Halides in a canopy

[firebirdcrzy]

Hello all, I just orderd a 2x250 watt icecap halide retro for my 90 gal from reefgeek. The retro comes with SLS Reef Optix 2 reflectors (13"Lx9.5"Wx4.5"T). My canopy is 6.5" tall off the top of the tank. Should this be sufficent space off the top for these lights or should I start looking for a taller canopy? What is a good height for the lights?

 

[seanmc980]

I'm pretty sure you want to keep MH's 8-12"'s off the water. If you have a center brace it's really important not to put the halides too close. Most people start off putting the halides even higher if possible to acclimate the corals to the new lightsand lowering through time.. MH's are much stronger than PC and T5's... someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[dahc1979]

By putting them in a canopy and that close to the water you are really going to have to watch the temp in you tank too.

 

[Jefe12234]

Salt spray can also be a problem if they are that close to the water. I keep mine about 8" or so off the water.

 

[Jay180reef]

Ya, ask Tracy Morgan about lights too close to the water!!

Mine are 14" off the water so the top of the hood is almost 2ft above the water level.

 

[firebirdcrzy]

Thank you all, can anyone give me a few pics of there canopy with halides. I am not trying to have a skycraper atop my tank but I do know I need to raise things up a bit.

 

[qfrisco]

I had a similar issue when I installed my MH pendants, although I have the AquaMedic pendants. Instead of mounting the lights inside the canopy, I mounted them on top of my canopy lid, and cut holes out of my canopy lid. Doing it this way bought me 3-4" more clearance, and more importantly, heat is less of an issue as the vast majority of the heat radiated is from the sides and top of the fixture.

With this setup, my lights are 7" from the water (measured from the UV shield).

Here are pics:

 

[firebirdcrzy]

Qfrisco, I am SO!! kicking myself in the butt for not thinking of doing the pendants like that.

 

[grigsy]

nice one qfrisco. good idea.

firebird, if your tank top is open, you should consider some type of lens or a taller canopy.....at your currrent height, you may have an issue with water splash which will break you halide bulbs and put a bunch of glass in your tank. Then, you will have to get a lens and new bulbs to boot.

 

[qfrisco]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14444192#post14444192 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by firebirdcrzy
Qfrisco, I am SO!! kicking myself in the butt for not thinking of doing the pendants like that.

Did you decide on something? How'd you do it?

 

[firebirdcrzy]

I purchased the retro reflectors, not the pendants. I wasn't even thinking about pendants at the time. I see I can get the pendants for about $80 more. I think I will shoot Greg at reefgeek an email to see if I can make a switch to my order. My only other question is should I go with SE or DE pendants?

 

[qfrisco]

If you got them from reefgeek, i bet Greg will work with you on switching it out. I've bought several orders from there, and everything was always handled very well. Just send him an e-mail. In my most recent order, I bought an AquaController 3 with pH probe, etc. I got the shipment and noticed the pH probe was left out. I contacted Greg and he sent me not just the pH probe I ordered, but upgraded me to a lab-grade pH probe. I've also had some T5 bulbs go out prematurely, and he's given me a prorated credit for them.

I've only used DE, so don't really have much experience with SE bulbs, but I think it mostly comes down to what color bulb you want to use. Some bulbs are only available in DE or SE. I also think that DE fixtures/pendants are more compact than SE, because the bulbs are smaller, but I've read that DE bulbs don't disperse the light as well as SE.

Having said all that, like I said, I've only used DE and have been very happy with them.

 

[qfrisco]

Must be too early - double post.

 

[Rouselb]

In general you want any MH to be a minimum of 8" from the water (Bulb to water). I personally ran Reef Optix pendants for years and i had them mounted 14" from the water. A few things, if you run a higher PAR bulb something in the 10k to 14k range you should still get 200 PAR at 24-26" deep. Mounting higher gives more of an even light spread, keeps the reflectors clean from salt spray, keeps heat to a minimum, and lets you work inside the canopy without moving lights. I would tell you to build your own, and make it 18". I built mine at this height and it works great for all lighting types. I recently switched over to a SE setup using CV LB, and they are really great. If you want to keep your short canopy i would consider going with a T5 lighting setup, this way you can mount the bulbs much lower, in the 3-5" range from the water surface. You can achieve the same PAR values with a T5 setup.

 

[Rouselb]

CV = CoralVue
LB = Lumen Bright Reflectors

Here are a few pictures of how i constructed the canopy. I used hard board and white board for the construction to keep it as light as possible.

 

[67belvedere]

nice looking canopy

 

[OneReef]

I had the same problem as you. I had a short canopy and wanted it taller. I added about 5" of wood to the bottom edge to make it taller, and then painted over the whole thing. I used wood glue and clamps to secure the two pieces together, then used brackets screwed to each half to provide good support.

Finished product:

 

[dzhuo]

slightly OT... when you guys say X inch away from the top of the tank. Do you mean the distance from the water surface to the bulb or the distance from the water surface to the lowest point of the reflector?

 

[Rouselb]

when you guys say X inch away from the top of the tank. Do you mean the distance from the water surface to the bulb or the distance from the water surface to the lowest point of the reflector?

Its in there...bulb to water

In general you want any MH to be a minimum of 8" from the water (Bulb to water). I personally ran Reef Optix pendants for years and i had them mounted 14" from the water

 

[firebirdcrzy]

Well, one quick call to Greg today and I had no problems making the change to my order. I am now reciving the 2x250watt hqi 14k pheonix pendants. I figure even if I have to build a new canopy I wouldnt have to build it but around 10" tall and mount the pendants atop like qfrisco did.This would give me easly 10" or more lift for the lights. I am just not a big fan of overly tall canopys. I thank you all for your feedback.