Lights inside my canopy?

[Mathfreak71]

Do I have to buy a retrofit light kit if I want my lights to be housed in a canopy?

I just purchased a 75 gallon tank with canopy and stand. My wife likes the look of the canopy, so she wants to use it. I am looking for a T5 light fixture.

I like a couple of the light sets with built in moon lights but I don't know if I can use them in my canopy.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[james3370]

depends on how the canopy sits on the tank. since most fixtures have legs that sit on the edge of the tank, the canopy can't sit there too.....

now some (if not most) fixtures can remove the legs & be mounted inside the canopy to the top

 

[macreefster]

no reason you couldnt install a t-5 fixture into your canopy. most of the ones ive seen are quite compact in size...usually less than 3 inches thick and probably don't take up any more space than a retrofit kit. you would just need to figure out how to mount the fixture to the canopy.... or possibly have the fixture sit on the tank with the canopy over it.

i have halides and t-5's in my canopy now, but am looking into changing over to all t-5's. i am thinking of the ATI powermodule and i'll just mount it into my canopy.

 

[celano]

Unless the manufacturer of the light you're looking at says it's ok to use under a canopy I wouldn't do it. It would be best if you just used a retro and found some cheap moon lights off of ebay.

 

[das75]

mounted a couple of PFO 250W MH pendants then 54W GLO T5's with individual reflectors in mine

As reflectors can get hot, might want to stand them off your canopy if all wood.

 

[Mathfreak71]

James,

You are from Nashville. Do you own a tank from Glasscages?

I ordered a tank from them and I am driving down to pick it up tomorrow. Anyone familiar with their stands and canopies would have the best idea which light fixture can fit.

 

[ernordstrom]

I would suggest a retrofit kit. You can get the KIT FROM REEFGEEK.COM for a great price. I hve 4 t-5HO overdriven on an IC660 ballast. With your 75g you can probably add two more bulbs and keep anything in that tank...Here is how mine is setup. Also don't forget to have fans inside your canopy. I have one on each end of the bulbs blowing from the back to front and they keep pretty cool...

Icecap now makes a prewired retro kit which take all the work out of intalling it.

http://www.reefgeek.com/reefgeek/7824/pre-wired_t5_retrofit_w_bal.jpg

 

[james3370]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14510968#post14510968 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mathfreak71
James,

You are from Nashville. Do you own a tank from Glasscages?

I ordered a tank from them and I am driving down to pick it up tomorrow. Anyone familiar with their stands and canopies would have the best idea which light fixture can fit.

my 29 new build came from them...decent tank especially for how little i paid for it. it was gonna be the sump tank for a bigger dispaly tank, but it ended up being more tank volume than my apt complex allows, so i had to step down in sizes

never seen any of Gc's stands or canopies to say about what would fit, but i have built my canopy & it is getting (2) icecap 2-bulb 24" retros that came from reefgeek. they are the best in my opinion

glasscages can be a bit hard to find the 1st time. it is essenually a farm in the middle of nowhere LOL. just print off & follow the directions on their website & don't try to goole map it cause google maps will send you in the middle of nowhere, but the wrong middle of nowhere HAHAHAHA. i use to live in the town they are in, so i knew my way around ahead of time.