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

[cagri]

I am electrically challanged, and I am installing these lights in my canopy tomorrow.

I connected white to white, black to black, and green to green. Is this correct? Is ground from one to the other ground connected ok? I have a wood canopy too.

I ran it for 15 mins and it seemed ok, but I do not want to short anything, just want to make sure connecting green(ground) to green(ground) is ok.

Thank You

Cagri

[cmm1970]

If you are referring to hooking up the sockets to the ballasts, you did it correctly.

[cagri]

yes connecting sockets to ballasts. Thank you, I have seen some people not connect green to green at all, and that is why I was wondering. Why would you not conect greens?

[VaderWS6]

I'll be installing my new Lumen Bright mini's into my hood on Tuesday. My 75 gallon is already extremely bright, I can't wait to see what a difference these reflectors will make!

[jlaudiofreak]

OK guys.
I ahve a 300 gallon tank it measure 96L X 30W X 25T How many reflectors should I put on it. I was thinking 3 but would like your guys imput

[burton14e7]

Originally posted by jlaudiofreak
OK guys.
I ahve a 300 gallon tank it measure 96L X 30W X 25T How many reflectors should I put on it. I was thinking 3 but would like your guys imput

I would do 4.

[bubbletip2]

Four larges would be optimal. Four minis will suffice...

[jlaudiofreak]

the reason I am asking is because I have 2 large reflectors already

[bubbletip2]

Originally posted by jlaudiofreak
the reason I am asking is because I have 2 large reflectors already

No problem. Just grab two more larges and you are good to go. You could do 3 but you will not create cones that will crossover each other until you are halfway down in the tank. I think you will be much happier with 4.

[melev]

cmm1970, that is a beautiful job with that canopy. I hope you posted more details in another build thread somewhere so more people can benefit from the documentation.

[cmm1970]

Thanks for the compliment on the build. I love a good project. It is really just a glorified plywood box with the back cut out for ventilation and a few rails for the aluminum rack. Piano hinge for the front of the box. All joints made with a dado-no dove tail or miter joints on the project so it is a no brainer for anyone with a table saw and some patients.

[melev]

Yet the opening in the back is rounded, the finish is smooth, and the rack well built.

Hey, sounds like I'm talking about a reefette.

[bubbletip2]

Originally posted by melev
cmm1970, that is a beautiful job with that canopy. I hope you posted more details in another build thread somewhere so more people can benefit from the documentation.

cmm1970, absolutely nice job on the canopy. I don't know how I missed that on the last page.

I am curious if you are using a controller for your fans or if you are running them on your light cycle. I find on a controller(RK2), my first 2 fans will start running an hour to two hours after the lights come on but the other two rarely come on. It is nice that if my tank heats up when the lights are off the fans will kick on and bring it back down. My tank runs from 80 to 81 througout the day and sometimes only a half a degree with primarily the two fans.

[brshriver]

What is the suggested height above the water for the minis? Is it the same as for the regular ones?

[bubbletip2]

14" is a good starting point. If you have one every 2ft then 12" is doable but not optimal. And I would not do 12" with a 400w bulb. 250's only please... These measurements are from the bulb to the water.

[cmm1970]

bubbletip2-I am running a rough version of a controller for my fan system. Currently, I am running the tank at a temp of 77 degrees F. In trying to run this slightly cooler temp and keep it in close tolerance, I find the running the hood fans beginning about mid morning as my house warms here in Texas and having them run throughout the light cycle seems to be holding the tank without need for the chiller to run but one time during my current 2 hour photo period for the twin 400W MH bulbs.

I am installing two more fans to run while the MH lamps are on in an effort to minimize the chiller run time as I stretch my photo period out to between 6 and 8 hours per day.

In addition, since I am here in Texas where 7 months a year, we enjoy a tremendous heat load on our houses, I am running the MH in the early morning while the house is cool. That way, I enjoy the benefit of lower ambient room temps to help manage the heat load from these ligth canons I installed.

I am planning a retrofit with either a Reefkeeper Elite or an AC3 so that I can have the fans cycle as temperature demands.

