pontius
Active Member
my tank has a canopy. I have 2x400 watt MH that are at the top of the canopy and about 12" off the water. then, I have 2 48" pc fixtures that I have just off the water, like normal fixtures that sit on top a tank. this is an aggravation for numerous reasons.
now, I'm thinking instead of buying some other retrofit like a vho or t5 to put up with the MH (so I don't have the cumbersome fixtures sitting on top the tank), I may take the bulbs/reflectors/ballasts/etc out of the 2 pc fixtures and do like a retrofit job and place them at the top of the canopy with the Metal Halides. my big concern is, is being 12" off the water going to render the pc lighting pointless? the total pc lighting I have is 6x65 watts. it seems like a stretch to expect the 65 watt bulbs to penetrate the 12" of space plus down into the tank (2 foot deep). but I guess the majority of the light is coming from the MH anyway.
so what do you think? also, anybody ever done the kind of "reverse-retrofit" thing I'm talking about where you basically remove all the guts out of a lighting fixture and fit it up in a canopy?
now, I'm thinking instead of buying some other retrofit like a vho or t5 to put up with the MH (so I don't have the cumbersome fixtures sitting on top the tank), I may take the bulbs/reflectors/ballasts/etc out of the 2 pc fixtures and do like a retrofit job and place them at the top of the canopy with the Metal Halides. my big concern is, is being 12" off the water going to render the pc lighting pointless? the total pc lighting I have is 6x65 watts. it seems like a stretch to expect the 65 watt bulbs to penetrate the 12" of space plus down into the tank (2 foot deep). but I guess the majority of the light is coming from the MH anyway.
so what do you think? also, anybody ever done the kind of "reverse-retrofit" thing I'm talking about where you basically remove all the guts out of a lighting fixture and fit it up in a canopy?
