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

[badazztealcobra]

Just wanted to add some pictures of my new lighting setup....

Here's the completed canopy....

Before the doors and before it was on the tank....

Canopy on and lit, before the doors are put on....

Actinics only....

Halides on with actinic... (I need to fill the gap between the doors still)

The setup consists of (2) 6' VHO actinics, and (3) 250w Reeflux 12K's on Coralvue dimmable ballasts. The bulbs are 15" off the water....

Hey bubbletip, did you have a lumen meter ??? I wanted to try to get some readings that these things are putting out...

 

[IndyMatt]

I put mine in yesterday and WOW! These things increased the light in the tank a lot. I have mini's mounted with the bulb about 11" off the water. It creates a little bit of shadow in the middle but it works out since I have Acans in that section. I reduced my light cycle as to not burn anything. I am slowly increasing it by an hour every day or so.

 

[melev]

Matt, since today is the first day, just run them 4 hours. And leave it that way for a week. After a week, increase it to 5 hours for a week. Then the week after that, take it up to 6 hours a day for a week.

One hour increased daily will very likely burn some corals.

 

[IndyMatt]

Will do, I am traveling right now and I have it set for 4 hours and it has been that way since Sunday. Slow is always better!

 

[amt68]

anyone have any problem with the lumin bright L3 DE reflectors, just tried to order two from hellolights. They recomended not to buy them that they were going to send them back to manf for problems with replacing the bulbs. They said they had several complaints. I have yet to hear any complaints on RC. I have heard of this problem with the luminarc stealth. Who knows the guy could of confused

 

[IRISSERVICE]

call http://www.reefspecialty.com/ they will advise you DE lumen Bright

 

[icantremember]

Hmm, well I think I might be in a pickle now. LOL.

I bought 2 - SLS Blue Wave VII Dual 430W HQI ballasts and 4 - Reeflux 12k's. I just ran across this thread after trying to find info on the Lumen Bright's. I believe that the PFO HQI's use the same ballast the Blue Wave HQI's use. So what now? I was hoping to overdrive the 400W bulbs to 430W and everything would be great. Now it looks like the HQI's won't even do that. Urg.....

One question though - 96x24x31 tank. I am looking at 4 LB's but I am debating on the standard size vs mini's. I have 20" above the tank to work with.

Thanks!

 

[melev]

I don't know about the HQI stuff, but regarding the reflectors:

The Large ones are 16 x 16 x 9 and will fit over your tank at 20" high. That should put the bulbs roughly at 16" off the water, and even though they are huge they won't be in your way because of their elevation. So in that aspect, I think they'd be a good choice due to the height of your tank.

I would think all 250w would be plenty with these reflectors, based on what I've seen in my own tank that is 30" tall.

Bubbletip2 might disagree, so look for his response as well.

 

[bubbletip2]

Marc,

I am really no that disagreeable. :lol:

I swear I just wrote two pages and I got booted off of RC. I lost everything I wrote. I am sorry but I will post it again later. It is just not going to be right now. :spin2:

In short Inca- go with the smalls - 16"x16"x7" - the larges are 20"x20"x9". The big ones really require 16" - you should get plenty of spread with 4 LB's at 14" to start. Marc just the size of the reflectors is the only thing I can disagree on. You are right on the money in terms of height.

As far as HQI's? I am wonderng if all this advice to get HQI's is coming from people that have stock in ComeED or something. You could ditch the HQI's and save yourself the cost of them in 6 months time just by using electronics. Electronics produce some big numbers especially under LB's. 250's would be great for a SPS dominant tank with some of these beautiful Deep Water Acros that have been around. If you really want clams at the bottom of a 32" deep tank or a gorgeous carpet anenome on the bottom than 400's would be appreciated. It all depends on what you want to grow and where you want to grow it.

I will post the rest of it later - I don't have another half hour right now to put it all down. :hmm3:

Got to go "Green" to save the "Green"

Nighty night folks...

Jim

 

[melev]

Jim, whenever you type up something big, save a copy to notepad or the very least to your cache. When the post doesn't take, don't click Back. Click Refresh. Wait for it to post. If it still doesn't, click Refresh again. It will still be floating in the memory until the post finally appears. Don't hammer the refresh button in the browser, just do it if it didn't accept it and you get an error message. FYI, an alert box will appear about POSTDATA and you simply click Okay/Yes.

Smaller reflectors would be fine - I had a feeling that was the case.

