Lit Canopy

[demosthenes]

I have a canopy & stand type stand for my tank. It is 75 gallons, and the canopy top sets on the tank, and the canopy has "corner extensions" that travel down the corner of the tank walls, and meet the stand, and this makes the tank really nice looking, and was expensive, so I plan on keeping it, but need to know how to rig up the lighting system. I am getting a 48" retrofit kit from <a href="http://www.hellolights.com" target="_blank">HelloLights.com</a>. It is 4" vertical, and the height is the reason I must go with the retrofit instead of the hood, which is 6" vertical, as I only have 5" vertical room in the canopy from top of tank glass to canopy top. I know that MH and VHOs put off a lot of heat, and didn't want any overheating, etc. Would it be possible to screw the retrofit kit into the canopy top, to keep it off of the glass. There will be no fan, I assume, as it is a retrofit kit, and didn't want it to get too hot. Would the glass get hot enough that it might explode or melt? The retrofit kit contains 2 175 W MH 10000K and 2 110 W VHO, plus will be supplemented by 2 55 W PCs. This totals 680 W, or 9 per gallon, will this cause any heat rise, it's now at 78F, or any ill effects. T4AH

 

[glazer]

whoa Demo!,
This is prolly not what you wanna hear but if I were you I would seriously reconsider... I read your posts several times just to make sure, you only have 5 inches of space inside your canopy??
To me this is just not enough room at all for halides. I would also reccomend against attaching the reflector directly to the top inside of canopy lid, I would say at least a 1/2" space between the two for air circulation. This is gonna put your bulbs practically right on top of the glass.
Personally, I would never place halides any closer than six inches min. to water surface. There is other considerations as well, but I would say if you decide to go this route you are without a doubt going to have to add some fans to your canopy in some way to vent some of the heat out.
No expert here by any means, just my opinion.

 

[demosthenes]

What is there that I can do? I need MH to sustain sps, IMO, and the stand and canopy are a very nice oak, and they cost me $500, so I can't very well just get rid of it. Would a chiller help, or would the overheating take place outside of the tank, and I'd just be wasting my money? I have decided that this is the setup that I want/need and I'm just looking for suggestions on keeping things safe. What about a combination of some fans, and a chiller? T4AH

 

[mini-reefer]

You still have to consider the distance from the halide bulbs to the glass top. Its will discolor rapidly due to the heat and saltcreep and such. If you plan to leave the top on and are willing to do regular maintenance, or replacing the glass in regular intervals you might be able to do it. But you will need to come up with a way to cool down the canopy for sure. A few fans wouldnt hurt at all. Just my 2 cents.
Mini-Reefer

 

[broomer5]

Suggestion:
Have a cabinetmaker add a 8-10 inch section onto the top of you existing canopy, and add a couple of cooling fans .... or DIY.

 

[demosthenes]

Thanks for the help. I think I may just do it myself. How would I go about making the addition blend in with the existing part? How much would it cost and such?

 

[glazer]

hey demo,
I don't really know anything about (the specifics anyway) your canopy.... So this in mind I don't know if I can be any help or not. My guess is it is prolly red oak, which is cheaper than white oak... I say this only because I am guessing it is a mass produced stand as opposed to custom. Most mfg's cut costs where they can... I am guessing it is oak laminated MDF or plywood as well. I am a professional cabinetmaker/finisher so if you wanna email me some pics of what you have I would be happy to take a look at them and see if I could maybe offer you some easy solutions to adding on to it.
Another thing... if you know who made the stand you might want to try and contact them and see if they will provide you with any info as to what they used for staining and topcoating.
email is furniturefinisher@hotmail.com

 

[demosthenes]

The stand and canopy are white oak, and are full oak, w/o any plywood and such as covering. I think I will just have to go with different lighting, or get rid of the canopy, I don't think there is anything I can do. Thanks though.

 

[glenn]

Demos,
Why dont you just get a new canopy built to replace the one you have. That way you can get it taller to accomidate the lighting and also add a couple fans. Even if you do get it taller i suggest 2 fans to keep the heat down.
VPWoodwork1

 

[demosthenes]

I want to get a new canopy made, but I'm in debt to my mom $1025, and need the new lighting mentioned, cost $475, and the canopy will be even more. On top of this, I am 14 and trying to start my own company, TMaN Industries, you will hear of it soon. I have four products that will be licensed to other companies, one of which prevents CD-Burning, and they all need patents, which will cost me a ton of money, as I have to hire a patent attorney, that charges upwards of $5000 to do the searches and the patent applications. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place, and see no sign of hope from here.

 

[glenn]

A temorary solution could be to use the old canopy for now to mount the lights in. Instead of just putting the canopy on the tank see about hanging it from the ceiling for now until things get better monatary wise. Then get a new canopy built.
VPWoodwork1

 

[demosthenes]

Thanks, but for the ceiling we have the tiles that run along the ceiling, and the tiles can be taken out and such. It is a ceiling meant to be accessible, as it's in the basement, and it is from here that service is done to the 1st floor, I'm not sure how service is done on the other floors, but that's not my problem, it's my parents. Ha Ha

 

[lurch694u]

Hey Demosthenes why would want to stop cd-burning? Have you seen the prices for cd's lately? I'm poor and have to use morpheus...
J/K I wish you luck on your patent so you can make alot of money and have a 1000 gal tank!

 

[byrself]

yeah, i'm not too keen about that no-cd burning thing. cd's are too expensive and usually not worth 20 bucks to me. i do buy cds, but only ones i like enought to spend 20 bucks on. then, if i do buy one, i make a backup cd and use it rather than the $20 cd. that's great you got a program that does that, for your sake, i'm sure you will make some cheese off of that. just a request though, how about keeping some of us informed on the dl about how to get around that, so i don't have to stop listening to music? =) i think if i can't burn cds i may end up eventually not even bothering with computers as much. seems to me that in 10 years computers are going to be just like tv anyway... just a brainwashing tool and a marketing ploy. it used to be fun to get online and surf, now it's getting aggravating to where all these d@#! advertisements are always popping up. man, i hate that stuff.... <img src="graemlins//evilwhorn.gif" border="0" alt="[Evil Horn]" /> it's already bad enough that other people can see at any time what you are looking at on your computer. (sure has cut my ---- surfing down alot though) jk
anyway, on your question, if you are bent on the canopy, then maybe just look to overload it with some pcs. you can fit a good many in there if you plan it out right. just keep your ballasts separate from the canopy to save some room, and to reduce the heat factors a little. i think with enough flourescent wattage you could get by with keeping sps. halides are great, i wished they were a little more practical though for smaller setups. good luck.