New Lumen Bright Reflector. ... any info on them - Page 12

JRaquatics · 06/24/2008, 03:58 PM

The pic above shows 2 different 250w bulbs in a parobolic style hood powered by M58 ballast. As you can see the par is very poor and these were with 250watter one being a hamilton 10k. These numbers arent even close to the numbers I was getting with my old setup. Infact the numbers from one bulb on the bottom of my current tank are higher than the readings at the top of the surface from my old fixture.

I think your old set up didn't have as much par as may have thought. I would raise your reflectors up more or if you have dimmable ballast to turn them down.

Did you start out with a photoperiod of 3hrs?

johnnyblaze313 · 06/24/2008, 04:52 PM

I pulled the trigger on a set of these this afternoon, I ordered from reefspecialty @3pm and got shipping tracking info @6pm fedex eta TOMMOROW!!

I know its been said many times in this thread but I am wowed at the custo service mike has ,the personal phone calls was enough but to get my order out that fast I didnt think id see these things till next week. That man just earned himself a long term customer.

Well what im trying to do here isnt ideal and might not even work but im goin to give it a shot. I have a standard 180 6x2x2 Im gonna try to stretch 2x250watt bulbs over it. What would everyone say the max height is that i can hang these? I wont be adding anything that needs much light for a while gonna start slow with some shrooms and softies and see how it goes from there, would 20" be way to high for a starting point? Bulbs will be reeflux 12k.

giants4pc · 06/24/2008, 08:54 PM

That might be pusing it to cover six feet. Mine are 14" high and do a good job covering 4 feet, but I can't imagine the same reflectors hung a few more inches apart covering that much more area. I could be wrong - hopefully for your sake, I am.

I did start the photoperiod at 3 hours.

AcroporAddict · 06/24/2008, 09:13 PM

Reef Specialty is the best. I've had my 2 LB Minis/CV250 ballsts and Reeflux 12K online for 2 days now, and I have a photoperiod of 4.5 hours, and will increase 30 minutes a week. Bottom of minis are 12 inches from the surface. I did have the Current USA Outer Orbit 2 x 250 watt DE/4 x 54 watt T5 fixture on for 8 hours a day before replacing it with the LBs.

Good to have Mike there to nursemaid me thru. He wanted me to start at a 4 hr photoperiod, but we compromised at 4.5!
Dave

martinphillip03 · 06/25/2008, 07:45 AM

Do you notice a difference in brightness with the new fixture? The Outer Orbit is much closer to the water

Marty

Quote:

Originally posted by AcroporAddict
Reef Specialty is the best. I've had my 2 LB Minis/CV250 ballsts and Reeflux 12K online for 2 days now, and I have a photoperiod of 4.5 hours, and will increase 30 minutes a week. Bottom of minis are 12 inches from the surface. I did have the Current USA Outer Orbit 2 x 250 watt DE/4 x 54 watt T5 fixture on for 8 hours a day before replacing it with the LBs.

Good to have Mike there to nursemaid me thru. He wanted me to start at a 4 hr photoperiod, but we compromised at 4.5!
Dave

jayybird · 06/25/2008, 09:17 PM

We have lift off!! The bulbs in the front I bought today and are burning correctly the bulbs in the back I bought last sept and have never been used but all four are wrong Kind of a pinkish white. I will replace them tomorrow.[IMG]

[/IMG] [IMG]

[/IMG]

laud · 06/25/2008, 09:49 PM

I like the way your fish are hiding in the shade. LOL

melev · 06/25/2008, 10:25 PM

That Sailfin may never come out again.

Don't run your new lights too long. And regarding the pinkish color - just give it 10 days of burn time before you make any decisions. Maybe even longer because it usually takes about 100 hours to break them in.

AcroporAddict · 06/25/2008, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by martinphillip03
Do you notice a difference in brightness with the new fixture? The Outer Orbit is much closer to the water

Marty

Hi Marty,
I had the Currrent fixture much closer to the water. The new fixtures are bright. One thing I did notice is that there is light EVERYWHERE in the tank now. Spots that were dim (back/front corners) are now bright. I had two 250 watt DE Phoenix 14K bulbs and 216 watts of actinic light on the tank, and it is just as bright with 500 watts of SE Reflux light and the LB Minis.

Mike tells me my corals are probably receiving twice the PAR they were.

My tank temperature has dropped by 3 degrees, and my chiller actually turned the heater on today (tank hit 74 degrees).