 

[icantremember]

Thanks for the info thus far guys.

Where about is the bulb situated in reference to the top, or the bottom, of the reflector? bubbletip2, are you saying "...the big ones really require 16". I am assuming this measurement is from the bulb to the surface? If so, wouldn't my 20" of clearance allow the use of these larger reflectors? Is there any pro's to using the mini's over the larger units other than size? Just thinking aloud, it seems like I would want a broader light pattern versus narrower if the hood can accept the larger unit. No?

Now I just need to figure out if I am going to try to use these HQI's or sell them and get new CoralVue electronic ballasts.

It's like having another sports car...

 

[melev]

In the large reflectors, the bulb is 4" from the base of the reflector. So if you wanted the bulb 16" off the water, you would mount the reflector so the base is 12" off the water.

I don't know the numbers for the mini.

I've had mine for about a month, if you've been reading along. My lights are on 5.25 hours each, with the lights staggered every two hours to spread the light out from 12:00 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. When I first turned them on, it was only for 4 hours per light.

The PAR literally doubled in intensity from the previous Spider reflectors to the LuminBrites. None of my corals were harmed in the upgrade because I was very careful to not run my lights too long. And remember I'm running 250w - 400w - 250w over my reef with the 400w bulb being a 20,000K / Radium bulb.

If you do run these reflectors, you probably don't need 400w. Just my opinion. And if you already have corals or you plan to buy corals, plan on cutting the photo period down significantly and then waiting a week to increase it one hour, then another week to add another hour.

 

[JCTewks]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12405665#post12405665 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bubbletip2
...Electronics produce some big numbers especially under LB's....

Jim

Not to be a stickler for details, but unless you are specificall talking about the reeflux12K bulbs and electronic ballasts this statement is false...a certain reflector can not be any more or less effective or efficient because of the ballast that is driving the bulb in it, heck, the reflector doesn't even care what bulb is in it. It will still reflect in the same way it was designed to.

If you were takling about the reeflux12K/electonic ballast combo....well, disregard this post

 

[bubbletip2]

Well first Jeff,

Is there any other bulb but a 12K Reeflux? JJ :lol:

If you read what Inca had wrote you will see that he indeed currently has HQI ballasts, LB's and "12K Reeflux" bulbs, so I was responding to the bulb choice he made.

Hopefully that helps better understand my statement. To be honest Jeff, I wrote two pages for the guy and was a little frustrated when I lost everything I wrote. I guess I need to be more specific and careful what I write.

One thing I will say, is that ballasts don't necessarily influence a reflector, but the whole combination does. The manufacturer of Reeflux bulbs does not approve HQI ballasts on them but people keep trying them out. Then people complain that they don't last long enough and they are not running them by manufacturer recommendation. If you want HQI ballasts you need HQI bulbs.

Second, there is not a reflector on the market right now that I have seen that produces as big of numbers as these LB's do. Sorry but it is the truth. People are posting incredible numbers with 175's, the likes I did not think I would ever see. Thanks for that Glixtrix.

I did show numbers under 250's with 3 different bulbs on CV electronics and the results conflicted any testing previously done on these three bulbs. The 12K's were stronger. It is a great bulb and I am confused in reading posts on RC where people are discrediting the bulb when they are proving to be very useful for a lot of reefkeepers. I just don't think anyone is doing anyone any favors by ripping on the bulb with statements like, “I just dont see any advantages to the Reeflux.” Not naming names, but man these kind of statements are just personal attacks on a bulb that many people are happy to use over there tanks.

I understand that people will use different bulb/ballast reflector combinations. That is perfectly fine and always will be, but please don’t misdirect people for no good reason. This kind of behavior does not do anyone any favors.

Sorry Jeff, the majority of this post is not directed towards you. I have done a bit of reading lately on RC and am really disappointed with what I have seen.

OK now I am definitely done with my morning rant…

Jim

 

[bubbletip2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12406686#post12406686 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by icantremember
Thanks for the info thus far guys.

Where about is the bulb situated in reference to the top, or the bottom, of the reflector? bubbletip2, are you saying "...the big ones really require 16". I am assuming this measurement is from the bulb to the surface? If so, wouldn't my 20" of clearance allow the use of these larger reflectors? Is there any pro's to using the mini's over the larger units other than size? Just thinking aloud, it seems like I would want a broader light pattern versus narrower if the hood can accept the larger unit. No?

Now I just need to figure out if I am going to try to use these HQI's or sell them and get new CoralVue electronic ballasts.

