Lumenarc or Lumenbright

[Dugless]

I'm planning a tank upgrade and want to get a Marineland 250 DD. I was planning on two 250w SE bulbs for lighting. What reflector would be best for the 36"x36" spread? How high off the water should I expect to hang them?

[oscar.millan]

Both good reflectors, to add to the list I would also consider Sunlight Supply Lumen Max 3 as an option.

[Humu Humu]

Do a search for Lumenbright. There is an extensive thread on this issue.

[Misled]

There's more than one. This one's pretty good though.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1567241

[Dugless]

From what I've read the lumenarcs give a better coverage on a large 36"x36" spread. If anybody has heard otherwise feel free to post, otherwise I'll assume the lumenarcs are the best choice. Thanks.

[sirreal63]

LumenArcs or LumenMax, the LB's are spotlights and not designed for an even spread. I believe the Lumenmax's do an even better job at evenly distributing light than the LumenArcs. Either one will work fine, but in this case I would avoid the LumenBrites.

[Misled]

Originally Posted by sirreal63

LumenArcs or LumenMax, the LB's are spotlights and not designed for an even spread. I believe the Lumenmax's do an even better job at evenly distributing light than the LumenArcs. Either one will work fine, but in this case I would avoid the LumenBrites.

Having owned both, and presently using the Luminbright Mini on a 54 corner tank, makes me disagree with that. When at the recommended height, the LB will have no problem covering that.

[Misled]

How's this.

Originally Posted by GlassReef

Hey, Jeremy - great idea for a thread! After you and Mike turned me on to the LumenBrights, I decided to use them (large model) for my new 375gal build. The tank is 96" X 36" X 25". I went with four 400W ReefLux 12K driven by CoralVue dimmable ballasts.

My tank is part of an in-wall system so I wanted an open light rack design. I went with a 1" aluminum tube frame. It was simple sizing it - I just based each light's opening on the size of the LB reflector. Then I added an extra mounting area on the long sides to allow me to add some T5s for extending the viewing period:



I mounted the ballasts on the wall, above the light rack:



Here's what four LumenBrights covering an 8ft X 3ft tank look like:



Here you can see how each LB reflector fits into the tubing "squares".



The tubing I used has a 3/4" flange along it's length. Here's a pic:



The flange allows the reflector to rest on the rack. There is no attachment needed. The reflector can't fall through and is easily removed for maintenance, etc. You can see exactly how this works, here:



Notice the four openings around the reflector - this is a very important advantage in the design of the LumenBrites - heat is allowed to rise up and away from the tank. These reflectors are the coolest I've ever used.

The bulb bracket makes it super easy to adjust the position of the bulb so that you can get it exactly centered in the reflector:



Here you can see how nicely the T5s fit along side the LumenBrights:



My bulbs are 17 1/2" above the water and I'm getting 475 PAR at the bottom of the tank (measured 23" of water depth). The LBs completely cover the area of the tank - I think they would even handle a 42" depth (front to back). I think this is because of the height at which they can be installed.

[sirreal63]

They are still spotlights, by design, and coverage is not the design. I use a LAIII mini to cover a 36" wide tank, just one, with a 150 watt 10k XDE. Sanjay did the tests, and for spread the LM won, followed by the LA. The LB is excellent at punching through deep tanks, but because of the spotlight design, it does not spread the par evenly. In some cases this is a perfect solution, but for even coverage of 36", spotlights are not the answer. If you can raise the LB's high enough it helps greatly, but only if you can accommodate the height. Of course they will work, but they are not the best solution. Opinions vary, which is why Sanjay's testing is there.

[Misled]

Sirreal, not to argue, but I've read Sanjay's tests and don't ever remember him testing the LB's. Link please???

[sirreal63]

I will see if I can find it, all links from almost 10 years are on pc that is having issues. I am on the backup one and it is bare.

[sirreal63]

For inquiring minds. :-)

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/review

"The reflectors seem to fall into 2 separate groups, Group 1, the Lumenarc and the Lumenmax and Group 2 comprising Lumen Brite and Lumenmax Elite. The Group 1 reflectors seem to be better at providing a wider coverage, whereas the group 2 reflectors tend to focus the light slightly more creating higher peak values and smaller spread."

[oscar.millan]

Good find sirreal63 cudos to backup your statements, great discussion.

[Misled]

And to also quote from the same thread.

The Lumenbrite and Lumenmax elite are more suitable for tanks 3ft or less in width. They tend to provide a more focused coverage and higher peak values than the Lumenmax and Lumenarc reflectors. This can allow for better use in taller tanks, as more light can reach the bottom, or allow for higher placement of the lights thus reducing the heat dissipating in the water, or allow for higher light values to be obtained lower in the tank. This would allow the user to create a reef with a much lower rock profile. On shallower tanks 24" or less these reflectors would easily allow the user to move from a 400W lamp to a 250W lamp, resulting in savings in electrical costs.

So really it's a wash for spread up to three feet. Beyond that, Group 1 can give more spread. At the three foot point, both seem to be equal except for penetration, at which the Luminbright seems to take the lead.

I agree a good read, and I'll get into it more tonight. Really can't go wrong with any of these.

[screamincamaro]

Great read. So I'm trying to decide which reflector is the best for my 300DD 72Lx36Wx 27H tank and debating between lumenarc 3 mini and lumenmax Elite. Any thoughts?

Planning on using 250W radiums with galaxy ballasts.

[Kshack]

I think a flaw in the study was the reflectors were all tested at the same height (I may be wrong about that). Since the Limenbrite reflectors were designed to be placed higher (bulb 16" from water), they would give the false result of being a more focused light beam. If the test was done at the mfg. recommended height, it would be interesting to see the results.
I like the fact that the reflectors are higher off the water...less heat, more room for hands and arms, less splash onthe glass, etc.

[sasharotty]

Not to hijack but whats the mfg. recommended height on the LA III's above the water?

[screamincamaro]

Also unfortunate that this review compared to others does not measure the results the same. So you can't really compare the tests from the two articles.


This one is done at 24" & 30" distance:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/review

The other one was done at 6", 9", and 12" distance:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...03/feature.htm