Building In Canopy Halide

[mrextc]

I'm working on installing a halide setup in my canopy, but i'm a little worried that my canopy is too close to the water...and will either hurt my fish/corals or short out/cause a fire due to too much evaporation. If i mount the light to the canopy, it'll be about 4-5 inches from the water...is this too close? I could probably raise it up another inch...would that help? thanks i appreciate your recomendations.

 

[psusocr1]

IMO raise the whole canopy.. if you cant just place the delicate corals towards the bottom and buy a piece of acrylic to put over the top of the tank so that no splash water will hit it and then you have no problems..

 

[mrextc]

thanks. That's kinda what i was thinking? How high do i need to raise it? Also, won't the acrylic cover decrease the effectiveness of the light when the evaporated water accumulates on it?

 

[psusocr1]

the height you raise it will be arguable, some like it higher some like it lower.. ive never heard of condensation problems with acrylic covers.. you can however just vent it a bit you dont have to seal it down to the tank,, let it breathe .. the cut only has to cover the light really not the whole tank's top.. IMHO you dont loose enough light for it to be a concern with a top, but that is also arguable..

 

[mrextc]

sweet. thanks for the help...i think this project will be put on hold for a few weeks...i just picked up a fully set up nano tank. Fish, live rock, and mushrooms. Thanks again for the input.

 

[crt81]

I had that same question. I too am in the process of building a canopy over my 65 gallon tank (36x18x24). So I have been talking to alot of people and to my LFS and everyone basically said the same thing... 15 to 18 inches for the canopy.
Nothing lower than 15" and nothing higher than 18" (in my opinion), would start to look out of proportion!
So I'm going to have my canopy be 18" high and the lights will probably hang 1 inch off the inside of the canopy.
So the lights will be 17" above the water. (And when mounting the lights they don't have to be hanging off the canopy, but if it isn't mounted directly onto the canopy's top than that allows air to move freely aroung the MH fixture allowing the fixture to stay at a cooler temperature. It allows the air blown from the fans to cool it much faster!
Also with the fans, I know many people will say to have one on each end (one blowing in and one blowing out), but this is how I'm going to set up my canopy. I'm going to be placing 2 fans one each side blowing in and I'm going to be placing 2 fans on top blowing out, because hot air rises and with the 2 fans at the top this allows to hot air to leave the canopy faster. I'm also going to be leaving a potion of the back of the canopy open for more circulation as well.
I hope this helps!

 

[reefer545]

I am also building a canopy. However, instead of letting my canopy support the weight of my lights, I am going to hang them from ceiling. So my canopy will really act as a more effective reflector to help reflect as much light as possible into my tank. The canopy is really more of a faux canopy to help light from escaping my tank. The faux canopy will really just surround the lights which I can then suspend at any height above the tank. But I have decided 15 inches above the water. then I also have easier access to my lights cuz I can jsut remove the false cabinet. This will also allow for better circulation as it will be open at least 1 in on the front and back and 2 inches on each side with two fans blowing up out of the back.