Alright I figured I might be good to write this up, so here goes.

These are made by Coralvue to my knowledge. Some of the key specs are:

• Material made from German metal fabricator Alanod
• 95% reflective mirror finish
• Designed by 25 year Optical Engineering Company
• 24 Optical facets surrounding lamps maximize every possible light reflection
• 16.5% more efficient than any other similar designed reflector on the market
• Adjustable socket assembly allows for 175, 250, 400, 600 and 1000 watt lamps

A key note. These reflectors aren't for everyone! If you want a small canopy or don't have the space to mount these, they aren't for you. I've been in a talk over on RC about these and its pretty impressive the info that wa found about them. All tests were done by every day people like you and me. There are numerous people who are runing these with 250 and 400W bulbs, those seem to be a good flavor. Pretty much all of them run these 14-16" above the water to the bulb. Reason for this is the spread the cone angle (of lack there of) of the light. These reflectors give a "spot light" feel and do really well with deep tanks. My tank being an odd size I put 3 on it, but I only run 175W lamps. My height is 10" bulb to water surface. I could have raised them and took 1 out, but seeing how they are only 175's, I lost some PAR and didn't want to sacrafice that. In any event if you have a tank thats 24" and less the LB mini's will work great for you. They are 16". The regular LB's are 19" Those can be on deeper tanks. If you're concerned about height or the spread of these reflectors, dont get them, your best bet is to get the LA's or lumenarcs. Also when putting these reflectors on your tank, please remember to acclimate the new lighting to your tank, or your corals will suffer! These reflectors are serious. One thing you'll notice when putting them on is the amount of light directed into your tank and not your house. I was seriously impressed! For acclimation I'd recommend 4 hrs the first few days and then going up an hour every 3 or 4 days to your regular light schedule. Here are some pics of my tank with the reflectors. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to help answer.

Lee

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/glxtrix/lumenarcIII.jpg

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/glxtrix/IMG_1663.jpg

And here are some PAR values from my tank with 3x175W Iwasaki 15K's

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x4/glxtrix/140PAR.jpg

What are the dimensions of your tank?

What are the dimensions of the LB? Where does the bulb sit (how far from the top of the reflector?)

My tank is 55x24x24

The LB minis are 16" and the regular LB's are 19"

I believe the bottom of the bulb is 3" from the bottom rim of the reflector. I'll have to check on that for sure tho. I'll measure when I go home tonight.

Do you have any before PAR #s? What refletors did you have before?

very good readings

Had the regular spyder/batwing reflectors. I can guarantee you wont get those numbers from them. THose things are crap and throw light everywhere but in the tank. They did perform very well tho in them. These LumenBrights will give you the most PAR of any reflector out there, even including the Lumen Arcs.....but if you don't have the requirements to hang these properly you WONT like these, ask Mark. I think I'd say the old reflector would prolly get half these numbers, maybe a lil higher?? And that "lil higher" remark is because you can put them a lil bit closer to the water.

Great review. What ballats are you running - watt & brand?

I recently got the double ended version of these in 250watt.

I say they increased my par by more than 16%.

I went from high 280s- low 300 to now the lowest being 375 with a peak of 500. At a depth of 11.5". This is running 14,000k phoenix on HQI aqu medic ballats.
I was using the pendent by aqua medic before.

These do not spread light hardly at all past the reflector so buy the largest you can fit. To give you an idea at the edge of the reflector i got 375 and 1.5" outside the refelector i get 160.

Above water 1325
Just below 925
Dead center at depth 11.5" 490-500
Off to the Sides of the reflector at depth 11.5" 375-420

Bottom of reflector 7 1/8 of the water, bulb about 12" away.

Visually =They look like rocket busters hung over my tank. 3 stars

Easy of use = 8 screws have to be removed to change a bulb 1 star

Directing light into tank(increasing par) = 5 stars

Light spead= good steady numbers within the reflector, none outside it. 3 Stars

I would most definatly buy agian.

Hope this helps

Joe

the dimensions are listed as 14.5" x 14.5" x 9" (for the mini)

So it's 9" tall, right? Or are these dimensions wrong?

I currently have the lumen max, which have great spread. BUT, being that my tank is a peninsula tank, I don't have one side of the tank reflecting light back into my tank; it exits out on both sides. I think I could benefit from the spotlight effect...BUT, my tank is wide and the canopy is already in place and I'm not about to rebuild that thing!

the dimensions are listed as 14.5" x 14.5" x 9" (for the mini)

So it's 9" tall, right? Or are these dimensions wrong?

I currently have the lumen max, which have great spread. BUT, being that my tank is a peninsula tank, I don't have one side of the tank reflecting light back into my tank; it exits out on both sides. I think I could benefit from the spotlight effect...BUT, my tank is wide and the canopy is already in place and I'm not about to rebuild that thing!
That's the dimensions for the mini lumenarcs. The lumenbrights are a little smaller, I believe.

sailfish, how tall is your tank and what is the par on the sand?

