canopy height

[keisersosei]

I am thinking about building a canopy and have a few questions. How tall does it need to be to avoid getting wet? I will attach the entire fixture to the inside of the canopy. The fixture is 4" tall so please keep that in mind. One of the reasons I'm building the canopy is because the glass hood I am using now scatters a lot of light and I feel I'm losing light intensity. Will putting the lights in a canopy be beneficial or will they be too elevated to make a significant difference? And finally, how would you recommend attaching the fixture to the canopy? I know I need to use as little metal as possible to avoid rusting. Thank you very much for your help.

 

[glenn]

I would recommend making it a height of 14" from top of tank to inside top of canopy. Make sure to add holes for fans. Attach the lighting using stainless steel screws.

 

[cap'n pete]

10" off the surface seems to be the recommended height for MH lighting. The distance of air between the light has little affect on intensity, water depth does.

 

[keisersosei]

14" is a whole lot of canopy. Right now I am running PC lighting but want to keep my options open for metal halide. I would think that anything over 10" would be aesthetically unappealing. It's a 55 gallon tank so 14" is almost as tall as the tank itself is. I will be painting it and the stand black so that it will blend in with the dark wall. I want to see the tank, not the stand or canopy, and especially if the canopy needs to be 14" tall.

 

[cap'n pete]

I'm sure you could go lower if necessary. Just plan on fans if you want MH. Also, have large openings in the top of the canopy. Mine has about 2 inches between each slat and helps with the heat issue a lot. I have 2 55W PC's about 3" off a glass top and don't have a heat problem.

 

[glenn]

Just remember if you lower it too much you will definatly have to make or get some sort of splash guards for the lights. They will get splashed if you go to low. Also the lower you bring them the more heat that will transfer into the water. I do know something about this.

 

[heavenly damsel]

We made ours about 10" tall, we are using PC lighting also. We put a piece of 1x1 on each side of the inside and rest the ends of the light on it for support. That makes it easy to take the lights in and out if we need to. We hinged the front panel and use a brace on each end that locks to keep it up for maintenance and feeding. The lights are about 5" above the top of the tank. We removed the glass for a while and it made a difference in the lighting, the glass does diffuse it a great deal. My husband had a fit with the evaproation rate, so we put the glass back on. We bought an RO unit at Lowes last weekend and installed it under the kitchen sink...I think we will reconsider taking the glass off again soon. HTH

 

[heavenly damsel]

FWIW It cost as much to build our canopy as it was to buy one at the LFS. Well...okay...it was actually $2 cheaper. My husband wanted a custom canopy is why we built one. I would have bought one from the LFS.

 

[cap'n pete]

Caution with that last statement. I have a store bought canopy and hate it. I has fallen apart I don't know how many times and is almost impossible to get back together. Each connection has about 10 straight staples shot into it and once it comes loose it's hard to pound it back together. I will build stand and canopy myself next time. You know- if you want it done right, do it yourself.

 

[heavenly damsel]

That's a good point! One other caution.....choose your work area well.....my husband cut the wood outside and put it together in the den where it is airconditioned. This was no problem until he drilled the screws through into my new laminate flooring. I now have a $3500 floor with 4 holes where the screws pulled the surface off. The flooring can be repaired....the look on his face was priceless. He is an engineer.

 

[melbournefl]

LOL Heavenly Angel, toooooo funny! But then again I probably shouldn't laugh too loud. I've just about finished a 220 tank in my workshop (safer on floors anyway) and it has occured to me that I have no place to put this 800lb monster to make room to build the stand/cabinent ... moral of story ... always make sure you have some place to put something when it's built!
Later, Paul