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

[glxtrix]

6-8" or so...I can measure tonight. I LOVE these 175's they kick out as much PAR as most 250's sadly tho they are only available in 175W. The bulbs in there now are at time to be replaced as you can clearly see from the one of the right, has a lil more yellow to it now....tho that one was used about a month or two more than the one of the left. Its true as stated in earlier pages here, these reflectors are for penetrating the water more, if you want a wide spread go with the L3's, if you have islands with corals on them and or want more concentrated areas, the LB's are the way to go. JR, cant wait to see some pics of your all set up

[Hendersonracing]

Id like to put a big thank you out To Mike & his wife(Reef Specialty) for setting me up with my Lumenbrights....Im running 4- 400 watters and have them about 16" above my water....I am getting more light to the bottom than ever before...I use to run 3-400 watt hamiltons and have them right on the water and heat was such an issue...the tank would get up to 83-84 degrees with my chiller and now with the Lumenbrights at 16" my water never gets over 82 degrees & Im getting more light to the bottom of my 30" tank....Id recommend this setup to anyone!!!

Thanks Mike!!

[glxtrix]

awesome man thats good to hear I just put the order in for my 3rd LB. Cant wait till that gets here.

[Hendersonracing]

good luck with them...

[bubbletip2]

Originally posted by cweder
Still waiting for these to be available in a complete package for DE bulbs.

I am not convinced these are much better than the lumenarcs. Since you have to raise them so much are'nt you ending up at almost the same amount of light? It seems that Hahn's description of a beem of light like a flash bulb is holding true. Those of you that have owned both please chime in with your thoughts after having them a while. Thanks

cweder,

I think you should read a few of my last posts to understand better why raising your lights is a good thing. And I think you answered your own question regarding the difference, although I believe the amount of light generated by these beauties is not the same amount of light but stronger when raised higher than the LumenArcs. This is a key point here in that you would not want to raise Lumenarcs so that the bulb was 16 inches off the water. Why? Because the amount of light is reduced way too much to grow light loving coral.

To be able to raise LB's to 16 inches and have more light is what this hobby is been waiting for.

Again raising your lights will:

1. reduce some amount of UV radiation(especially on DE bulbs)
2. reduce heat transfer to the tank which effectively helps to stabalize tank temperature
3. provides more air circulation in the canopy which assists in reducing the heat generated
4. reduces water evaporation by the bulbs and by fans that need to be run because your tank is at 83-84 degrees.

If you cannot understand the benefits, I think you have not been paying attention.

What we are finding is that the LB's give off a cone of light and not this so called Laser Beam

As you raise the reflectors the cone gets wider. I will not deny that if you have these reflectors with the bulbs 8 inches off the water that the "cone" is more concentrated. Who wants to heat up their tank 8 inches off the water to get enough light? Some have to keep LumenArcs 8 inches because they don't give off nearly as much light if you raise them like you get with the LB's. The LB's are not designed to be kept 8 inches off the water. Use them properly and you will reep the benefits. They were designed for reefkeepers in understanding we don't want overheated tanks. People are paying $400 these days to purchase a pump that has the motor housing on the outside of the tank to reduce heat. Seems to me that they should give some LB's a try to further help to reduce the heat. The key thing here again is raising your reflectors will still allow an adequate amount of light at all levels of the tank with a LumenBright. I am starting to believe that 36 inch deep tanks will be more common in the future and all thanks to the LumenBrights.

Well, enough of my spiel. Just got my 2 new Large LumenBrights They are all set up and ready to go. I reduced my photoperiod to acclimate the coral to the brighter light, so I will have to wait a bit for them to come on. I will have some pics tonight after the lights come on.

I will show a comparison pic of my LumenArcs at 13.5 inches and the LB's at 16 inches off the water. Yes I do own both but not for long. LumenArcs will be up for sale soon. More to come...

