?Lighting Question?

[damselsrck]

Hi. I am looking into buying a MH light and I had a few questions for you experts...
1. I have a glass cover on the aquarium and I was wondering if it would be fine just to mount the lights over the glass cover?
2. If not, what would I do to "cover" the tank? (don't want fish jumping out)

 

[db]

You really need to remove the glass cover and especially if you are going with MH's. I run my tank open and have never had a fish jump, but I'm not sure what fish you have. If you run glass over the tank you are lowering your light penetration, keeping heat in, and reducing gas exchange. MH's will create a greenhouse effect with the glass cover on and they will heat your tank up quickly. You will need small fans blowing across the surface to keep the temp stable.

 

[fedukeford]

Originally Posted by damselsrck
Hi. I am looking into buying a MH light and I had a few questions for you experts...
1. I have a glass cover on the aquarium and I was wondering if it would be fine just to mount the lights over the glass cover?
2. If not, what would I do to "cover" the tank? (don't want fish jumping out)
you cant have MH's with a glass top, REMOVE THE GLASS TOP, it causes less circulation, adn with MH;s it would heat the water up A TON, its either the galss top or the metal hileds, to cove the tank you can build a hood, or put some eggcrate on the tank

 

[damselsrck]

Ok, I think I'll take of the glass top when I get the halides. You talked about a fan...here is the fixture I was looking into buying and it says it has fan(s). What is an eggcrate? I have 1 occ. clown and one yellowtail damsel (soon to be gone). My future stocking list would be:
2 occ. clowns
1 lemonpeel angel (reef safe??)
1 six line wrasse
maybe clown goby or something really small that perches.
Here's the fixture, it costs $250 shipped.
Approx Fixture Size: 33.5"L x 11.5"W x 3.5"H
Odyssea metal halide system comes with:
* non-corrosive powder coated housing
* built-in cooling fans
* two separate on/off switches on 175W external remote ballast controlling HQI & bluemoon LED separately
* one on/off switch on CF external remote ballast controlling compact fluorescent only
* one power cord for HQI
* one power cord for compact fluorescent
* one power cord for bluemoon LED
* two external ballasts
* tempered glass splash guard
* hanging kit and mounting brackets
* extendble to a maximum of 36" in length with mounting brackets
FREE items include one double ended 175W HQI 20000K & two 65W compact fluorescent bulb actinic blue & four blue moon LED night light
Will I need to purchase anything more, or can I just plug this in now (I don't have any corals).

 

[db]

As far as the fixture goes you will be all set. I still think you will need an additional fan to blow between the hanging fixture and the water. I'm not sure if the fans that are built into the fixture will be enough. I guess run it and see how it effects your temp.