better than lumenarc???

[Amstar]

http://www.reefexotics.com/lumen_bright.htm

what about these instead of lumenarcs???  they say they are better because they are more of a pin-point light that doesnt spread the light out as much as a lumenarc.

[MechanicalEngineer]

I don't know anything about them...but sites that claim all sorts of wonderful things and don't have links to their studies or sources worry me a good bit.  It's very easy to make data read like you want it to.

[Amstar]

I was looking at alot of posts on reefcentral and was looking that peoples tanks.  alot of them had the lumenarcs then switched over to these.  they had the before and after pics as well.  you can tell a difference.

[Viggen]

reef exotics is a great company... ordered from them a few times...

Anyways The luminarc's are suppose to be superior when the lighting fixture is mounted less then 8--12 in above the tank.  When below this heigth luminarc's are suppose to spread the light out better then the other fixture.  I have the luminarc's on my 260g which pretty much rest on top of the tank & if I would of tried these before buying my 250g mh ballasts, my old 175w would of been more thenenough for my FO tank

The other lighting fixture is suppose to be built of equal quality but like I stated does not spread out the light out.  So if you have the room to mount the fixture at least 8 in above the tank the luminarc's are not your best bet!


The other brand is 20+% cheaper &

[Baggerhog]

While at MACNA last year I spent quite a while talking to the guys from reef exotics about the lumen-brights. These have 30% greater par, but the light spread is much more of a focul light. The lumen-bright has greater par because it does not spread the light as much. The best analogy would when you adjust the beam on a flashlight by turning the focul lens that makes the light more narrow of a beam but appears to be brighter where you are shinning it. If you have a 48" 150 gallon tank I think the lumen-brights would be awesome, but you have a 72" 150 gallon tank I personally would go with the lumenarcs. JMO I will be running 3 large lumenarcs over my 500 gallon tank with a 96" x 48" x 25" foot print. They will be on a light mover moving front to back.   

[buckeyereefer]

    i am planning a 120 gallon 4LX2WX2h so baggerhog you think the lumen-brights would be better. which size standard or mini and what height from top of water do you think you would start at? i have 2 175 MH to use right now.   

[Amstar]

by what i have seen it would be the lumen-brights for a 48" long tank.  you can still get the coverage you want with the greater par. 

also I have heard it makes a difference on the height to where you hang them.  how will you hang them and do you have a canopy or open top to the tank to be able to vary the height the lights are hung from

[verper]

I have a 120 and have the Luminarc Mini's.  The bottom of the reflector is about 7" off the water.  It gives me room for T5 bulbs in the front (and rear if I want) and still get great coverage on the tank.  If you are using only MH's you can go with the larger Luminarc or the lumen-brights, just depends on how high you are going to place them or how much coverage you want.

[Amstar]

so why do you go t-5's as well??  just more light on the tank? or are the actinics?

[verper]

For actinics, and cost savings.  I wanted to light the tank 12+ hrs a day, but didn't want to burn 800w of MH for that whole time period.  I only run the MHs for 7hrs.  Also, I didn't want to run 20k bulbs that need to be changed every 6 months to keep my coral colored up.

[buckeyereefer]

    the tank will be in-wall. i will be able to adjust height to what ever the tank needs.
 i also am planning on running VHO's as supplemental which i have now. i would use T'5's if i can get a decent deal on hardware that i need. looks like the mini's are the one's for my setup.