marinemarty
Member
What's the smallest height needed for MH lights? 250 watt?
Thanxs
Martin
Thanxs
Martin
5 inches for MH ENOUGH????
- Thread starter marinemarty
- Start date
marinemarty
Member
Hi Wamp, well i would be using glass tops, and i want to attach the bulbs to the canopy. So when the canopy is open the bulbs would be facing you. This make sense?
wamp
Active Member
Yeah, that would help alot. The glass tops you will grow to hate though.. But they will alow you to have the canopy closer to the water.
Constant cleaning of the tops will be required. The tops also block quiet a bit of light. There have been discussions on here about how much but eitheir way your losing light.
Constant cleaning of the tops will be required. The tops also block quiet a bit of light. There have been discussions on here about how much but eitheir way your losing light.
sal t. nutz
Member
Not to mention, there is no way to avoid a chiller with the glass tops and MH. That tank will boil.
josh
Active Member
Hi,
IMO it depends on if you will using a pendent or not. If you go with a pendent you can keep as close as you want to, allowing room for a fan. Pendents are nice b/c the offer a glass shield to protect against water splashes and are much cooler than a retrofit. With a pendent you are more limited by light spread than with heat concerns. You can see my setup under my sig, my lights are maybe 7 or so inches off the water with only one 4" radio shack fan...my water never gets above 80.
HTH
IMO it depends on if you will using a pendent or not. If you go with a pendent you can keep as close as you want to, allowing room for a fan. Pendents are nice b/c the offer a glass shield to protect against water splashes and are much cooler than a retrofit. With a pendent you are more limited by light spread than with heat concerns. You can see my setup under my sig, my lights are maybe 7 or so inches off the water with only one 4" radio shack fan...my water never gets above 80.
HTH
G
glenn
Guest
Most of the manufactures of MH suggest a minimum of 8" for water to bulb. The closer you get to the water the odds increase on splashing them and also will definatly increase water temp. Whether pendents or mounted in a canopy.
Glenn
www.aquarium-stands.com
Glenn
www.aquarium-stands.com
josh
Active Member
Originally posted by Glenn
Most of the manufactures of MH suggest a minimum of 8" for water to bulb. The closer you get to the water the odds increase on splashing them and also will definatly increase water temp. Whether pendents or mounted in a canopy.
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Glenn,
Not to argue, but that is not quite right. I worked with Perry at sunlight supply with their new reef optix III HQI pendent. The distance is indeed limited to the spread of the light. Yes you are right, that 8" is the recommended height, but as stated on the box this is for spread reasons. While heat is an issue, I think you would run into spread issues before heat issues that couldn't be dealt with by fans...BTW those are some sweet stands on that webpage!! Very nice work..
marinemarty
Member
Thanxs All, I think i will do the following, I am going to get 3, PFO Lighting HQI Mini Metal Halide Pendants. and attach then to the top/lid of my canopy. Without any modifications i will be 2-3 inches of the water i may be able to raise the cap another 1-2 inches. I was thinking of going with a 175 -250- 175 watt set-up with blue PC's. Has anyone tried this? I just don't understand why Oceanic makes such low sitting caps?
Thanxs for the Help
Martin
Thanxs for the Help
Martin
josh
Active Member
Marty,
That might be cutting a bit close with 3". The pendent won't fit in there. You can modify you existing canopy farily cheaply and easily. Just get some 3'4 oak plywood and make new sides but keeping you existing top ( of the canopy ). Buy some stain to match and urethane sealer, and you have a very nice custom hood for under 50 bucs.
When we talk about the lights being 5" off the water, that is just the lights or the glass in the pendent. My lights sit like I said about 7 or so inches off the water, however my canopy top is 11+" from the water. You will have to factor in the height of the pendent.
Some folks have issues with their PFO pendents, the spread is not up to par on them ( so I've heard ). I use the reefoptix and when mounted parallel I get 30 inches of spread easily out of them.
Just some more things to consider.
Josh
That might be cutting a bit close with 3". The pendent won't fit in there. You can modify you existing canopy farily cheaply and easily. Just get some 3'4 oak plywood and make new sides but keeping you existing top ( of the canopy ). Buy some stain to match and urethane sealer, and you have a very nice custom hood for under 50 bucs.
When we talk about the lights being 5" off the water, that is just the lights or the glass in the pendent. My lights sit like I said about 7 or so inches off the water, however my canopy top is 11+" from the water. You will have to factor in the height of the pendent.
Some folks have issues with their PFO pendents, the spread is not up to par on them ( so I've heard ). I use the reefoptix and when mounted parallel I get 30 inches of spread easily out of them.
Just some more things to consider.
Josh
marinemarty
Member
Josh..... can you expand on how i can modify my cap to sit higher. Thanxs.
Martin
Martin
josh
Active Member
Sure,
The top of my canopy was only held onto the sides with little brackets. I simply removed the brackets to allow the sides to come off, leaving only the existing cap ( top of the canopy)
You are basically just re-making the sides the came with it..keeping the length deminsions the same while changing the height. I cut mine to be 12" tall. I cut the edges at 45 deg angles to form a nice smooth transition from side to side...follow that. I then used some wood glue and brad nails to hold the side s together. Sanded the whole thing...also rounding over the edges for a nice look. Filled in the nails holes with putty and stained the whole sha-bang. I then simply added a few inch back to the canopy so I could attach the top to the back with some T-hinges so I could open the top without taking it off.
All in all it took me more time to buy the supplies than to do it, however I am lucky to have an uncle that is a carpenter so I had all the tools I needed at hand.
Josh
The top of my canopy was only held onto the sides with little brackets. I simply removed the brackets to allow the sides to come off, leaving only the existing cap ( top of the canopy)
You are basically just re-making the sides the came with it..keeping the length deminsions the same while changing the height. I cut mine to be 12" tall. I cut the edges at 45 deg angles to form a nice smooth transition from side to side...follow that. I then used some wood glue and brad nails to hold the side s together. Sanded the whole thing...also rounding over the edges for a nice look. Filled in the nails holes with putty and stained the whole sha-bang. I then simply added a few inch back to the canopy so I could attach the top to the back with some T-hinges so I could open the top without taking it off.
All in all it took me more time to buy the supplies than to do it, however I am lucky to have an uncle that is a carpenter so I had all the tools I needed at hand.
Josh
ironreef
Member
I agree 2" if your fish splash that would be @$80 for a new bulb.I would either modify the canopy,make or buy a new one.Not to mention you will create alot of heat which can be bad for the tank= heat the glass then splash= cracking,heat the water making it hard to cool. If you keep them at least6" away you won't have a problem but any closer.....
marinemarty
Member
Hey Guys, Thanxs
Actually the modification Josh mentioned, is easier than i thought so i will be raising the canopy another 6 inches. Now with this increase in height the cap should be approx. 12-13 1nches from the water. NOW
what lights do you guys suggest, I did not here of any issue with the PFO but i am open to any suggestions. Also how many watts of blue light should i get if i got with 2 175 watt and 1 250 watt MH?
Thanxs Again
Martin
Actually the modification Josh mentioned, is easier than i thought so i will be raising the canopy another 6 inches. Now with this increase in height the cap should be approx. 12-13 1nches from the water. NOW
what lights do you guys suggest, I did not here of any issue with the PFO but i am open to any suggestions. Also how many watts of blue light should i get if i got with 2 175 watt and 1 250 watt MH?Thanxs Again
Martin