Center braces and MH heat?

pyro383

Member
I have a aga 45g tall and the mh setup that I have will place 1 inch of the bulb over my center brace. Will this be a problem? There will be about 5" of clearance between the brace and the bulb, and I plan on wrapping the brace with reflective tape. Also there will be a 4" fan with 35cfm. What have people done in the past?
 

slothy

Active Member
1" away ? so the bulb is about 2 inches away from the water ? BAD IDEA !! (if thats the case) ... reasons being, #1 heat (lots of it) AND #2 water splashing on bulb.. I would have it a min. of 6-8" from water line
 

pyro383

Member
Let me rephrase that. The bulb will be about 5" above the center brace, however the bulb will overlap the centerbrace by 1". So 1" of bulb will be directly above the brace with the rest being over open water.
 

cap'n pete

Member
Read Slothy, read!:p
I don't see a problem with it. It isn't ideal of course, since the brace will block light. It should be far enough from the brace that you will not have to worry about it melting, especially if you are installing a fan. I assuming that there is no other way to place the bulb in the canopy were it won't be obstructed. How about mounting it from front to back instead of side to side?
 

pyro383

Member
It is built into the retro hood. I could drill out the rivets and cut the reflector but just seems to be to much work and fiddeling.
 
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