Halides 4" from waterline?

[captexas]

Josh, I would be very nervous about putting halides that close to the water. Even if your fish don't splash any water, how are you going to get your hand in there to feed or move things around without hitting the bulbs? You will either get burned by the bulbs often or you will touch one with your wet hand and it could explode. Would kind of stink to have to remove the canopy every time you want to do something.

Just my thoughts though :-)

[Isis]

My thoughts exactly.... let alone, there aren't any guarantees that you can tell your fish not to splash and they will listen.

[matt]

Sounds like caldo de pescado to me.

[brewercm]

Josh,
I have the exact same style canopy with 2 250s in it with 2 110 vho. To avoid the splash I put a small stip of glass on top of the tank but not a complete cover. It does filter out some of the light but still better than other light I was using.

[brewercm]

By the way, I use a 6 inch clip on fan from wal-mart on the back and it keeps the temp down to below 80 if I let it. I'm still playing with whether I need it or not so be honest. Well, that and my wife is 7.5 month pregnant and the icicles hanging from the cealing probably help also. :shock:

[Tim Marvin]

Josh mine sits 6 inchs from the water with no problem. I occasionally wash the water spots off.

[R.Allard]

Josh all three of mine are 6in above the water and yes i have to
wash them off about every two weeks when i do my water changes but
i havent had any problems with heat.
and today i put a 935gph powerhead in my tank and with the mag24 goin
wide open yeoooooowwww thats some movement.
cant wait till i get the turbelle stream :-D
Robert

[reefer74]

6 inches off the water over here as well....the only thing that I don't know is whether your talking about a mogul socket 250, or a 250 watt hqi. Hqi's as you know have that protective glass.....and if you have a mogul, I'm not too sure anyone here would recommend you doing it four inches off the water. Have you ever seen one of those things blow...cool looking if it's not yours...lol.


Johnny G.

[brewercm]

So far I've been afraid to not use the glass under my lights. What does everyone think of Josh's idea, I'm kind of curious myself now.

[Tim Marvin]

I would put an acrylic splash shield down. You'll probably have to use 1/2 to 3/4 inch to withstand the heat. I would also put a fan blowing between the lights and acrylic.

[z28pwr]

I'll build a new canopy before blocking the lights. Those 250 watt 20kK XM's are dim enough already. The only thing is that my woodworking skills/tools totally suck so it'll be ugly. I know how to stain it though :roll:

Josh, I ran my lights about 6" from the bulb to the water with no problems, but 4" seems like you're pushing it.

Before you through that canopy away have you thought of adding to it either on top just making another miniature canopy that sits on top or adding at the bottom so you won't have to start from scratch. I've seen some tanks on RC that are setup like that.

[TexasState]

Just screw the lid to your canopy shut. Get some shelf rack to mount and raise your canopy up and away from the top of the tank.