Kinda sucks about the short photoperiod, but I'm sure my patience will be rewarded. Don't want to cook the SPS.
Dave

melev · 06/25/2008, 11:42 PM

Dave, stagger your lighting. If you have two bulbs, run the first one and then after about 3 or so hours, turn on the second one. That stretches out the day so you can still look in the tank for a longer period of time.

My lights are on from 1pm to 9:30 pm. However, no bulb is on longer then 6 hours a day, and it has been like the for more than a month. Everything is growing - the reef is happy, and so am I.

afex · 06/28/2008, 11:41 PM

hi, this may have been answered already, but this thread is just too long to read, heh.

for a 36x36x24 cube tank with an *open top* would an LA3 or LB be preferable? it will be SPS heavy but another concern will be light spill outside of the 36x36 area. it seems that in order for the LB to cover 36x36, it would have to be raised up very high and that would cause light spillage since i won't have a canopy

i'm assuming 400w 12k reeflux bulb.

melev · 06/29/2008, 01:12 AM

A 36" x 36" area of coverage - if you use a Lumenarc reflector, use a 400w bulb, 12" off the water.

If you use a Lumenbright reflector, use a 250w bulb 16"-18" off the water.

24" isn't that deep. You'll have plenty of light.

martinphillip03 · 06/29/2008, 02:24 PM

Marc. Perfecto makes a 36"L x 36"W X 27"h Could a 250watt LB be used? I would like to keep SPS and clams on the bottom of the tank in the 2' X 2' spread. I plan on leaving a 6" buffer from the tank edge to the corals. I guess the question is can I use a 250 watt LB in 27 inches of water and keep clams?

Marty

Quote:

Originally posted by melev
A 36" x 36" area of coverage - if you use a Lumenarc reflector, use a 400w bulb, 12" off the water.

If you use a Lumenbright reflector, use a 250w bulb 16"-18" off the water.

24" isn't that deep. You'll have plenty of light.

melev · 06/29/2008, 05:19 PM

My answer is yes. I have a clam at the base of my 30" tall tank, and that bulb is a 20,000K 400w bulb, which we know has far less PAR than a 10,000K bulb. That clam does get some 250w 10,000K light spread from both sides as well.

Emoezekielsr5 · 06/29/2008, 05:28 PM

I love my Lumenbrits.

2xIcep-Cap 250watt E-Ballast, 2-Hamilton 14ks

Tank Dims: 60x30x24

A look from above!

Right Side

Left Side

melev · 06/29/2008, 05:40 PM

Very nice. How long have you been using these reflectors, how many hours per day, at what height? And what is the age of the tank?

Emoezekielsr5 · 06/29/2008, 05:44 PM

The tank is only a month old. The majority of the livestock came from various tanks that I've had. The majority of the SPS came from a tank breakdown, a lot of the pieces are brown in the picture but is now slowly getting their color back.

The reflectors where put up a week after the tank was setup. 8hrs. per day and it sits 16" above the waver.

- Nick

ganjero · 06/29/2008, 06:40 PM

are they minis or full size?

jayybird · 06/29/2008, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jayybird
We have lift off!! The bulbs in the front I bought today and are burning correctly the bulbs in the back I bought last sept and have never been used but all four are wrong Kind of a pinkish white. I will replace them tomorrow.[IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG]

Well after looking at the eight bulbs I have decided to go with only four bulbs and relectors it was way to bright so I lined up the reflectors in the center of the canopy.I will probably add some t5 just to fill in were I think might be lacking.

ganjero · 06/29/2008, 07:54 PM

is there a difference in the output between the mini and the large reflector?

SpareParts · 06/29/2008, 08:05 PM

Just to save me a lot of time reading all this, can someone advise as to how high off the water my Lumenbright reflectors need to be? I have a 48 x 24 x 30 tall tank, with 2 x 250w reeflux 14k on a dual galaxy 250w ballast.

Thanks!!

melev · 06/29/2008, 08:08 PM

The bulb should be 16 to 18" off the water. This one article should answer all related questions:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-06/review/index.php

ganjero · 06/29/2008, 11:32 PM

so if you want to use 20ks is better to go 400w? and are the coralvue ballasts comparable to icecap?

melev · 06/30/2008, 03:54 AM

Yes, because you have more wattage pushing out more PAR. I've been running a 400w 20,000K bulb over my reef for the past 4 years, and it can hold its own against the 250w 10,000Ks on each side. It isn't a dark spot in the middle of my tank even though the PAR is less.

