Lukinrats

With that kind of height, I don't think you'll want the Mini Wides. They are designed specifically to be closer to the water and provide the spread people seek. You should talk to Mike at ReefSpecialty.com about this plan and see what he recommends.

Originally Posted by melev

With that kind of height, I don't think you'll want the Mini Wides. They are designed specifically to be closer to the water and provide the spread people seek. You should talk to Mike at ReefSpecialty.com about this plan and see what he recommends.

I will do that Marc. However, this just confuses me, because JRAquatics is the one that told me to go with the Mini Wide because of the 4' x 3' tank

Did JR know you were going to hang that pendant 24" from the top of the tank?

I am pretty sure he did, unless he did not read my entire PM. I will do some more checking before I actually buy. I am really just trying to be sure that I want to go with 400 watters

Originally Posted by melev

Did JR know you were going to hang that pendant 24" from the top of the tank?

So, if I am correct about this, then the Lumen Bright Large, and Lumen Bright Mini pendants have the same reflection angles but the large is just 4" larger.....Is this correct?
So instead of me needing the Mini Wide to mount up high like that, I will be better off with the Lumen Bright Large with 400 Watters in them

Did you read the Lumenbright article in Reefkeeping Magazine yet? The Large is 4" larger at 20" in diameter. The Mini is 16" in diameter. If they are close to the tank, a spotlight effect occurs, but as you raise them up, the desired spread is created. Mine are 12" from the base of the pendant to the top of the plastic trim, which puts the bulbs at 18" from the water's surface.

You've stated you want yours at 24" off the tank. If it is set up like mine, that would put the bulb at 36" from the water. That's a heck of a distance for the light to penetrate. Matter of fact, while I was at the Georgia Aquarium and looking at the corals in their reef tank, I felt they weren't getting enough light. When we were above the tank (behind the scenes), they reflectors were off the water more than 12" and one of the reasons the light was lessened. And those were 1000w bulbs.

Is there a specific reason you want them up at 24"? Could it be lower for the majority of the time, with the option to elevate them up to 24" when the need arises?

I'm 100% positive the Mini Wide at that height would be a waste of light and would flood the room instead of the tank.

Originally Posted by melev

Did you read the Lumenbright article in Reefkeeping Magazine yet? The Large is 4" larger at 20" in diameter. The Mini is 16" in diameter. If they are close to the tank, a spotlight effect occurs, but as you raise them up, the desired spread is created. Mine are 12" from the base of the pendant to the top of the plastic trim, which puts the bulbs at 18" from the water's surface.

You've stated you want yours at 24" off the tank. If it is set up like mine, that would put the bulb at 36" from the water. That's a heck of a distance for the light to penetrate. Matter of fact, while I was at the Georgia Aquarium and looking at the corals in their reef tank, I felt they weren't getting enough light. When we were above the tank (behind the scenes), they reflectors were off the water more than 12" and one of the reasons the light was lessened. And those were 1000w bulbs.

Is there a specific reason you want them up at 24"? Could it be lower for the majority of the time, with the option to elevate them up to 24" when the need arises?

I'm 100% positive the Mini Wide at that height would be a waste of light and would flood the room instead of the tank.

Yes, I have read it about 3 times, at least. When I say that I want to mount 20-24" above the surface. I am talking about the bulb, so the bottom of the reflector will actually be 16" or 20" from the surface. Part of the reason for the height is the wattage of bulbs too.
The way I see it, if I go with the 250 watters, then I am not going to get the PAR that I want, or that I will have mount them too close to the water in order to get them.
So my next step up is the 400 watters, and mounting them that high gives me some room to play around with the height. I plan to make a light hanger out of square tubing, that will have a bolt on each side, and some holes drilled at varying heights. Then I can raise or lower the lights to hopefully get them just like I want

I think that the 400 watters in the Lumen bright large will be great for the 4' x 3' area

Hope I am making sense

Why not consider the 400w -bulbs, and run them with a variable wattage output ballast. That will allow you to adjust from 250-400 watts without changing anything. Especially useful after bulb changes if you let them go a little longer than optimum....

Running 400w is fine, if you don't mind the electricity consumption. With these reflectors, heat is rarely a consideration because of the height. PAR is dictated by the wattage and Kelvin of the bulb. Over my own tank, the 400w 20,000K's PAR is close to the 250w 10,000K bulbs. I just scanned over your blog, and don't see what color bulbs you plan to use. The nice thing about the pendants is that they run all moguls. Getting a variable ballast like teesquare suggested will give you some room to play. Marine Depot sells such a ballast, which another person blogged about in the past 60 days.

Originally Posted by melev

Running 400w is fine, if you don't mind the electricity consumption. With these reflectors, heat is rarely a consideration because of the height. PAR is dictated by the wattage and Kelvin of the bulb. Over my own tank, the 400w 20,000K's PAR is close to the 250w 10,000K bulbs. I just scanned over your blog, and don't see what color bulbs you plan to use. The nice thing about the pendants is that they run all moguls. Getting a variable ballast like teesquare suggested will give you some room to play. Marine Depot sells such a ballast, which another person blogged about in the past 60 days.

Marc, I talked to Mike at RS, and he also suggested the Mini Wide pendants. My thoughts are a lot like yours I beleive, so can you tell me why you did not think the MWs are a good idea?

This is how I feel. I am trying to light a 4' x 3' tank with these pendants. The pendants create a spotlight effect, so it is standard to raise them high. I plan to raise them a bit higher than most, to spread them out more, and also to get them as far out of the way as possible. Now, it just seem logical to me that a reflector with a 16" diameter that is spread out, will still cover a smaller area than a 20" diameter reflector. Does anything I am saying, make any sense?

Marc, I plan to run Radiums, so we will just see how I like them. I may just start out with 250w bulbs, but do it with ballasts that are capable of pushing the 400watters. This way, if I don't like the PAR I get from the 250w, then all I will need to do is swap out the bulbs

I guess my biggest question is whether the Mini wide will be able to cover the area, and also direct enough light into the tank. I just feel like the large will definitely do that.

Nathan