumen Bright Reflector. ... any info on them

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from what I'm seeing I would think the full size Lumabrights would still give great coverage on a 36" wide tank. If you do go lumabrights I would not go with the 400s on a 25" tall tank, that is, unless you mount them fairly high. I'm getting incredible light penetration on my 36" tall tank with 250s and am seriously considering changing out my 400s to 250s
 
I just ordered a Lumen Bright from Mike at Reef Specialty. I actually screwed up my order pretty bad and needed to call him to fix it this morning. Well he had called me back before I even got a chance to and had the problem fixed. If I had more then two thumbs to put up I would. If your looking for these reflectors give him a call first. Excellent customer service.
 
Nano is up
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11964428#post11964428 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by psteeleb
from what I'm seeing I would think the full size Lumabrights would still give great coverage on a 36" wide tank.
Click to expand...


Interesting...I haven't seen anything that shows LB's are a good fit for 36" coverage. Can you show me what you have seen that does show them to be a good fit for covering 36". I know of someone who just set up a 36x36 cubish tank with 2 LB's and the coverage is more like 24".
 
Any recommendations on who sells the double ended Lumen Bright reflectors?

Also any suggestions /recommendations on what ballast should I run these reflectors with? Thanks.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11967222#post11967222 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sirreal63
Interesting...I haven't seen anything that shows LB's are a good fit for 36" coverage. Can you show me what you have seen that does show them to be a good fit for covering 36". I know of someone who just set up a 36x36 cubish tank with 2 LB's and the coverage is more like 24".
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Off hand Mike's Acropora nut tank is 10ft x 30hx 32w (4"shy of 36) and he gets great coverage and doesn't even have them up high enough due to ceiling height.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11967222#post11967222 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sirreal63
Interesting...I haven't seen anything that shows LB's are a good fit for 36" coverage. Can you show me what you have seen that does show them to be a good fit for covering 36". I know of someone who just set up a 36x36 cubish tank with 2 LB's and the coverage is more like 24".
Click to expand...

Personally I think the luminarcs are better for the wider light distribution, but, from a display I saw at one of our LFS the full size (20") lumabrights did a good job on a wide tank. I'll ask the owner and see what his running oppinion is and see if he can send me a picture.

did the person with the 36X36 use mini's (16")?

no doubt the LBs are more like a spotlight vs the LA's being like a floodlight (if this is even a good analogy). Still a full size LB at 20" is going to only need 8" more horizonal spread on each side. Granted, if mounted lower, it's still going to be brighter in the center, so it really depends on what your after. The question was will they work, sure they will, and they may even save on some wattage for penetration vs the LA's. But, if you want more evenly distributed light front to back & side to side the LAs may be the better choice.

Also depends a lot on how high a person intends to keep them. If you want to keep them a little higher, still get penetration and keep some heat off the surface the LBs would be my choice.
 
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It is just more focused light, minimal spread. Remember our eyes are not very good at judging light intensity. The cube looked well lit when you looked at but once you see a pic of it you see where the beam of light is and where the corners are very dark. Narrow and tall tanks can make very good use of the LB's where you need straight down punch but for covering evenly the LA's still are the best. I'll see if the cube owner will allow me to share the pics...it is amazing at how the tank looked well lit until you see the pics of the dark corners...dark enough that little more than mushrooms would be happy. If it is more than 24" depth don't rely on a LumenBrite to cover the tank.

I have to look hard at lighting again as I am getting close to doing a DSA Neo 185 which is 60x30.5x25 My LAIII Mini's may not do the trick. It is becoming obvious that LB's won't do it either. I may be back to the original LumenArcs. Lighting is so much fun. :D
 
hi
need your advize guys
my tanks foot print is 48x24 and it is 28" high.....what is the best choice for me...LB or LAIII ? full size or minis
thanks
 
So I take it you have done par ratings to test your theory? This is the only way to truely tell what kind of light is reaching certain areas.
 
No and I don't plan on it either. After seeing the effect on a 36" depth and the spotlight effect directly under the reflector I don't need to. The LB is a great reflector for throwing light straight down but doesn't spread light evenly over the coverage area. I know you have LB's...try this...make your water a little murky and take a pic of it. You will see what I saw...a narrow beam of light and not spread out. The LB does a great job at focusing light, it shines greatly there but it is not as adept at covering a wide area. Too bad too because the price is right on them. I'll keep my LA's...I don't have to hack up my canopy to get them high enough to cover. If I ever buy a 150 tall tank I'll get the LB's.
 
I agree, the spread isn't great with the LB's. Looks at the first link. Directly under the edge of the reflector on the left side of the tank the PAR is 86. The PAR on the right side at the same height is 168. There is too a big margin for error in these values. Yes, it's a 250w bulb but the PAR is crap on the corners. The angle the reflectors are positioned at on the LB's are too steep to have good spread.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11967874#post11967874 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by grisha
hi
need your advize guys
my tanks foot print is 48x24 and it is 28" high.....what is the best choice for me...LB or LAIII ? full size or minis
thanks
Click to expand...

2 250w SE in LB minis would work perfectly on your setup.IMO
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11968232#post11968232 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rickyrooz1
I agree, the spread isn't great with the LB's. Looks at the first link. Directly under the edge of the reflector on the left side of the tank the PAR is 86. The PAR on the right side at the same height is 168. There is too a big margin for error in these values. Yes, it's a 250w bulb but the PAR is crap on the corners. The angle the reflectors are positioned at on the LB's are too steep to have good spread.
Click to expand...

The left side was lower because the nipple was faced down. The other 2 were faced upward. I wanted to show how nipple orientation does make a difference.
 
I'm looking for a recommendation. I want to choose a reflector for my tank which is 30x18x20h. Which reflector should I use? The bulb is a 175w iwasaki 15k.
 
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