New Hood/Canopy build

[Grant W]

Hey guys and gals its time for me to build a new hood for my tank.It's a mixed reef heading toward sps dominant.I would appreciate you more experienced reefers input on the setup .I'm going to be using MH with T-5's unless you all have a better idea,questions re: reflectors,ballasts,cooling the canopy,type of T-5's etc. any suggestion would be appreciated as I have never set up a hood diy before. thx

 

[kokaneejr]

Grant,

Have fun and I am tagging along to see ideas. You probably have more skill than a lot of us being a contractor so it should be neat to see how it goes.

 

[shaneh]

I'm glad you started this thread casue i am doing the same thing. I am using lumenarc 3 reflector in the middle with t5 on the sides and VHO in the back. I'll be ordering my cooling fans from coolerguys.com. Check them out.
What i need to know is how do i make the MH adjustable for when you change the bulb?
I'll be looking in the DIY threads for ideas. I'll let you know if i find some good ideas.

Grant- If you have time Tom (northbayreefer) has a nice canopy and a few others in the club it may be best to go in person to check out the canopy. I'm still collecting items...this stuff ain't cheap. keep us posted.

 

[Grant W]

appreciate the response shaneh yah its no prob on the canopy its the components that I want the opinions on . It sounds like we are on the same track .I was thinking of using the lumenarc reflectors too and T-5's

 

[Grant W]

shaneh just 1 MH why only 1?about the bulb change isnt you hood going to flip up for servicing?I was thinking of mounting my lighting to a panel and having all of the reflectors flush on that surface with a void above that for wiring chases and cooling fans,this way avoiding so much salt creep issues and then a clear panel over the bottom that slides out like a store bought hood would have do I have the wrong idea in mind?

 

[crispyreef]

What size tank do you have? That will help with lighting requirements. Personally I like MH with VHO's.

 

[Grant W]

tank size48x24x24 plus 35 gal sump

 

[TikiDan]

this is how I did my 120 canopy

I used 2 lumenarc minis running SE250watt

 

[Grant W]

thx for the pic Tikidan,did you run actinic also or MH only?

 

[crispyreef]

Grant, with your tank I would do 3 -250 watt MH with a vho running the length.

 

[TikiDan]

I only ran MH but I had planned to run t5's eventually. I'm not sure you would need 3 250 watt bulbs for a 120 but I guess you can never have too much light

 

[TikiDan]

you can see the light coverage pretty good in this shot

 

[shaneh]

Hey Grant,

I plan to only use 1 MH cause i don't want a PGE bill that comes with the MH 250. I could use 150's but i did some reading that 2 24" t5 will look better and use less watts than a 150 MH. So that's why i am doing 250 in the middle and T5 on the side and a VHO in back. also my tnak is a bowfront so only 17 on the sides but 24.5 in the middle of the tank. So i can use the MH in the middle but don't need as much coverage on the sides. I'll just keep SPS in the middle and LPS and others ont he sides...fine with me and less $ to PGE.

I am having a hard time to think of a way to have the MH adjsutable height. But i can not see Dan pic, work blocks all pics on my comp. So back to work.

Dan: i have your bucket for you at the next meeting.

 

[TikiDan]

I think that a single Mh in the center will look funky.

 

[shaneh]

some ppl think i may get a spot light affect....I hope i don't but...i guess I'll find out. Grimreefer think it will look fine....he is the T-5 light guru guy on RC.

 

[Grant W]

thanks for the responses, I think I want to do 2 mhs with the lumenarc minis as reflectors and 2 22 inch T-5's front and back.Was wondering if I could use 150's and the better reflectors and ballasts would make up for not going to 250's. also what does it mean when people refer to some MH's as150's/175's are these overpowered with st ronger ballasts? btwthe reflectors I'm refering to are 14x14xI think like 6.5" tall and installing them with the bulb oriented the way Dan did will cut down the spotlight issue. also Im thinking of building the canopy about 14" tall which will set the bulbs at about 11"above the water line and about 14" above most of my corals at least for now.

 

[Grant W]

Crispyreef thx for the input but I think 3-250's would be too strong since I do have a mixed reef and still cannot see getting rid of all of my lps's

 

[Grant W]

1 more post. suggestions for flora and fauna in my sump fuge area is about 18x18 and the afro(cheato) growing in there is kinda boring, was thinking of some featherdusters to keep my sandsifting starfish company any other suggestions

 

[northbay-reefer]

Have you ever seen the color of the 175 watt Iwasaki 14k bulb ? It has the same par as the 250 watt halide out there, white with a bit of blue tint and will go very well with the T5 blue plus bulbs. If you worry about energy bills then go that route.

Another route is go 150 watt Iawasaki 50k bulbs, with 4 T5 bulbs .. 2 in front 2 in back. This will give you very nice par also.

So if you are thinking about 150/175 halide then you have options, several ballast manufactures makes the combo ballasts that you can choose from ... The only thing you will need is different mogul base ... medium for 150 and larger base for the 175 watter.

 

[Grant W]

thx for the info Northbay reefer thats what I needed all of the info you just gave was new to me. havn't seen 175watt and have only had hqi MH and lol didnt even know there were 50k bulbs guess I'm still on the learning curve(think thats what I have always liked about having a reef tank always more to learn)ps any thoughts about the sump