Installing metal halides into a canopy questions.

[siptang]

My canopy looks like this.
It lifts up and it currently has the PC lights installed on a c clips.

I bought these. Hamilton Kit and the ballast for $60 + brand new 14k Ushio 250w bulb.
Alot of bad things happened of late and I'm jumping into this hobby with corals to fight all the negativity that surrounds me and keep my spirits up.
I want to install this inside my canopy and have heard that it's definitely a do-able thing.
I heard from a guy that I can use spacers in between this and the canopy wood and this kit and use the screws to bolt it on the canopy.
Does this sound about right?
Kit itself feels like about 5-7 pounds will screws hold this weight for long period of time?
Any inputs would be greatly appreciated.
Do I need fans for this baby?

 

[acrylic51]

Good deal on the buy on the MH's........

Can't tell much by the pic of the canopy, but is the back of the canopy open or are there cutouts on the ends of the canopy to allow you to mount fans? In either case installing cooling fans is highly recommended......
Another thing that pops into my mind is what exactly is the height inside the canopy with the lid shut? Meaning how tall is the canopy and how tall are the retro light fixtures? It appears it might be pretty close with the lights mounted, that they would be pretty close to the surface of the water???? Are there any UV shields with the lights? If not you'll need to install glass. Those DE bulbs are shield as are SE bulbs.....Not entirely sure on the spacers for several reasons, but will wait to see what your measurements are.....Screws will easily hold the fixtures to the canopy.

 

[siptang]

Hi and thanks for getting back to me.
Back of the canopy has cutouts in the back for overflow and some pipe work where I can attach the fan.
It has glass protectors but he wiped it down for the picture prior to selling it to me so it's kind of hard to see.
I think after installation I should have about 4" of space left. I have been reading that this is bit short... is that right?
One guys told me about spacers because he said that it will be too hot for the wood? Burn the wood? I don't know if this is accurate but I'm thinking that they know more then at this moment but wanted to shoot it here first before I proceed with this project.

 

[acrylic51]

I would see about putting fans on the ends of the canopy......With the fixtures being 4" from the water surface your going to definitely need more than 1 fan.....I'd opt personally for 4, but I like to overkill everything.....2 blowing in and 2 sucking out......You might find though that it might really heat the water being that close to the surface. As far as spacers I would think there would be a some heat transfer to the wood, but burning not exactly sure, but spacers wouldn't hurt. Would allow for some air circulation all the way around the fixture, but again by adding spacers your moving the fixture again closer to the water surface... The spacers wouldn't have to be huge....You could easily find spacers at Lowes or HD.....

 

[flower]

I have the same canopy, in pine I didn't like the black, and tried what you are talking about...but with retrofit....It is too close to the surface, the moisture shorted out the lights in one year of use, I installed the fans on either end of the canopy top and it does cool it off considerably. I also had glass between the lamp and water...the glass was constantly being coated over with salt and if I didn't clean the glass each day it lowered the amount of light getting to my corals.....In the end, I removed the hinged top and just hung my MH lights just above the canopy. Just my .02

 

[siptang]

acrylic - hmmm what you say make sense but I don't know if I'm able to have that much in the space that I'm provided...
What I was trying to do was from have one end to another end (side to side) and have the cords come out from the cut out spots. But I'm going to see if I can attach a fan by the cut out slot so the cold air can come in and hot air out.
any ideas on the fans that I can use? Can I buy them from walmart or from home depot? or do I have to buy from lfs?
Flower - I was trying to avoid the open top. :x Wife doesn't like it and in my house, it's her kingdom. I do get to say final words and those words are usually, yes, dear.
Bulbs I have to replace once a year any ways right? I do plan to clean the glass once a week while I do maintance on the tank.
I'm still thinking 250w + 98w + LED should be good enough any type of corals right?
I really don't want to spend any more money then I have to atm. I'm only doing this for my mental health and relaxation but I'm still paying off the expenses from my boy and I rather pay that off first before I go buy another light. :/ (Plus pretty corals for the mrs.... these things are expensive!!)

 

[2quills]

Agreed that having them 4" above the top of the tank is probably going to create some issues as listed above. There's lots of options for fans, personally I'm installing 120mm computer fans in my canopy. But some people just use clip on style fans and stuff like that that you can find almost anywhere. Even some of the aquarium supply websites sell different styles that you can check into.
An idea that I might try if I was in your shoes would be to build two boxes that you could mount the lights into. And then just cut out the openings on the lid of the canopy and mount the boxes to the lid. Paint them black to match. That would help with the heat a little bit (still need fans) but you'd get less salt creep and moisture on the splash shields for them and the components will be protected. Just a thought.

 

[siptang]

2quills - How do you go about installing computer fans into the tanks? Don't they just have that square pinset instead of power cord accepted by outlets?
Looks like all the fans don't come with power cords... what the heck?!? anyone with this info, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[2quills]

Well in my case I went the cheap rout and just cut and spliced everything with butt connectors, then used a 3-12v variable power supply that I picked up from walmart. But you will need a 12v power supply. Alot of the computer stores and websites sell them which you can get with the 3 or 4 pin connectors on them. And then from there you can hook up the various adapters or spliters that you need.
Here's a 12v power supply with a molex connector.

Various adapters...most of the pc fans come with both the 3 and 4 pin connectors on them so you could use either or...

