keep in mind that the closer in to the reflector the more narrow the spread. If you have a more shallow tank then you would want to consider not placing the lamp deep into the reflector. now if the lamp is closer you will get a better overall light intensity, its a simple rule: the closer the reflector to the lamp, less light will be lost. I was recently doing a consulting job for a 4,000 gallon reef tank, and the women said to me "artificial light can be more intense than actual sunlight" yes it can be, but only 1' foot away from even a 1,000 watt lamp. Unfortunately artificial light breaks down exponentially with each foot of distance from the lamp. This is why I'm working on a much smaller/ elongated lumenarc III. The closer I can bring the multi-faceted L3 to the DE lamp the closer i am to making exactly what you need.
Retro-fitting L3 to DE
- Thread starter jlehigh
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Zeppelin
Active member
jlehigh said:
Thanks for the welcome.
I do have an SE Lumenarc, so I'll take some measurements.
Might put them a little further out, as suggested, since I am lighting some 2' x 4' x only 12" deep prop tanks with them. Trying to get away with one DE 250 watt 20K.
jlehigh
Hermit D Crab
This is a very interesting post ??Luke?? You could pretty easily make the bracket very short and have that DE right up to the L3. I can see how this will reflect more light, but this also takes the bulb farther away from the tank so your direct light would be decreased..
Very interesting.
Very interesting.
I very rarely go on forums. I dont know much about corals, but i do know light. I assume that using a DE means that you have a glass shield and therefore can risk bringing the reflector closer to the water. I guess then heat would be an issue. I design all lights for PGS. The lumenarc is my patent and I'm always trying to to improve the design, and this is not luke, I'm DAN. The biggest flaw of the L3 is the top plate of the reflector, this flat plate brings 95% reflection of whatever lamp your using right back onto the lamp, creating undo heat. even if you take an ice pick and punch holes in the top, there wont be a reduction in light but there will be in heat
jlehigh
Hermit D Crab
Then Welcome Dan!
Actually with the L3's the heat is much better dissapated given the larger surface area of the reflector and material. In addition to that the optional vents even take the cooling a step further. Yes many Reef keepers worry about heat but your reflectors are more of a remedy versus a problem for that.
Wow. Yet another cooling opportunity. The other DE pendants shape that portion of the reflector into a upside-down V-shape. Allthough it would not relfect the light evenly across each side of the L3 at least you get some around 2 sides of that bulb.. I would think a Pyramid type shape would be too expensive to implement.
PGS said:
Actually with the L3's the heat is much better dissapated given the larger surface area of the reflector and material. In addition to that the optional vents even take the cooling a step further. Yes many Reef keepers worry about heat but your reflectors are more of a remedy versus a problem for that.
PGS said:
Wow. Yet another cooling opportunity. The other DE pendants shape that portion of the reflector into a upside-down V-shape. Allthough it would not relfect the light evenly across each side of the L3 at least you get some around 2 sides of that bulb.. I would think a Pyramid type shape would be too expensive to implement.
Thanks for the welcome. Its hard for me to say anything about lighting without contradicting someones study/opinion. its good to read that the L3 does disapate heat well. I guess I'm more used to people burning a 1,000 watt HPS lamp in the reflector. Now theres some heat!! ssssssssss!! The whole idea of air cooling a reflector seems to be a new concept for reefers. The next thing I'd like to bring to the reefers is movers. the idea is this: the sun does a complete 180 degree motion over the earth every day, this way the plants and or corals cannot fill in where light is most intense. with stationary lighting you will find sometimes, shading and killing of corals that could not win the race to the light. I figure that you will get much more natural looking and fully colored corals on all sides. I've convinced the lady in monterey with the 4,000 gallon tank to try the movers, I cant wait to see the results. The best part is that we now only need to use 6- 1,000 watt systems as opose to 8- 1,000 watts
jlehigh
Hermit D Crab
I have seen the movers used on a few tanks. I like the idea and concept. On a tank that size I think it is going to work well.
There are a number of things that influence coral growth rates and shapes. Assuming we are talking about SPS (high light) Corals they do tend to grow toward the light, however I do not believe this will be the primary driving factor behind the coral shape and growth rate.
When you look at corals in the High energy areas of the reef you will find very thick branched corals. The corals grow this way to help dissapate the velocity of the high energy water movement. with lower single directional flow and high light output I would predict the SPS to grow long thinner branches growing mostly verticle.
Corals also have greatly varying growth rates espectially in captive tanks where we as coral keepers often have skewed water conditions be it food sources, nutrients, lighting, elements ect ect
In the case where a coral lower in the tank is being shaded it could vary well never grow fast enough to compete with the coral above it which is also getting high lighting exposure. One option would be to place faster growing corals lower in the tank and the slower growers higher. Really we are just talking about fudging the specimens natural need for the sake of packing a tank full of corals.
I recommend all keepers try to identify the type of coral as best they can and place it in the tank accordingly where it's flow and lighting needs are best met.
Watch your corals as they grow and learn
My coral keeping priorities:
Water Chemistry
Flow
Placement
Lighting
There are a number of things that influence coral growth rates and shapes. Assuming we are talking about SPS (high light) Corals they do tend to grow toward the light, however I do not believe this will be the primary driving factor behind the coral shape and growth rate.
When you look at corals in the High energy areas of the reef you will find very thick branched corals. The corals grow this way to help dissapate the velocity of the high energy water movement. with lower single directional flow and high light output I would predict the SPS to grow long thinner branches growing mostly verticle.
Corals also have greatly varying growth rates espectially in captive tanks where we as coral keepers often have skewed water conditions be it food sources, nutrients, lighting, elements ect ect
In the case where a coral lower in the tank is being shaded it could vary well never grow fast enough to compete with the coral above it which is also getting high lighting exposure. One option would be to place faster growing corals lower in the tank and the slower growers higher. Really we are just talking about fudging the specimens natural need for the sake of packing a tank full of corals.
I recommend all keepers try to identify the type of coral as best they can and place it in the tank accordingly where it's flow and lighting needs are best met.
Watch your corals as they grow and learn
My coral keeping priorities:
Water Chemistry
Flow
Placement
Lighting
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