Luminarc Question

SecretAgentMan · #1 06/26/2007, 10:29 PM

I am in the procces of seting up a 36"x36"x18" cube (~100g) and I would like to try to light it using one MH bulb. I was thinking about a 400w MH in a lumenarc 3. Will this have enough spread/intensity? Also what bulb/ballast do you recomend? BTW the tank will be SPS dominated with a occasional acan and chalice thrown in.

Thanks, SecretAgentMan

kroe · #2 06/26/2007, 10:40 PM

I am running a single 400w helios 20k SE bulb in a lumenarc on a PFO hqi ballast over a 92 corner tank that has similar dimensions but an irregular shape.

The light is definitely more intense then the 2x250 hqi + 2x39 w T5 HO setup I had on there previously and has great color (14kish look). The wattage is much lower (500ish watts vs 780ish watts). You can tell much more light goes into the tank - my room and side yard were lit up with spilled light from the old setup, with the lumenarc the tank is bright and light coverage is great, but the room does not get spillage. The light goes down and only down.

I love the simplicity of a single bulb and ballast.

SecretAgentMan · #3 06/26/2007, 10:44 PM

Thats what I am shooting fro- simplicity. Also, since its sucha deep tank I think this tank would look cool open top (I would be able to appreciate the depth) are the Lumenarc asthetically functional or do I need to cover it up witha canopy?

-SecretAgentMan

kroe · #4 06/27/2007, 12:47 AM

Lumenarcs are huge. I find them to be a bit ugly, but I do have the standard retrofit reflector not the pendant with the housing. I built a canopy.

manderx · #5 06/27/2007, 01:09 AM

i have the same tank just 2" taller. i opted for 4x175 iwasaki15s in luminarc minis (red-house for a pic of this). then i wanted something bluer so i bumped up to 250 blues. but it's just too much heat/electricity/bulb replacement cost so i'm gonna drop down to a single 400. gonna probably start off with a radium just because and then get an aquaconnect next. at the moment i i'm running a single 250 10K in a mini and it looks better than i thought it would (though the tank is just freshwater while my rock cooks for the rest of the hot summer). doesn't reach the edges with much oomph, but i'm willing to aquascape around that limitation.

when i decided to go with 4, i was firmly against a single point-source light for shadowing reasons. now i'm not so worried. there are worse things...

SecretAgentMan · #6 06/27/2007, 10:39 AM

Thanks for the imput, anyone else?

-SecretAgentMan

TwistedTiger · #7 06/27/2007, 10:53 AM

Not sure if you have read the info and review by Sanjay, but it has lots of info on light spread and penetration with the Luminarc(Diamond Light). If you are looking to see if a single will give you proper coverage this article should help greatly. Reflector Comparison Link

SecretAgentMan · #8 06/27/2007, 01:21 PM

Thanks a lot!

-SecretAgentMan