stilts for powercompacts?

[lillylegs]

I just bought a 46 gal bow tank and when I put my powercompacts (Smartlites) on it, it cracked the top glass straight through the middle. the problem may be the lights are 24" and the length of the tank is 36". it may be too hot just in that one spot. i'm thinking maybe I need some type of stilts to get more air circulation under there. what do you guys suggest to use?

 

[melbournefl]

although I'm not sure PC's should run hot enough to crack glass, it's certainly possible. If it were me, I'd go to my local ACE hardware and pick up 6 or 8 nylon spacers about 1.5-2 inches long. These things look like very thick soda straws and you can put a bolt thru them to hold the fixture away from the glass.
Hope this helps,
Paul

 

[mpgt]

I have the same light. I think your glass was too thin.

 

[new]

the problem probably is not the heat, i have 216w of ps's sitting on my glass top for several months now. problem maybe they were to short and the weight was on the glass instead of the rim of the tank.

 

[lillylegs]

Well, the light sits in the middle of the tank with 6 inches of free space on each side. There is a plastic bar that rs across the width of the tank for support (I imagine). The front part of the glass lifts up and the back is open for my hang-on equipment and wires, etc. The glass is from the All-Glass company. It is thinner than my other glass tops I've had in the past, but its still so weird that it happened. It just doesn't get THAT hot. Hot enough to break glass clean through. Perhaps its the brand of glass? My theory is that because the heat was centralized and all sides from it (from 4-6in) are cool, when the light turned off, the plastic bar still stayed hot the rest cooled and CRACK! Like a hot glass bowl hit with cold water in the sink. This is only my theory b/c the crack is directly above the plastic bar.
Well, I ordered a new top the same as before and a new 36" smartlite while i was at it and I hope that these new lights sit a little taller than the other. Also, if the length was a factor, this should help. I only need like a half inch to get circulation under there, so I'm thinking the easiest thing to find is PVC piping and just set them underneath at the edges. This won't melt will it?