how high off the water...

[HermitCrabFan]

so I'm making a canopy and there will be about 4 1/2 inches of space inside and about another inch from water level to top of tank, so lets say lights will be about 5 1/2 inches off the water.

is that a safe distance? they'll be no glass to keep them from getting splashed

it's t5 lighting btw

it's a 55 gallon tank, water is about 15 inches deep.

so your opinions please, leave them at that hight, move them lower, make a taller canopy? I'd rather not put plexi or glass between them and the water, just another thing to keep cleaning salt deposits off of.

 

[an411]

That is fine is there a splash guard on the lights if so they can go even lower then that I had mine about 2-3 inches off the surface of the water

 

[bzotter]

I have to disagree, I believe that is far too close to have your lights without a splashguard. Even though theyre T5s and aren't quite as sensitive to moisture as, say, a MH would be, the life of the bulb and the socket fixtures will be drastically reduced due to salt deposits. Even if it's not splashed directly, you're still going to get buildup over time. This problem is compounded if you have something like a siphon break in your return tubes, or anything else that can aerate the water and generate bubbles that will burst and spray the lights. If you want to keep them uncovered, I would recommend at least 8 inches of clearance. With covers or a plexi shield, you can take them as close as you want within reason.

 

[HermitCrabFan]

would I have to worry about bulbs cracking if they got splashed by water? I don't know if they get hot enough for that.

also, have any ideas for splash guards? I guess I could make a groove that I could slide a 1/8 inch sheet of acrylic in for a barrier, but that's gonna be a mess to clean all the time, and I'm pretty sure some materials can cut down and scatter light that would reach the water without a shield.

 

[x2uranium]

no... i have mine directly on top of the tank with no splash guard.. but it doesnt get splashed much and no micro bubbles...

 

[bzotter]

No, T5 Fluorescents do not get hot enough to become susceptible to cracking if splashed. As long as you're not running any MH lights, which will explode if even one drop of water touches the bulb while running, you'll be fine. It's just a matter of wiping the bulbs off often, which can strip off various chemicals that the manufacturer may have coated the bulbs in to prolong their life or maximize the light spectrum produced. If it's a custom canopy you're building, cutting a grove down the inside of the panels to hold the plexiglass can be tricky, but is doable. If you place the plexiglass or acrylic as close to the bulbs as possible, there shouldn't be too much scattering or filtering. It's just something that most aquarists have to deal with. Try running them with no splash guard for a while and see if theyres any buildup and, if not, you might be in the clear or you might just be able to make them a little higher and be ok.

 

[kevin gu3]

I have a couple of T5s about an inch off the water. They have waterproof end caps. They get splashed all the time.

My SE 400w MH is maybe 5 or 6 inches up; it gets splashed a little. Definitely has to be wiped down now and then, but only when it is off.

No problems with the bulbs so far, although the MH mogul lamp socket has some rust.

 

[GSMguy]

6 inches would be better and 8 inches better than that, its going to transfer a ton of heat its like putting a heat blanket on top of the bed. with t5s there is heat coming from all directions so you will need a good amount of fan power to cool the canopy.