Wood canopy MH lights
- Thread starter bailey52
- Start date
dogstar
Active Member
You should not put MH in any hood without at least 1 fan and air vent. My hood is wood and i used 1/2 in. spacers between the reflector and wood so the fans pull air over them. The top on the outside gets warm but not too hot. The bulbs should be about 12 in. above water and I hope your hood is high enough.
acrylic51
Active Member
I can get you a pic on my old setup, but what he's saying is that the reflector has the sockets and bulbs mounted to the reflector and you would just attach your reflectors to the inside of your hood... When you do this you would want to use a stainless screw since they will hold up better than traditional wood screws... you would then run your wiring out to your ballasts....
I have seen people attach their ballasts to the back of their canopies, but personally have never done that... You have enough heat in that area so why add to it... I run my ballast from a remote location... With the retro kits they usually give you enough cord to have the ballasts beside the tank
I have seen people attach their ballasts to the back of their canopies, but personally have never done that... You have enough heat in that area so why add to it... I run my ballast from a remote location... With the retro kits they usually give you enough cord to have the ballasts beside the tank
masala4080
Member
heres somethng similiar... Not mine, but I am making one that looks pretty much like it. Kinda hard to see, but you get the jist.
masala4080
Member
another. This shows the reflectors mounted on the canopy. Hope this is what you are wanting.
bailey52
Member
Yes exactly, wow, that helps a lot, i knew how the retro fits were put together, i just didnt know how to attach them to my canopy. That canopy in the fist pic is huge, at least 2 times the size of mine. I was trying to figure out if i could put a retro fit in my canopy... but maybe it is not big enought
masala4080
Member
Any one? I am kind of wondering this too. I am at that point for my cannopy, so please post ASAP! Thanks!
masala4080
Member
bump, anyone?
reefraff
Active Member
Originally posted by Vlondi
Would it not be better to put the bulbs parallel to the width of the tank rather than the length of it? I would think this would give more light coverage, but I'm no expert.
Saw an article on this a while back by Dana Riddle or Sanjay Joshi, don't remember which. For some reason the halide lamp casts a lower light area in front of the lamp. By pointing them out that lower light area is cast on the floor in front of your tank instead of in the tank.
reefraff
Active Member
The guy did one of those 3D computer graphics of the light distribution using a sealed box taking measurments in a grid. An area below the front of the lamp had lower light due to the shape of the lamp so he figure it made more sense to point that into the living room instead of the tank. Is it a big enough difference to make it worth tearing down an existing system? Dunno. Might be worth setting it up like that if you are building one.
I think the article is on advancedaquariust dot com. I think it was a little older article from Dana Riddle. At any rate there are a lot of really good articles there.
I think the article is on advancedaquariust dot com. I think it was a little older article from Dana Riddle. At any rate there are a lot of really good articles there.
golfish
Active Member
This might have been covered on this thread, I didn't read it all. I just wanted to add to the last picture posted. That's the way I've always mounted my reflectors. I always leave a gap between the reflector and bottom of the canopyhood. This way you'll be able to have some air flow between the reflector and wood canopy. I just used a couple 1/2"x1" wide strips of wood to raise it off the canopy.
If you canopy is 6.5" high its wont be enough. Once you mount the reflectors your bulbs will be about 2-3" away from the water. My last canopy was 12" high. I had three 400 watt MHreflectors mounted just like the picture above (48" long tank) The bottom of the bulbs were about 8" from the water surface.
If you canopy is 6.5" high its wont be enough. Once you mount the reflectors your bulbs will be about 2-3" away from the water. My last canopy was 12" high. I had three 400 watt MHreflectors mounted just like the picture above (48" long tank) The bottom of the bulbs were about 8" from the water surface.
masala4080
Member
Thats not mine. but looks darn close. Im almost finished with mine and will have a DIY on either sat. or sunday. Ill post a whole bunch of pics then. Its 800 watts of MH and 9 led moonlights, and 4 IceCap temp controlled fans. Definitly check it out though, when I post it.