The Coralvue ballast is tuned for the ReefLux bulbs. I use IceCap because that is what I have.

giants4pc · 07/01/2008, 07:00 PM

Hoping someone can shed some light (no pun intended) on this issue. After getting these lumenbrights in the 250's from reefspecialty for my 90 to replace my old 175's with parabolics, I cut the light time from 6.5 hours to 2.5 hours(per Mike's suggestion). Still, my SPS has almost all bleaced. Here is a pic the first day I installed the lumenbrights:

Here they are after 1 week:

When I told Mike this, he was shocked that only 2.5 hours a day did this. I have a lobo on the sandbed that went from deep red to whiteish pink.
Anyways, Mike suggested getting eggcrate and screen to lessen the intensity. Then, he told me to increase the light time and gradually take off pieces of screen. So, I have the light time up to six hours now. I hope to remove one of the two pieces of screen by early next week.
Based on this pic, should I cut off the white bleached coral or is there a chance of it coming back? It's discouraging because I hoped after spending this money, my corals would "pop" not bleach. Any other ideas? What do I need to do - only get frags from those who have these reflectors??

06/25/2008, 09:17 PM	#281
jayybird Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: east atlantic beach ny Posts: 140	We have lift off!! The bulbs in the front I bought today and are burning correctly the bulbs in the back I bought last sept and have never been used but all four are wrong Kind of a pinkish white. I will replace them tomorrow.[IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] __________________ I'll figure it out. Current Tank Info: 200 gal rimless

06/25/2008, 09:49 PM	#282
laud Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: fort lauderdale Posts: 1,225	I like the way your fish are hiding in the shade. LOL __________________ Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. —Lao-Tze Current Tank Info: 210, 75 sump/refugium, AquaC EV-240, 3LB's Radium 20k, vho supplement and now a Korallin 1502 CR and a phosban reactor.

06/29/2008, 08:05 PM	#296
SpareParts Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Illinois Posts: 112	Height off water Just to save me a lot of time reading all this, can someone advise as to how high off the water my Lumenbright reflectors need to be? I have a 48 x 24 x 30 tall tank, with 2 x 250w reeflux 14k on a dual galaxy 250w ballast. Thanks!!

06/24/2008, 03:58 PM	#276
JRaquatics Awaiting Email Confirmation Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: On RC Posts: 3,609	The pic above shows 2 different 250w bulbs in a parobolic style hood powered by M58 ballast. As you can see the par is very poor and these were with 250watter one being a hamilton 10k. These numbers arent even close to the numbers I was getting with my old setup. Infact the numbers from one bulb on the bottom of my current tank are higher than the readings at the top of the surface from my old fixture. I think your old set up didn't have as much par as may have thought. I would raise your reflectors up more or if you have dimmable ballast to turn them down. Did you start out with a photoperiod of 3hrs?

06/24/2008, 04:52 PM	#277
johnnyblaze313 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Detroit, MI Posts: 420	I pulled the trigger on a set of these this afternoon, I ordered from reefspecialty @3pm and got shipping tracking info @6pm fedex eta TOMMOROW!! I know its been said many times in this thread but I am wowed at the custo service mike has ,the personal phone calls was enough but to get my order out that fast I didnt think id see these things till next week. That man just earned himself a long term customer. Well what im trying to do here isnt ideal and might not even work but im goin to give it a shot. I have a standard 180 6x2x2 Im gonna try to stretch 2x250watt bulbs over it. What would everyone say the max height is that i can hang these? I wont be adding anything that needs much light for a while gonna start slow with some shrooms and softies and see how it goes from there, would 20" be way to high for a starting point? Bulbs will be reeflux 12k.

06/24/2008, 08:54 PM	#278
giants4pc Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: connecticut Posts: 1,699	That might be pusing it to cover six feet. Mine are 14" high and do a good job covering 4 feet, but I can't imagine the same reflectors hung a few more inches apart covering that much more area. I could be wrong - hopefully for your sake, I am. I did start the photoperiod at 3 hours.

06/24/2008, 09:13 PM	#279
AcroporAddict There is no substitute. Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Southeast Posts: 2,269	Reef Specialty is the best. I've had my 2 LB Minis/CV250 ballsts and Reeflux 12K online for 2 days now, and I have a photoperiod of 4.5 hours, and will increase 30 minutes a week. Bottom of minis are 12 inches from the surface. I did have the Current USA Outer Orbit 2 x 250 watt DE/4 x 54 watt T5 fixture on for 8 hours a day before replacing it with the LBs. Good to have Mike there to nursemaid me thru. He wanted me to start at a 4 hr photoperiod, but we compromised at 4.5! Dave

06/25/2008, 10:25 PM	#283
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	That Sailfin may never come out again. Don't run your new lights too long. And regarding the pinkish color - just give it 10 days of burn time before you make any decisions. Maybe even longer because it usually takes about 100 hours to break them in.

