conopy for 29

[shellback]

Queston for comment have a 29 gal that I am making canopy for 12" tall with 1 175w 20k xm and 1 75w 450nm antinic, UV blocker glas undern. ant on 2hrs hali on 8hrs ant on 2hrs will this be to much light. or am i on right track. first salt tank. :?:

[brewercm]

What are you planning on keeping in this tank?

If you are going to go with the 20k XM I don't know why you'd want to bother with the actinic supplement, unless you are referring to just using it as dusk/dawn simulation. You may also want to consider 250 watt instead of 175. Others will chime in I'm sure.

Welcome.

[brewercm]

Joshua,
I've heard that the 20K aren't nearly as bright as say a 10K (that was why I was thinking maybe 250 watt). I know that several of you are running them, how do they compare to one of the lower spectrum bulbs?

[Ed]

I currently have one 250W Iwasaki (6.5k) and one 250W XM(20k) on my 135 show. To my eyes, the Iwasaki is twice as bright as the XM. The Iwasaki does have a yellow cast, but I am seriously considering replacing the XM with another Iwasaki and supplementing with actinics. Just my thoughts.

-Ed

[shellback]

depth 18" looking to make small reef with coral will have fan for air draw heat shouldn't be a problem with glass between light and water. :lol: This will be an all alum. canopy personal design and build.The ant will be on before and after hali only the xm has true 12k color suposedly.thank you for the welcome

[Instar]

FYI - That glass you plan to block the heat will also block about 40% of the light spectrum from your corals.

[manny]

Glass might also cause tank to get hotter? Kind of like a greenhouse? I used to have a glass cover on my tank with my lights on top and the tank seemed to stay a couple degrees hotter when I had it on. It would keep water from splashin but would also filter out light as said and possibly created more heat.
But that was with the glass directly sittting on top of my aquarium. Yours may be different.

[shellback]

The fans that i am installing will draw hot air out, the glass will go under the hood only it will only be there to block UV and contain the heat. large air vent at bottom with up flow air draw should keep temp at min.

[matt]

I'd like to see this canopy in action. Sounds great! I think you might be better off using an ushio, but since they make 175 and 250W bulbs too, and I assume you're using a regular ballast, you can decide that later.

29 gal is a little tricky to light because it's pretty deep for a small tank. That's why I think the ushio would be better; more intensity from the 175 W ushio than a 250 xm. If you have actinic supplements, you'll be happy with the color unless you like it REALLY blue. As far as reflector goes, I'd definitely recommend the PFO parallel reflector; you'll need a pretty rectangular light spread; that's what the parallel one has. And I think there are brackets for your vho on it.

[GeoB]

I think part (most maybe?) of what heats the water is radiational heating, not just the contact of warmed up air and water. Light energy passes through air and glass then heats up what ever it comes in contact with, so I don't think a glass cover will contain the heat. Your best bet for keeping the tank cool without using a chiller is to have a fan blowing in onto the water to increase evaporative cooling. Having a fan blow out from beneath the glass might work too, but I've heard they tend to build up with gunk when blowing out. Also, I'm not sure UV is an issue unless you are using double ended bulbs and the reflectors for these usually have glass covers for the UV. Just my $.02.

[GeoB]

Here is a good RC thread related to this topic:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=240574&highlight=west+s ystem

[shellback]

since putting this up I changed my mind a little upgrade to 250w MX and 1 55w antic 03. The ballest for the 250 is a advance which looks like a large floresent ballest but much cheeper than other halides. waiting to pick up metal so i can start.

[adaminaustin]

Shellback,
Have you seen these?
I hear that you loose about 5% of the light.

[shellback]

In seeing it leaves the question of were is the ballest and what is the color of this bulb, by its size this would be something close to a 45000k bulb which has a lot of yellow this is the type you would find in any home depot.

[adaminaustin]

I think the ballest is on the other side of the wall. He does this to keep the room as cool as possible. I know the bulb is not suitable for our purposes, but you can change this. This guy has 6" tubing. 4" tubing should work fine with a MX. The main idea is to suck air in through one side and blow the hot air out the other side. You could vent into the attic w/ a 4' drier vent.

If someone put one of these inside of a hood thay could still have plenty of fans on the waters surface. The other cool thing is it vents into the attic so your room stays cool.