70W Metal Halide in a Hood on a 10G questions?

[todd2000]

I am considering buying this 70W metal halide kit for my 10G, and building a hood for it. http://www.illuming.com/ click "Metal Halide Retrofit Kits" on the left, and it's listed there.

I have a few questions though?

First Is this a good kit? I have heard good things about Nais ballasts.

Second and most important, how far from the surface do you think I would have to have this light to keep from heating the water too much? I will probably leave the back of the hood open, maybe cut some vent slits in the top, and possibly put a little fan in it. I don't want to have to make a hood thats 3 feet high, just so I don't overheat the tank .

Also my house stays a fairly constant temperature, so I had a though that if the light heated up the water a few degrees, I could just leave the heater off during the day, and only turn it on at night when the light is off.

What do you guys think?

Thanks

 

[smketyr]

I have a 70w MH on my 10, it is retro fitted into a current pc fixture and I use the legs from that to mount it above the tank, about 4-5 inches. That said, I did get a nicer looking retro fit from aquacave. I do wish that I would have gotten the 150w MH. The 70w is bright but I could have done better with a 96w PC and have some actinic to it. the 150w would not have limited me to aquascaping. HTH

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

i have a 70W DE MH over my 20 aout 3.5 inches up..so far so good...if anything my heater comes on less...

i Too have a NAIS ballast, seems to work fine an is fairly quite, there is a slight buzz to it...but that is true with all of them i think..if you can remote mount the ballast it would be a good idea,or you can built it into a sealed compartment in the canopy...or on the back of the canopy..

once i get my new bulb iwill post a pic for you...mine is a DIY set up though..i was using a USHIO bulb and it was nice...i hope the new ones are as nice..

 

[Dr.FuManchu]

I have a 70w mh on my 10g. In my opinion it is not that powerful, would go with the 150w if I had to do it over. The 70w is in a sunpod and sits about 3 inches above the water. I have no noticeable heat issues but I run an open top.

 

[todd2000]

I think 70W will be more then enough for mostly Zoas and some softies. 150W MH in a 10 just seems like a bit much to me. Plus Im not sure I could keep it cool enough.