 

[2quills]

Actually rapidled sells kits...http://www.rapidled.com/servlet/the-70/60mm-Vantec-Stealth-Fan/Detail

 

[saltwaterdud3]

You have to match the fan voltage with an adapters voltage and then splice it to the electrical lines. If you mix the wires up, the fan will try to blow in the opposite direction (I guess that's only some models) so you'll want to switch them the right way to get it blowing in the right direction. Usually you can buy those little adapters at Radioshack - or come across some mini adapters at garage sales.

 

[saltwaterdud3]

Hah, 2quills beat me to it. Well done. And in better detail!

 

[2quills]

As long as you don't exceed 12v then you're good. Anything lower then that just runs them at lower speed. This is the one I'm using. If I lower the voltage the fans runs slower and the leds get dimmer. But yes, with direct current you need to hook the wires up correctly for them to operate.

 

[siptang]

I guess, I will check out the local radio shack tomorrow for this thing then...
How long should I leave this thing on btw?
If I were to put anything directly under neath it, will it burn the coral? say.... a brain coral?
Edit: wow you guys, posted fast.
2quills - can you post the picture of how you wired it together? you dont have to take anything apart, I just wanted to see the final product so I can get some ideas.
Thanks again guys.

 

[acrylic51]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Siptang http:///forum/thread/387027/installing-metal-halides-into-a-canopy-questions#post_3402248
I guess, I will check out the local radio shack tomorrow for this thing then...
How long should I leave this thing on btw?
If I were to put anything directly under neath it, will it burn the coral? say.... a brain coral?
Edit: wow you guys, posted fast.
2quills - can you post the picture of how you wired it together? you dont have to take anything apart, I just wanted to see the final product so I can get some ideas.
Thanks again guys.
You could cause damage to any coral per say without proper acclimation. I'm assuming the corals have never been under MH in your tank, so with the lights being roughly 4" above water surface; then yes would cause damage to corals......Your lighting schedule would have to be adjusted meaning you'd have to gradually bring your lighting duration up....Start slow maybe an hour of MH and then your other lighting....gradually increase over a period of time. There are other ways to acclimate corals other than this.
Corey I was thinking the same way you were about mounting the lights above the canopy in a separate boxes......Didn't mention that assuming he didn't want to hack his canopy a bit.....

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Siptang http:///forum/thread/387027/installing-metal-halides-into-a-canopy-questions#post_3402216
acrylic - hmmm what you say make sense but I don't know if I'm able to have that much in the space that I'm provided...
What I was trying to do was from have one end to another end (side to side) and have the cords come out from the cut out spots. But I'm going to see if I can attach a fan by the cut out slot so the cold air can come in and hot air out.
any ideas on the fans that I can use? Can I buy them from walmart or from home depot? or do I have to buy from lfs?
Flower - I was trying to avoid the open top. :x Wife doesn't like it and in my house, it's her kingdom. I do get to say final words and those words are usually, yes, dear.
Bulbs I have to replace once a year any ways right? I do plan to clean the glass once a week while I do maintance on the tank. UMM try every day.
I'm still thinking 250w + 98w + LED should be good enough any type of corals right?
I really don't want to spend any more money then I have to atm. I'm only doing this for my mental health and relaxation but I'm still paying off the expenses from my boy and I rather pay that off first before I go buy another light. :/ (Plus pretty corals for the mrs.... these things are expensive!!)
I like the finished look of the canopy, so I know what your wife means that she wants it on there. You can use the system you have just purchased...just modify it to sit above the canopy with the hinged portion removed, as opposed to sitting down IN the canopy. That will give you the full 6 inches the lights call for...... Here is a picture of what I did.

My lights hang..your lights won't look as bulky as mine but I must tell you the pulleys are awesome...Yours can set up like pendants on cables, right at the very edge of the canopy and look pretty good. Maybe rig a box with glass at the bottom and hang the light over your canopy after removing the hinged lid

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Siptang http:///forum/thread/387027/installing-metal-halides-into-a-canopy-questions#post_3402248
I guess, I will check out the local radio shack tomorrow for this thing then...
How long should I leave this thing on btw?
If I were to put anything directly under neath it, will it burn the coral? say.... a brain coral?
Edit: wow you guys, posted fast.
2quills - can you post the picture of how you wired it together? you dont have to take anything apart, I just wanted to see the final product so I can get some ideas.
Thanks again guys.
Yeah man I just saw your edit. I'll try and get you a shot tommorow. It's just a simple splice connecting the two positive lines from the fans to the positive line on the power supply, and then the two negative lines from the fans to the negative line on the power supply. Real easy to do.

 

[siptang]

Wow, alot of info! Thanks guys.
Of course, I will acclimate the coral lol.
I just installed my lights. My wife loves the shimmer and all is well.
I will do as you guys say
1.) install 2 fans for now, 1 suck in cold air and 1 to blow out warm air and try to add couple more later. (I like overkill too. Better safe then sorry right? )
2.) put the lights on small increments. (1 hour a day for first 2-3 days, 3 hours 3-5 days then 5 hours for 5-7 days then 7 hours as regular setup. How does that sound?
Flower, Corey - I will discuss this with my wife and see what she says. Thank you very much for showing me options!
Oh and I will check frequently tomorrow to see how you did this wiring. Thanks!

 

[siptang]

Ok, got the things installed.
Problem... light is too hot and it's slowly burning the plastic strip in the of the tank. I saw small indent today and was very concerned... what can I do?

 

[meowzer]

How far off the tank do you have them? You probably need to raise them