New 90 Gallon Setup Questions

[fishforme]

I am just setting up a new 90 Gallon All-Glass Black Modern Aquarium with Overflow and have a few questions:
1) Just received the canopy yesterday. What's up with the large horizontal uncovered area on behind the lid. I have two 250W Metal Halide lights that shine right on through and onto the wall. Wife doesn't like that. I can obviously cover it up but why isn't that area covered to begin with?
2) With the two light bulbs mounted in the canopy, they are only 2.5" off the glass hood. I turned the bulbs on for about 15 minutes and that hood got really hot. Should I be concerned? I'm mounting two fans tonight in the canopy, hopefully that will dissipate the heat.
3) The only way to mount the lights with enough room to at least open the tank would be to mount them to the wooden lid. That means that you would be potentially moving the lights when they are on. I thought that would be a no-no. Does anyone think that is a problem?

 

[diatom]

Fish~
It's open so you an get air circulation to keep your lights and tank from getting too hot.
You should have your MH lights at least 8" away from your tank IMO and probably closer to 12". I'm assuming that the glass hot sits right on top of your tank here. Correct me of I'm wrong.
You can move your lights when they are on, but it can be dangerous as they get quite hot as you already know.
I'm guessing that you have an all glass built hood for your tank...if that is the case, they aren't really designed for MH lights. YOu would be better served by returning the hood and taking the money and building yourself a more functional hood for your tank.
HTH
D

 

[fishforme]

Are you serious? 8" to 12"? Oh no... I even already mounted the lights with a couple small screws. What if I placed two 4" fans at the end of the bulbs reflectors thus blowing the AIR directly out of from the reflector?

 

[robinfly]

PC lighting can be mounted much closer to the water (err, glass that covers the water that is - can't do open water setups), and runs reasonably cool with accompanying fans.
The only reason I went with PC over MH is the heat issue - That, and a huge 12-18 inch custom hood would kinda dwarf my poor little tank

 

[fishforme]

Just for fun, is anybody running MH lights only 2-1/2 to 3" off the glass top?

 

[diatom]

Fish~
would I lie to you? Even with the fans it's going to get to be too hot IMO (like a greenhouse). Besides which your glass is going to get caked with baked on saltcreep.
The fans work best to aid in evaporation to keep the water cool...with the glass on and the lights that close I think you're asking for trouble.

 

[fishforme]

No, I don't think you'd lie to me, but I wanted other peoples opinions as well.

 

[jond]

You need one of two things:
1) different lights (i.e. VHO, PC)
2) a much taller hood
I don't think there is anyway around it.
Good luck

 

[fishforme]

Shucks... I'm not happy. Oh well.. thanks for everyone's input...

 

[diatom]

Fish~
if you do decide to get rid of those MH let me know, I might might be interested in them.

 

[fishforme]

Actually, I'm going to remove the glass top (which will add about 2 inches) and give it a shot. If it doesn't work, I've decided to retrofit the canopy...

 

[diatom]

Fish~
I'm afraid that with the lights that close to the water without the glass the water my splash on them and cause the bulbs to break. Try leaving them in place but off for a while and see how much water you get on the bulbs.
Good luck,
D~

 

[fishforme]

That's what I'll do. I actually don't even have the water in the tank yet. Almost done setting it up though. However, I thought that removing the glass top would add another two inches thus giving a total of about 5" between the bottom of the bulb and the top of the water. I honestly wasn't that worried about the water splashing, I was more worried about the heat -- but I see your point.

 

[diatom]

Fish~
Although 5 inches is fairly tight I think you'll be ok. Most likly all you'll get is a little salt spry on your bulbs, not a huge deal.
Personally as far as heat goes, I'd leave the back of the hood open and with your fans I think you should be in good shape.
Best of luck
D~

 

[fishforme]

Speaking of fans for a minute, I bought small 4" fans from an industrial catalog and mounted them. They do a great job but are a little loud. How loud? Loud enough for my wife to complain a bit. My question is, the regular fans that they may sell at the fish store, are the silent or kinda loud as well. The fan I have has ball bearings and all....