[bubbletip2]

Originally posted by glxtrix
hey guys here is my Lumen Brights with iwasaki 175W'ers on a 55x24x24. I'm going to be putting a third in there just to get rid of some of the dim areas. Granted i could lighten some of those areas up by raising them off the water, but with the 175's I'm thinking 3 across would be better than raising. Either way I love them so far. Still waiting to get a PAR meter to get some readings from these bulbs....which btw are awesome! and would recommend if you are in the 175 range. Oh yeah and the bulbs are about 6-8" off water.

Holy Cow glxtrix!

If you would have said those were 250's I don't think anyone would question it. That tank is lit up bigtime. I can't wait to see it with 3 reflectors. Keep us posted.

And you are really 6-8 inches? Still waiting on the measurement... Also can't wait to see par readings to see what they give off. Are those the Iwasaki 14K's? I hear those give off some pretty high par readings for a 175 and appear to be pretty white as I have been hearing as well. Your data will be really telling of what the LB's can do. Thanks for posting

[JRaquatics]

Well here are three Lumen Bright minis above my 180gal with 250w 12 reeflux bulbs. These are f*** bright. They are 15 inches off the water and still has great penetration to the bottom of the tank. I truely love these reflectors. Thanks again Mike for introducing these reflectors to me. I will for sure be telling everyone about these reflectors and the great service you provided. I am so happy I sold my lumenarcs and got these instead.

BRING ON THE SUN GLASSES

[Just Jim]

I figured I might get a answer if I jump in this thread. I think I'm going to go with one of these setups. The only question is which? I have a 7.5' custom tank and am deciding between the following.

4x 400w mini
3x 400w large
3x 400w mini.

From the tank to the ceiling I only have 24". I read that it was succesful to mount them 16" above the tank. That wouldn't leave me with enough room. I don't think the 3 400w minis would be spread out enough to cover my tank. I'm still debating between the lumenarcs III and the lumen brights.

[JRaquatics]

Originally posted by Just Jim
I figured I might get a answer if I jump in this thread. I think I'm going to go with one of these setups. The only question is which? I have a 7.5' custom tank and am deciding between the following.

4x 400w mini
3x 400w large
3x 400w mini.

From the tank to the ceiling I only have 24". I read that it was succesful to mount them 16" above the tank. That wouldn't leave me with enough room. I don't think the 3 400w minis would be spread out enough to cover my tank. I'm still debating between the lumenarcs III and the lumen brights.

Because of the height issue I would go with the LB minis. I would try to put 4 above your tank.

[JRaquatics]

My wife came home today and saw the tank for the first time with the LumenBrights on it. She was ****ed. She thought I had three 400w lamps on my tank. I told her they are the same bulbs and ballast as before, just different reflectors. After she mentioned it I can see exactly what she was talking about. These reflectors give the bulbs output a more crisp look, and make the 12k Reefluxs look whiter.

[Just Jim]

Originally posted by JRaquatics
Because of the height issue I would go with the LB minis. I would try to put 4 above your tank.

Aside from the extra $ I figured 1600w over my 210 would be overkill. I was also thinking about going with three mini lumenarc III's instead. Any thoughts?

[Hendersonracing]

I have 4 over my 210 and love them!!!

[Just Jim]

Originally posted by Hendersonracing
I have 4 over my 210 and love them!!!

4 what? brights, arcs, 400w, 250w?

I'm concerned that the 4 lumen bright minis would be too much for some of my sps...

[JRaquatics]

Originally posted by Just Jim
Aside from the extra $ I figured 1600w over my 210 would be overkill. I was also thinking about going with three mini lumenarc III's instead. Any thoughts?

You can get away with 3 LB larges, but If you want perfect lighting I think you would be better with 4 LB minis. I can personally tell you, you will be happy with the luminarcs but you will be floored with the Lumenbright. You guys can quote me on this, these reflectors are the future in this hobby. Lumenarcs are for plants, LumenBrights are for our reefs.

