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roscoe

roscoe

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So I have decided to go with the large Lumenarcs for my 72''x36''x24'' 270g tank. Now the question is do you think I can get away with using 2 Large Lumenarc reflector over this tank? It would be nice just to replace 2 bulbs a year vrs 3 and not to mention the savings on energy cost. I have a Lumenarc mini over my 40b now which is 14.5x14.5 and it covers just about the whole legnth of the tank except for maybe 2'' form both long ends. The Large Lumenarcs are 19.5x19.5. With it mounted 18'' from the water surface do you think the spread would cover 3'x3' area and will the intensity of the light reach the bottom? I plan to keep just LPS on the floor any how and most SPS will be top 2/3rd of the water colunm. What do you guys think?
 
you do have two braces on the top of that thing dont you?If you do i would say that you would need to go with one over each section so three would work.Those braces are going to break up the light.
 
fatboyt123 said:
you do have two braces on the top of that thing dont you?If you do i would say that you would need to go with one over each section so three would work.Those braces are going to break up the light.
Click to expand...

No the cross brace runs legnth wise instead of width. If that was the case it is a glass brace anyways so it the light will penatrate and won't leave a shadow.
 
The author of this article only runs 3 400w under Large Lumenarc Reflectors over a 500g 8'x4' tank. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/review

Here is a paste on his conclusion.

Reflector design for reef aquariums has improved considerably allowing for more efficient use of light. With these reflectors we can now light reef aquarium with fewer lamps, get deeper light penetration over larger areas. As an example, I am currently lighting my 500G reef aquarium (84"LX48"WX30"D) with just 3 400W metal halide lamps in Lumenarc reflectors with no supplemental lighting. All of these reflectors help shatter the age old paradigm of having one metal halide lamp for every 2 sq feet of surface area. At the time my aquarium was set up, there was no other choice for reflectors. The new reflectors Lumenmax, Lumenmax Elite, and Lumenbrite have added to the choices available. They are all excellent choices, given that these reflectors are fairly close in performance to each other within their designed scope the selection would have to come down to other factors as well - such as construction quality, size constraints, space available for mounting, aesthetics, cost and availability. It is my hope, that the readers would use the data to choose the reflector that best suits their needs, rather than to promote reflector A as being better than reflector
 
ooo.will you might be able to get away with 2 then.o and just to let you now just got the hammertone sheets:D
 
I'd say do it. If it doesn't work, you can always throw a new sheet of plywood in the canopy and put the mini you have now in the middle.
 
some pictures of the sheets.I do still need to get the templatre inlarged so i can get cut the sheet in have and then cut it out.It will make it much easier to work with.

IMGP4367.jpg


didnt think it was going to be so shinny
IMGP4366.jpg
 
Where did you get the templates for making your own reflector at fatboyt123. That looks like that would be a pretty cool DIY. I am looking for some reflectors for my 40 Breeder that I just set up.
 
Yeah lets LOL. Let's see one of those finished products Fatbot. I'm not ording the reflectors until Monday or Tuesday so you have 3 and ahalf days to whip it up LOL. If it looks good I might put you to work;).
 
I'd bet you can get away with two of those reflector but will gamble that you will like the look more if you use three. The full size lumenarcs are good for a 3'x3' spread from everything Ive read in the last three years
 
trido said:
I'd bet you can get away with two of those reflector but will gamble that you will like the look more if you use three. The full size lumenarcs are good for a 3'x3' spread from everything Ive read in the last three years
Click to expand...

Yeah that is my other concern is would I like the look? I will be having T-5's to supplement though. I'd have to find a happy medium. If my corals will thrive with 2 I shouldn't let my selfish feelings influence me to put a 3rd on or should I LOL. I know I would like the look of the 3 better for sure. So let me weigh out my options. I would save at least $60-$120 on bulbs a year and I 'm not too sure what it what cost me to run 250w halide per year. I'll guess another $80 so that is $200 extra a year I can spend on Super nice corals. HMMMMM That is 1 or 2 super duper nice Chalice per year Ok one of those super duper nice chalices LOL.
 
IMHO! Go with the two, get the hangers for them so you can easily adjust the height, I think Sunlight Supply has the YoYo's that work well. If by any chance you don't like the look it would be too easy to add the third. If I was doing it I'd do the two, & make a T5 rack that you can unplug & slid out when necessary to get to the tank from the top, this way you can mount them real low so they are effective. Just imagine how they make kitchen cabinets with the big long sliding pot trays but mounted upside down, use individual retrofit reflectors. the tray could be just wide enough to fit one or two in front & one or two in the back narrow as not to block the light from the mh's. You will get some blockage because of the massive coverage you get from the Luminarc III's but you could drop them closer to the water to get deeper with 250's & that would leave you enough room to stuff in the 5t's.

JMT:cool:
 
Scooter I won't be hanging the reflectors It will be flush mounted in my canopy. I had the canopy built with an open top. Here is a couple of pics the bottom of the canopy. I havn't cut the holes for the reflectors yet. My T-5s will be mounted on both sides of the Halides.

IMG_4496.jpg

IMG_4493.jpg
[/
 
Here is how the tank and canopy will be. I had a bracket fabricated for me for the canopy to rest on to make it look like the canopy is floating above it. I will have an open top tank. There is a 16'' of space between the top of the tank to the bottom of the canopy. Here is a couple of pics from my build thread. So yo can see what I am talking about.

IMG_4507.jpg

IMG_3209.jpg

IMG_3207.jpg
 
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Thanks!! It should be full of water and running right now. I just had a little set back if you didn't already know what happened LOL. At 1st I didn't think I was going to have enough room to work inside my tank with just a 16'' opening but it is actually plenty of room for me to get between the tank and canopy easily. So yeah anyhow back to the lights. I will be getting 3 reflectors but will start with 2 first and if I feel it isn't enough light I can just replace the plywood easy enough and put in the 3rd reflector. With the reflector sitting 18'' from the water line I think it would cover the whole tank. I am hoping to get away with just 2. We shall see. The other thing is if I go with 2 should I go with 400s.
this is my lighting arrangement orignally 250/400/250 with 3 reflectors. 900w with the original or 800w with 2 400. not much of a differnce in power being used. I can even go with all 250s and drw less power than the original set up or the 400w set-up.
 
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