Jestersix

MH Reflector choice needed

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sfsuphysics

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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.
 
I've always felt Hamilton = garbage if that means anything to you :D

IMO it's a toss off between LumenBright or a LAIII mini.
 
I know what you mean about Hamilton, as far as I can remember they've had really crappy reflectors. Only reason I'm considering it (ok two reasons it is the cheapest :D) is that the one I saw at RAP actually looked like one of the modern reflectors with facets to direct light down, etc, as opposed to the older ones which.. yeah were junk. That said I didn't see one in action, only saw the reflector itself without lighting.
 
I'll shoot Sanjay an email and see if he's tested that reflector yet.
 
GreshamH said:
I've always felt Hamilton = garbage if that means anything to you :D

IMO it's a toss off between LumenBright or a LAIII mini.
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Crap, maybe, I'd vouch for it at least, 10 years behind the curve for sure.

Mike I know you're cheap, you've alwys been forward about that, but come on, you're talking about $20, just get the LAIII mini.
 
Ahem.. $30 more :D

But its not about being super cheap here, its being frugal if there's a product which achieves similar results, which is primarily what I'm asking about :) I know the LA guys were a bit miffed when other companies came out with similar products feeling they were an infringement on their patents (guess they weren't?), so the question is still asked, anyone with experience with these reflectors other than the LA3mini (since I have experience with it :D) that can give an opinion.
 
sfsuphysics said:
I know the LA guys were a bit miffed when other companies came out with similar products feeling they were an infringement on their patents (guess they weren't?)
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Patent lawyers are SUPER expensive, they do have a patent, just no $$$ to go after the large company that infringed on their patent.
 
Patent lawyers that I have spoken with don't operate like that.

Besides, suing a company with deep pockets when you don't have deep pockets seems never to work out right :(

I asked Sanjay, he said he'd never even seen it yet :lol:
 
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