[Just Jim]

Originally posted by JRaquatics
You can get away with 3 LB larges, but If you want perfect lighting I think you would be better with 4 LB minis. I can personally tell you, you will be happy with the luminarcs but you will be floored with the Lumenbright. You guys can quote me on this, these reflectors are the future in this hobby. Lumenarcs are for plants, LumenBrights are for our reefs.

I was looking at the post from Deuce67 with the par readings. They were pretty darn high towards the top...

Also I can get a metal housing for the lumenarcs were there isn't anything I can put around the LB'S. Or is there? I don't have a canopy and don't want one....

[JRaquatics]

you don't need a canopy with these reflectors. They just don't bleed light outside of the tanks parimeters like other reflectors. I will try to get a pic tomorrow without the doors to show you what I am talking about. These reflectors just don't waste light.

[Just Jim]

Originally posted by JRaquatics
you don't need a canopy with these reflectors. They just don't bleed light outside of the tanks parimeters like other reflectors. I will try to get a pic tomorrow without the doors to show you what I am talking about. These reflectors just don't waste light.

yeah, I'm talking about using the canopy to hide the ugly fixtures. I've seen black metal housing units for the lumenarcs that give it a finished look, but I haven't seen anything like that for the LB.

[bubbletip2]

Here we go:

The first shot is with the LumenArcs and the second is with the LB's. Wow! These things are so frickin' bright. My whole tank is lit up now. I would have thought I would have to compromise but not with two Large LB's.

My tank again is 60"L x 24.5"W x 25"H. Everything in the tank is so much clearer with a lot more detail. The tank looks a lot whiter with these reflectors as opposed to the LumenArcs. Pretty sweet - 2 400w bulbs on a 5ft tank and I am satisfied

Lumenarcs:



LumenBrights



If you can't tell I did rearrange the rockwork hopefully for the last time. I did move the reflectors a bit closer to the middle to take out the stripe. You have to compromise on a odd length in tank. Surprisingly the sides on the sand are still lit up as bright as needed and the middle is nearly as bright as under the bulbs obviously due to the crossover from each reflector. This is where having a reflector every 2ft is optimal for more crossover light which in turn means more of the coral in the light and out of the shade. It is important to note that I have a 1.5 ft glass centerbrace that is diffusing some light in the middle also.

I am 16 inches off the water from the bulb, 12 inches from the bottom of the reflector and 22 inches from the top of the reflector.

Just Jim,

As you can see here, you can compromise as well and use 3 LB's to cover your 7.5 ft tank. Hopefully your rock work is setup so you don't have light loving SPS close to the glass on each side. Any tank I set up from now on or give advice on will certainly have LB's in the works.

[Just Jim]

Here's a pretty current pic of my tank. I'd love to get away with (3) 400w LBs. I see you have a canopy and worry about how I'd hang those so they don't look ugly.

[Hendersonracing]

Originally posted by Just Jim
4 what? brights, arcs, 400w, 250w?

I'm concerned that the 4 lumen bright minis would be too much for some of my sps...

4 lumenbrights...400 watt 12k over my 210...there is no comparasion between lumenbrights and lumenarcs if you have a 30" deep tank...also you can raise them and still get great par to the bottom and reduce the heat in the water!

[Just Jim]

Originally posted by Hendersonracing
4 lumenbrights...400 watt 12k over my 210...there is no comparasion between lumenbrights and lumenarcs if you have a 30" deep tank...also you can raise them and still get great par to the bottom and reduce the heat in the water!

My tank is 24" deep, so I think I'm going with (4) 250w lb minis.

[Hendersonracing]

that will be perfect.....You will love them....Ill post a few pics of mine in a few minutes!!

[JRaquatics]

I was going to mention that if you have a 24in tank 250 will be more than enough for your tank. Plus they produce a brighter light because more of it is directed in the tank. You will see 250w look like 400 with these reflectors, even if mounted as high as 16in.

[Hendersonracing]

[JRaquatics]

Nice tank Joe. I like the way it is lit up. Why are the reflectors on angles?