which reflector, lumenmax 3 or lumenarc 3 for a 36"L, 18"W, 16"H Tank.

[mic209]

I need help choosing a reflector for my tank, its a 40 gallon breeder. I want to use one 250 watt halide, but don't know which reflector to get that will cover the tank the best.

[hoyta]

following along on this one

[lvreefer]

Neither!!
Get the new design
Lumen Bright

[Mache62]

at 19.5" wide, I think that's going to be too wide for a breeder....especially if you wish to put it into a canopy. I have the minis over my 125g tank (the same depth as the 40g breeder) I am using 2 and get almost complete coverage.

[mic209]

Originally posted by Mache62
at 19.5" wide, I think that's going to be too wide for a breeder....especially if you wish to put it into a canopy. I have the minis over my 125g tank (the same depth as the 40g breeder) I am using 2 and get almost complete coverage.

Which Mini? Also, i'm considering the PFO Mini pendants, anybody have any feedback on those?

[joebo1717]

The lumen brights will be available in a mini at 14.5", same footprint as the Lumenarc III Mini. The Lumen Brights are replacing the Lumenarc III line. Due to their new design they are said to have a 16% better coverage area. I am going to be using the lumen bright mini's on a 60x24x24

[eddtango]

I'd go with Lumenmax 3. Great reflector!

[MrZ]

Why would you want a rounded shape reflector for any square shaped tank? It looks like all that luminbright reflector would do is take light that would ordinarily reach out to the corners of aquarium and reflect it straight down, creating less spread than a square shaped reflector.

I'm no lighting expert here, but it just doesn't make much sense to me. If you allready have a nice square spread like this light spread from a Luminarc 3 in Sanjay's reflector writeup, why would you cut off the corners and make the reflectors rounded?



Personally, I don't think I would like the shadows cast by using a single MH on a 36" tank. I'd probably use two 175w iwasakis in luminarc minis or luminmax 3 reflectors, or just skip it alltogether for heat reasons and use T5s for a tank that size and shape.

[northbay-reefer]

For that size tank get the luminarc mini 14.5 x 14.5 you will be very happy

[mic209]

Originally posted by northbay-reefer
For that size tank get the luminarc mini 14.5 x 14.5 you will be very happy

Double ended or Single Ended?

[bdare]

Hey man,

Did you get your lights yet? I have a single 250 for a 40bdr in the works and am trying to come up with a combo too!

Ben

[mic209]

Originally posted by bdare
Hey man,

Did you get your lights yet? I have a single 250 for a 40bdr in the works and am trying to come up with a combo too!

Ben

Not yet, but I will be ordering the bulb and ballast next week, as far as reflector, from the info i recieved from sanjays lighting page, i think i'm gonna go with a PFO Mini HQI reflector the plot show's that it goes 18 inches up the x axis and 18 inches down the x axis, so i figure if i turn the bulb 45 degrees so the bulb will be perpendicular to the front and back of the tank instead of parallel, this should cover the tank just right.

[DaveIrks]

Originally posted by joebo1717
The Lumen Brights are replacing the Lumenarc III line.

This is not even close to true, they aren't even made by the same company.

[kuyatwo]

mini will not cover from end to end...i have a mini on my 60 cube and it covers well...I went with a big L3 on my frag tank 36 x24 footprint and i get no shadowing on the edges...I put my mini on the frag tank before i bought the big L3 and it did not get light coverage all the way to the edges and that is with the reflector 2' above the tank

[kuyatwo]

From what i heard the creator of the L3 had a disagreement with coralvue and left the company..So coralvue created a better version of L3

[DaveIrks]

Originally posted by kuyatwo
From what i heard the creator of the L3 had a disagreement with coralvue and left the company..So coralvue created a better version of L3

The Lumenarc 3 is made by Lumenarc Lighting, aka Pacific Garden Supply, aka Diamond Lights. The Lumen Bright is made by Coralvue.
The creator of the L3 is Steven Stragnola, previous owner of Diamond Lights (US patent #6042250). He has never worked for Coralvue.

[Julio]

they just came out with a new reflector which is supposed have more refelctivity and more of a mirror finish too. I would definitely go with the new one though.

[northbay-reefer]

Originally posted by mic209
Double ended or Single Ended?

I would go single ended, you will have more bulb choices than double end

[bag151]

I have the PFO HQI mini pendents on my 180 and they work great. I am going to be replacing them with Lumenmax III in my 392g so that I get much better light dispersion.