Mike

[brshriver]

Originally posted by bubbletip2
14" is a good starting point. If you have one every 2ft then 12" is doable but not optimal. And I would not do 12" with a 400w bulb. 250's only please... These measurements are from the bulb to the water.

I only have 12 inches between the water and top of the canopy, however after inspecting it this morning, modifying it to be raised 6 inches should be easy - three oak boards, some stand and perhaps some trim.

After the mod, I think I can fit the full sized LBs and get the bulbs 18 inches above the surface. It is a 210G AGA tank - 72x24x30 that I am setting up. I am planning on using three Lumen Brights now. I was thinking that I would run 400W 20ks on the outside and a 250w 14k or 20k in the middle. I'll also have two 6 foot tubes for actinic supplementation.

Any opinions/suggestions on how this would work? It will be an SPS display.

[RobynT]

I also have a 210 AGA tank and I'm running three LB's with 250 w and it's plenty.

[melev]

Originally posted by brshriver
I was thinking that I would run 400W 20ks on the outside and a 250w 14k or 20k in the middle. I'll also have two 6 foot tubes for actinic supplementation.

Any opinions/suggestions on how this would work? It will be an SPS display.

Someone else did this recently (Ryan Brucks, if I spelled that correctly), and I don't think he liked the white light in the middle. I've always put the 400w 20,000K in the center and my white (10,000K bulbs) on the outside. While it sounds backwards, it looks like the sun is shining down in the center of the tank.

[cmm1970]

That arrangement seems to make sense. The higher PAR value lamps buttressing the bluer, less intense 20K in the center.

[melev]

Precisely.

[bubbletip2]

Originally posted by cmm1970
bubbletip2-I am running a rough version of a controller for my fan system. Currently, I am running the tank at a temp of 77 degrees F. In trying to run this slightly cooler temp and keep it in close tolerance, I find the running the hood fans beginning about mid morning as my house warms here in Texas and having them run throughout the light cycle seems to be holding the tank without need for the chiller to run but one time during my current 2 hour photo period for the twin 400W MH bulbs.

I am installing two more fans to run while the MH lamps are on in an effort to minimize the chiller run time as I stretch my photo period out to between 6 and 8 hours per day.

In addition, since I am here in Texas where 7 months a year, we enjoy a tremendous heat load on our houses, I am running the MH in the early morning while the house is cool. That way, I enjoy the benefit of lower ambient room temps to help manage the heat load from these ligth canons I installed.

I am planning a retrofit with either a Reefkeeper Elite or an AC3 so that I can have the fans cycle as temperature demands.

Mike

I think you will be pleasantly surprised with how little your fans will need to be on with a controller(AC3 or RKE) set up. I ran 2 - 400w bulbs over my 5ft tank without a chiller using a controller. I have tried fans without a controller and it just does not work. It either gets too cold because you have the fans on too much or it gets too hot because the fans are not on when your tank heats up overnight. Pretty frustrating. I think you will be even more surprised with how little your chiller will need to run.

[brshriver]

Originally posted by melev
Someone else did this recently (Ryan Brucks, if I spelled that correctly), and I don't think he liked the white light in the middle. I've always put the 400w 20,000K in the center and my white (10,000K bulbs) on the outside. While it sounds backwards, it looks like the sun is shining down in the center of the tank.

That's a good idea. I may try it. I have two 400 watt used ballasts already and I wanted to use them both but as I try to picture it in my mind.......maybe not.

I read you "fuge" light article on melevsreef and loved it. I tossed my old ones and spent the whopping $15 per light on new ones that day. PAR readings in my fuge were horrible and are now plenty high for chaeto growth. Good article. Thanks.

[VaderWS6]

I just got my Lumen Bright mini's today, and I'm surprised how flimsy they are! Even though I haven't installed them in my hood yet, I really don't think they were worth the $110/each price tag as far as build quality goes. They aren't as perfect as I expected them to be..

[glxtrix]

I dont think they arent anymore flimsy as any other reflector out on the market. Spring for the extra few bucks next time and get the finished version of them, they are stronger built.