UV Acrylic under MH lighting

[BrainBandAid]

I was thinking of putting a piece of UV acrylic (3/16 thick) in between my two 175watt mh lamps and the water, mostly to protect the lamps from water splash...

1. Is this even needed?
2. How close to the lamps can I put the acrylic before it starts to deform/melt?

I know anything that reduces your light transmission is bad, just curious...

Oh, the lamps are about 8" above the water.

 

[wjhuie]

acrylic will warp under that heat.

 

[kgross]

With 8 inchs unless you are splashing a lot of water I would not worry about any type of a cover for them. On the warping if the acrylic is close to the water the 175s should not warp it at 7 1/2 inches away, now 400's might.

Kim