Mini SE lumenBrights are 16.5x7

lee by the looks or your par it seens that these are a very good combo...i was thinking of these reflectors with a 400 radium 20k with an electronic ballast on the 60 cube i want to build think its over kill...i want to get around 500 par at the sand bed thats the reason for the 400 watt

You 'll def get 500 PAR at sand bed with a 40W. just make sure you can get the reflector 14-16" off water level. That way you wont be battling heat. yes for the Iwasaki bulbs, the ARo ballast is the best....unless you can find the EVC like Tee pointed out. Although like I said, they are harder to find than the ARO, and honestly, to get 1PPFD higher, I don't think it's worth the headache trying to locate them. ARO is an amazing ballast, well build, runds decently cool, no noise and is quite small.

Well, any electronic ballast is going to get you close to those numbers, really. A magnetic ballast will have you lose a little bit but that's what I'm running and I'm satisfied with it. :)

Lee, that was a good write up. Yeah I really like my lumen bright. I replaced 2 of the 400w reflectors with the LM. It's as bright as my 1000w.

Honestly, a well put together setup (bulb and ballast) in the LB reflectors with 250 or 400W will give you as much PAR as a 1000W bulb in a batwing or enclosed reflector....to a certain extent that is. Rit, how high do yuo have them mounted above your water level?

Lee, my lighting stays pretty much the same as I had in my office. The 2 400w reflectors that each hung to each side of the tank are now replaced with the LB.
I just got done building a canopy. It's about 14" tall. The distance between the bulbs to the water line is about 12"-13".
The area that are getting covered by the LB reflectors are just as bright but does't have the coverage area as the 1000W bulb. Between the 2 400W and the 1000W, I'm totally covered my tank with strong lighting. I'm pretty happy.
I'm thinking of getting a LA for the 1000W. We will see. Not in the spending mood right now.

Good deal, sounds good Rit. I'd suggest getting an LA as well for the 1K, you'll get better spread and more PAR.

My canopy is 19" tall. The tank in 3' wide and deep. Is that enough height for spread, and still maintain par?

What size is the full size LB?

I think I need to borrow one :(

My canopy is 19" tall. The tank in 3' wide and deep. Is that enough height for spread, and still maintain par?

What size is the full size LB?

I think I need to borrow one :(
Raj, I've got one extra LA and a LA mini if you need to borrow it to check specs and test fit it. No LBs, though.

Mark (flyingArmy) has a Large LB, maybe you can work something out with him? I know they are 19" but not sure of the height. 19" canopy is perfect, people typically have the bulb 14-16" above the water line. So you should have plenty of room to work with. As far as punching PAR to the bottom, yes you will. As far as spread, I'm not terribly certain about that. However I'd suggest the large LB's, my minis really only get the 24" depth....and yet at that it kinda falls off. You'd have to get a large one to test, which is why I mentioned Mark. If all else fails with them tho and you don't get the spread you're looking for, I'd highly suggest the LumenArcs. You get less PAR with them, but you get incredible spread.

Mark (flyingArmy) has a Large LB, maybe you can work something out with him? I know they are 19" but not sure of the height. 19" canopy is perfect, people typically have the bulb 14-16" above the water line. So you should have plenty of room to work with. As far as punching PAR to the bottom, yes you will. As far as spread, I'm not terribly certain about that. You'd have to get one to test. If all else fails with them tho and you don't get the spread you're looking for, I'd highly suggest the LumenArcs. You get less PAR with them, but you get incredible spread.


The large LB's are 20X20X9 and they do punch deep. Raj...I have one for sale;)

I already have the lumenmax which get batter par than the lumenarcs. I want more par. I was thinking of either changing to all LB's or adding a couple of LB's and using only 3 of the LM's.

Mark, PM sent

I already have the lumenmax which get batter par than the lumenarcs. I want more par. I was thinking of either changing to all LB's or adding a couple of LB's and using only 3 of the LM's.

Mark, PM sent
If they are just like the LAs and you're running 1000watters, you should be mroe than fine! Who measured the PAR for you?

Sam and I were talking lighting one time and he said that if you were to have HQI (overdriven) 400W bulbs and ballasts in 10,000k line in LA reflectors, you're almost getting to the point where you're wasting energy. So, I can only imagine what a 1000w combo would be like. :eek:

Of course, then there's reflector positioning, coral positioning, and other factors involved.

I already have the lumenmax which get batter par than the lumenarcs. I want more par. I was thinking of either changing to all LB's or adding a couple of LB's and using only 3 of the LM's.

Mark, PM sent


PM replied...

Harleyguy

My tank is 11.5" deep thats the readings I gave.


glxtrix What watt ballats are you running? I thought i read on RC you were overdriving the 175 watt bulbs. Am i correct or mistaken. Those are some great # you are getting.

I would like to restate that i would get the largest reflector you can fit. These do not spread light at all past the reflector. I wish they made the 20" version in double ended.

I have two of these on a 48 tank and i am addding a 150 in the middle.
Even the shape will leave little spots without much par if you stack them side by side b/c they are otagon shaped. Now on the bottom of a deep tank there may not be but at 11.5" there is.


Joe

As stated here and RC I'm running the 175W ARO ballasts and they are not overdriven....I don't even know how you'd go upon doing that, or if you even could with my ballasts.

I thought I read it some were on RC. I looked and could not find it so i thought i would ask.


I appreciate the information you have provided here and there. It was first hand experence & testimony like yours that made me give these a try.

I am glad that I did.

Thanks
Joe