06/25/2008, 11:42 PM	#285
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Dave, stagger your lighting. If you have two bulbs, run the first one and then after about 3 or so hours, turn on the second one. That stretches out the day so you can still look in the tank for a longer period of time. My lights are on from 1pm to 9:30 pm. However, no bulb is on longer then 6 hours a day, and it has been like the for more than a month. Everything is growing - the reef is happy, and so am I.

06/28/2008, 11:41 PM	#286
afex Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 542	hi, this may have been answered already, but this thread is just too long to read, heh. for a 36x36x24 cube tank with an open top would an LA3 or LB be preferable? it will be SPS heavy but another concern will be light spill outside of the 36x36 area. it seems that in order for the LB to cover 36x36, it would have to be raised up very high and that would cause light spillage since i won't have a canopy i'm assuming 400w 12k reeflux bulb.

06/29/2008, 01:12 AM	#287
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	A 36" x 36" area of coverage - if you use a Lumenarc reflector, use a 400w bulb, 12" off the water. If you use a Lumenbright reflector, use a 250w bulb 16"-18" off the water. 24" isn't that deep. You'll have plenty of light.

06/29/2008, 05:19 PM	#289
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	My answer is yes. I have a clam at the base of my 30" tall tank, and that bulb is a 20,000K 400w bulb, which we know has far less PAR than a 10,000K bulb. That clam does get some 250w 10,000K light spread from both sides as well.

06/29/2008, 05:28 PM	#290
Emoezekielsr5 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Diego Posts: 445	I love my Lumenbrits. 2xIcep-Cap 250watt E-Ballast, 2-Hamilton 14ks Tank Dims: 60x30x24 A look from above! Right Side Left Side

06/29/2008, 05:40 PM	#291
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Very nice. How long have you been using these reflectors, how many hours per day, at what height? And what is the age of the tank?

06/29/2008, 05:44 PM	#292
Emoezekielsr5 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Diego Posts: 445	The tank is only a month old. The majority of the livestock came from various tanks that I've had. The majority of the SPS came from a tank breakdown, a lot of the pieces are brown in the picture but is now slowly getting their color back. The reflectors where put up a week after the tank was setup. 8hrs. per day and it sits 16" above the waver. - Nick

06/29/2008, 06:40 PM	#293
ganjero saiperchémibatteilcorazon Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 4,027	are they minis or full size?

06/29/2008, 07:54 PM	#295
ganjero saiperchémibatteilcorazon Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 4,027	is there a difference in the output between the mini and the large reflector?

06/29/2008, 08:08 PM	#297
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	The bulb should be 16 to 18" off the water. This one article should answer all related questions: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-06/review/index.php

06/29/2008, 11:32 PM	#298
ganjero saiperchémibatteilcorazon Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 4,027	so if you want to use 20ks is better to go 400w? and are the coralvue ballasts comparable to icecap?

06/30/2008, 03:54 AM	#299
melev Moved On Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ft Worth, Tx Posts: 43,217	Yes, because you have more wattage pushing out more PAR. I've been running a 400w 20,000K bulb over my reef for the past 4 years, and it can hold its own against the 250w 10,000Ks on each side. It isn't a dark spot in the middle of my tank even though the PAR is less. The Coralvue ballast is tuned for the ReefLux bulbs. I use IceCap because that is what I have.

07/01/2008, 07:00 PM	#300
giants4pc Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: connecticut Posts: 1,699	Hoping someone can shed some light (no pun intended) on this issue. After getting these lumenbrights in the 250's from reefspecialty for my 90 to replace my old 175's with parabolics, I cut the light time from 6.5 hours to 2.5 hours(per Mike's suggestion). Still, my SPS has almost all bleaced. Here is a pic the first day I installed the lumenbrights: Here they are after 1 week: When I told Mike this, he was shocked that only 2.5 hours a day did this. I have a lobo on the sandbed that went from deep red to whiteish pink. Anyways, Mike suggested getting eggcrate and screen to lessen the intensity. Then, he told me to increase the light time and gradually take off pieces of screen. So, I have the light time up to six hours now. I hope to remove one of the two pieces of screen by early next week. Based on this pic, should I cut off the white bleached coral or is there a chance of it coming back? It's discouraging because I hoped after spending this money, my corals would "pop" not bleach. Any other ideas? What do I need to do - only get frags from those who have these reflectors??