It's like having another sports car...

First are your dimensions saying 24" high or 31" high?

The bulb sits 4" from the bottom of the reflector so with larges(9" tall), I guess technically at 20" you would be 15" from bulb to water if your water sat at the top of the tank. It typically is 16" because most people have a little space at the top of there tank before the water line. You could stretch the water line down if you like to create some virtual height.

What I am saying is that the big ones are "big" and are probably not necessary for most tanks. The minis can be placed at 14" and get a good amount of spread. This gives you 2 more inches to raise those minis up as your coral grows. In order to accomodate the larges I would recommend starting at 16" leaving you no room to raise the reflectors to accomodate growth. Because they are 2" taller than the minis, the bottom of the reflector will in effect sit 2 inches closer to the water. This is why I say 16" as opposed to 14" on the larges. Keep in mind that this is for optimal spread to start out with. With a reflector every two feet this is not really a problem, but with 400w bulbs you may want to be higher just to avoid heat and excessive radiation.

Just for reference, I have my two larges up at 17.5" right now. The numbers are still fantastic. I think the main thing here Inca is that you have to decide on your rock work to some degree. If your tank is really 31" wide and you are planning on growing coral on the back and front wall of the tank than I would say the large LB's will help catch the back of the coral keeping it out of the shade. If your tank is 24" wide, you will have no problems with the minis.

Your other option is to get the larges and mount them up as high as you can and then get some dimmable ballasts to be able to adjust your lighting to how your coral is doing. If it seems they are getting too much light, ramp the bulbs down a bit. If they are not getting enough than ramp them up a bit. Another virtual way to adjust your height.

Hopefully that helps...

Jim

 

[bubbletip2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12406499#post12406499 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Jim, whenever you type up something big, save a copy to notepad or the very least to your cache. When the post doesn't take, don't click Back. Click Refresh. Wait for it to post. If it still doesn't, click Refresh again. It will still be floating in the memory until the post finally appears. Don't hammer the refresh button in the browser, just do it if it didn't accept it and you get an error message. FYI, an alert box will appear about POSTDATA and you simply click Okay/Yes.

Smaller reflectors would be fine - I had a feeling that was the case.

Thanks for the tip Marc. Man was I upset last night and it is not the first time it has happened. I usually copy my post into a word document prior to submitting and had to learn my lesson again for not copying it somewhere else. I could say it will never happen again, but I doubt it...

From time to time the server seems to cut out when submitting and often times it seems like it goes through and the post is nowhere to be found. Oh well....

 

[icantremember]

Thanks for all the info. That gives me more than enough to run with. I am going to sketch up some scenarios this weekend and, hopefully, have a decision by Monday.

 

[Fusch13]

Hey....im back..

I have purchase a 120 gallon tank...its 4'x2'x2'...i plan on having mostly sps in the tank. I will building a canopy for this to hide the halides and t5 supplements....I am hoping to run two lumenbrights w/ 400 watt radium 20k bulbs on icecap ballast. My question is should i do two minis? and will that be sufficient enough....

Second, how tall will i have to make my canopy to pull the light 15-16" off water to get good spread?

Thanks guys for help...

 

[JCTewks]

bubbletip2: The thing that I find amusing is that the reeflux 12K bulb is one of the few bulbs out there that actually has higher PAR on an electronic ballast...typically, a magnetic (nonHQI) will fire bulbs brighter than an electronic...but that is definitely not the case with these bulbs.

My statement was not meant as an attack on you or these reflectors...I only posted that to keep a flood of newbies from spreading false information that "lumenbright reflectors ONLY work best when using electronic ballasts". Which would be an untrue statement.

BTW, Great job on all of the info in this thread and for babysitting it so dutifuly And, yeah, I think we've all learned the hard way a time or two about saving copies of long posts (right-click, copy :lol: )

 

[burton14e7]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12408886#post12408886 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Fusch13
Hey....im back..

I have purchase a 120 gallon tank...its 4'x2'x2'...i plan on having mostly sps in the tank. I will building a canopy for this to hide the halides and t5 supplements....I am hoping to run two lumenbrights w/ 400 watt radium 20k bulbs on icecap ballast. My question is should i do two minis? and will that be sufficient enough....

Second, how tall will i have to make my canopy to pull the light 15-16" off water to get good spread?

Thanks guys for help...

I did mini's on my 120 with 400 watters and the bottom of the fixture is 15" off the water.