Best MH mogul reflector?

[Aquattro]

What, in your opinion, is the best reflector, and why? I'm currently using PFO reflectors and want to "upgrade"...

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

What, in your opinion, is the best reflector, and why? I'm currently using PFO reflectors and want to "upgrade"...

how about a total picture of the stand and such so we know what kind of look you are going for.. is there a canopy, do you want a total enclosure like the reef optix 1 or do you want a retrofit?

the Coralvue Lumenbright Pendant looks nice and you can get just the reflector or the whole thing..

if you go for a full pendant you can rig a airflow cooling system to stop some of the heat from getting to the tank if your so inclined, if you just do retrofit reflectors this is much harder.

so some more insite on to what your wanting to do would be helpfull.

for a sugestion I kinda like this one

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/sl...e+Pendent.html

Steve

[Aquattro]

Wooden canopy, so reflectors only. Looking at lumenarc IIIs, only a 14" footprint, so leaves room for T5 actinics. Cooling not too important, I'm running a chiller.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

for a sugestion I kinda like this one

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/sl...e+Pendent.html

Steve

Those look pretty good too..

[lastlight]

I run a pair of the elite's and really like them. They all have things they're better at but I thought the elites were good for no hotspots and had great coverage.

lumenbrights i think you can mount higher up and still get all the light in the tank.

[michika]

I love my luminarcs, I've run them singly or supplemented with T5s. They get good coverage, are easy to clean, and don't seem to be as tall as other reflectors (if you're concerned about height).

[mike31154]

I haven't tried very many different MH reflectors, so not sure my opinion is worth much. I built two Lumenarc 3 reflectors using 'solatube' reflective' aluminum from the reno center. I basically gutted a very dated MH/VHO (even had a couple of MR16 LEDs) combo fixture to cobble together my own light rack made of square & angle aluminum stock from Princess Auto. The old fixture was a beast & had 'spider' reflectors for the 2 MH 250 watt moguls. The previous owner had somehow neglected to remove the protective blue plastic film from the inside of the fixture and it was essentially burnt into the aluminum reflective material. There's no way I could get the stuff off any longer, that's one of the main reasons I decided to gut it. The VHOs had internal reflectors inside the lamp and only one of the LEDs was working when I purchased the used system it was on.

In addition to fabricating the Lumenarcs, I used the two Workhorse 8 ballasts which powered the VHOs and converted them for use with 4 x 54 watt T5HO retro parts. I've since removed two to the T5HOs and only run two. Anyhow, the home built Lumenarcs work one heck of a lot better than the old spider reflectors, that's for sure.

Here's a photo from a while back, but the fixture is still much the same, other than some changes to the fan set up.

[sphelps]

luminarcs are one of the best, the lumenmax are better but also bigger and more ideal for larger areas. I've used both and they are my favs.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by sphelps

luminarcs are one of the best, the lumenmax are better but also bigger and more ideal for larger areas. I've used both and they are my favs.

The lumenmax are 22" I think, which is too big to mount in my canopy. I think I have about 18" of non hinged canopy. The 3's seem to be the same, just smaller

[Doug]

The Lumenbrights are the best I have used, but find they need more height, {16in. to the water}, which is what they are designed to do. Thus running cooler and still packing great par.

I loved the glass shield. Height plus glass shield, equals no salt splash on that expensive reflector material.

If height is at a surplus and good spread is something you need, then I agree with the Lumenarc,s. Good bang for the money. Good pendants, good spread. Run closer to the water, although we had ours at close to 15in and still ok.

And if one wishes to protect them at lower heights, you can purchase a glass shield for the slots already on them. I just bought 5m tempered from the local glass store.

I currently run Lumenmax and its very impressive but its an HQI set up.