sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Decided to change up the lighting over my 4' x 3' tank. Currently I have 2-250w DE fixtures (those skinnier versions) and 6 - 54 t5s (blues and actinics). I'm really wanting to make more of a lighting impact with the halides so think of going back to mogul bulbs, and throw some proper reflectors over the tank.
My thought is a couple mini-style reflectors, as I have a lumenarc mini I won at a bar meeting ages ago, that footprint sounds great, as the full sized lumenarcs would be a bit too big IMO, as I still want to put some T5s over the tank (and not just at the very ends.
10% off sales are abundant now, so need some input quickly. I've narrowed down to three choices
Hamilton - Cabo Sun mini reflector, about 1" smaller than the lumenarc mini. Saw it at Reef-a-palooza looked like a decent reflector, a good price.
Lumen Bright 3 Mini, about 2" bigger than the lumenarc mini, no socket assembly (although I probably could rig something up), and about $10 more than the hamilton fixture
Lumenarc 3 mini - same size, sorta... the one I got is the "stealth" one with all the unnecessary black metal on the outside, $30 more than the hamilton.
So any opinions on which direction I should go? I'm not terribly concerned about uniformity over the tank, which is why I'm leaning hamilton. Also don't care terribly about giving business to a "local company", basically I'm wondering if the Hamilton might be a POS in disguise, or if the lumen bright will actually give a huge bang for the buck (I've heard they're good at focusing down, which isn't a huge problem for me since I grow very little on the bottom of my tank.
My thought is a couple mini-style reflectors, as I have a lumenarc mini I won at a bar meeting ages ago, that footprint sounds great, as the full sized lumenarcs would be a bit too big IMO, as I still want to put some T5s over the tank (and not just at the very ends.
10% off sales are abundant now, so need some input quickly. I've narrowed down to three choices
Hamilton - Cabo Sun mini reflector, about 1" smaller than the lumenarc mini. Saw it at Reef-a-palooza looked like a decent reflector, a good price.
Lumen Bright 3 Mini, about 2" bigger than the lumenarc mini, no socket assembly (although I probably could rig something up), and about $10 more than the hamilton fixture
Lumenarc 3 mini - same size, sorta... the one I got is the "stealth" one with all the unnecessary black metal on the outside, $30 more than the hamilton.
So any opinions on which direction I should go? I'm not terribly concerned about uniformity over the tank, which is why I'm leaning hamilton. Also don't care terribly about giving business to a "local company", basically I'm wondering if the Hamilton might be a POS in disguise, or if the lumen bright will actually give a huge bang for the buck (I've heard they're good at focusing down, which isn't a huge problem for me since I grow very little on the bottom of my tank.