Lumen Bright Question

[Alex T.]

For those using the LumenBright reflectors with 400 watt bulbs in SPS systems.....how high are you mounting the bulbs from the water?

I've heard that they need to be mounted higher than most reflectors due to their focused spotlight effect. Just trying to get a general consensus.

Thanks

[zsuzsu21]

9 inches

[Alex T.]

9 inches? Really? I was under the impression that they needed to be mounted at least 14 inches above the water to get good dispersement.

[sirreal63]

Huge thread here, but you are right, they need to be hung much higher to get any spread. 9" is not really adequate unless the tank is extremely deep with the corals on the bottom half. 400 watters in these reflectors can really cook corals directly under them. One of the problems with spot type reflectors is the hotspot that is not very large but extremely bright and the rest of the area has very little par. There are some instances where this would be beneficial but in most systems you want the par as evenly dispersed as possible.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1211402

[A sea K]

Originally Posted by zsuzsu21

9 inches

Definately not.
LB reflectors should be ideally mounted 18" from water to bulb and with 400 watter's slightly higher wont hurt.
I'm using 250's in my set-up and due to height restrictions I could only manage 16". Lights the tamk just fine with no dark areas and I can still keep my tank cool (80) with the use of fans.


sirreal63 isnt kidding about that thread being HUGE. Youl be days searching for answers. If you have any real doubts call your vendor. I got mine from Reef Specialty and they are an excellent source of information. Here is some info on the subject you might find helpful.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...view/index.php