Are your Lights burning your eyeballs ??

[jimmyPx]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17857910/

This article makes one think. If Metal Halide bulbs in a gym ceiling will do this, what about the bulbs in our tanks ???

 

[BurntOutReefer]

dude...you are NOT looking at your bulbs are you while they are on...?
Thats crazy talk......

 

[dippin61]

1.. that bulb hes holding is like a 1000w bulb..

do YOU have a 1000w bulb on your tank?

2.. in a ceiling in a school where things are going on, make it quite easy to look up and directly into the bulb..

i assume you dont do things fully submerged in your tank looking up do you?

3.. they are mainly talking about broken bulbs

 

[Medaka]

Thats why you should check your bulbs .
And everything else.

Theres been a few posts about how some people using DE halidle forgot to put there shields back on, and killed there tank like that.

 

[~northwind~]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9601934#post9601934 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Medaka
Thats why you should check your bulbs .
And everything else.

Theres been a few posts about how some people using DE halidle forgot to put there shields back on, and killed there tank like that.

To expand on that....

The arc tubes in metal halide bulbs produce nasty (damaging) UV light, kinda like an arc welder. A regular single end bulb has an outer envelope with a UV filtering coating. Most doube end (HQI) lamps do not have the UV filter, so it must be part of the fixture, generally a coating on the glass lens. Thus you must have this shield in place when running the lamp, and DO NOT replace the lens with plain glass if it breaks.

Also. the arc tube can rupture at end of life (not often) and you need the secondary containment to catch the molten glass should this happen. It is very important to use bulbs as they were designed whe making a DIY fixture. Some lamps are designed for horizontal or vertical burn only, some are universal.