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height and orientation
- Thread starter Mihai
- Start date
>... I figured out that the bulb should be parallel to the front of the tank.
I think Harker and others say perpendicular..... don't quote me on that, but you should take a look at some of his articles.
regarding height, I have the bulb around 8 inch from the water. It is just a compromise between how much light I want to get out of it without melting the acrylic tank's top bracket. There is no hard number for this.
I think Harker and others say perpendicular..... don't quote me on that, but you should take a look at some of his articles.
regarding height, I have the bulb around 8 inch from the water. It is just a compromise between how much light I want to get out of it without melting the acrylic tank's top bracket. There is no hard number for this.
I don't have acrylic: I have glass tank with a plastic brace. Do you think that I need to worry about melting that plastic??!!! I thought that you don't put it lower such that it doesn't heat the water too much.
Regarding the orientation, I checked the reflectors article in the advanced aquarist and the light pattern is way longer than wider...
Thanks,
Mihai
Regarding the orientation, I checked the reflectors article in the advanced aquarist and the light pattern is way longer than wider...
Thanks,
Mihai
The plastic crossbraces are part of the tank rim and so pretty easy to slap on. Glass braces (I think they're called eurobraces) are pieces of glass/acrylic that are siliconed as a strip in the middle of the tank.
I know one RC guy removed his plastic brace (sawed it off I think) and was gluing in an acrylic brace on his tank since he was worried about his new MH bulb 1) melting plastic and 2) being shaded by black plastic.
I know one RC guy removed his plastic brace (sawed it off I think) and was gluing in an acrylic brace on his tank since he was worried about his new MH bulb 1) melting plastic and 2) being shaded by black plastic.
I mounted my bulbs 8" above the water and mounted the reflectors/lamps perpendicular to the front.
Lotsa folks mount their lamps closer to the water that my. I have heard folks say that they mounted their bulbs as low as 3" above the water. I'm afraid that the bulbs would get splashed with water and explode. Many people say that I shouldn't worry about it. You do lose light intensity inversely to the amount of height that you raise them, so that is good cause to keep 'em as low as you are confortable with.
Louey
Lotsa folks mount their lamps closer to the water that my. I have heard folks say that they mounted their bulbs as low as 3" above the water. I'm afraid that the bulbs would get splashed with water and explode. Many people say that I shouldn't worry about it. You do lose light intensity inversely to the amount of height that you raise them, so that is good cause to keep 'em as low as you are confortable with.
Louey
Parallel or perpendicular?? It depends on the 1) shape of your tank, 2) the spacing of the bulbs, and 3) the type of reflector you will be using.
FWIW, I found that the parallel positioning of my fairly closely spaced (16") 400watters was throwing a lot of light onto the front glass of my 36" tall tank (the plan dimensions of the tank is 78" x 32"), which was decreasing the clarity of the glass (I have 1" laminated glass, which is sensitive to light refraction). Turning the bulbs perpendicular improved the situation by reducing the amount of light on the front glass and by giving be a more consistant level of lighting across the tank, enough so that the tank is well illuminated by only 2 of the 4 bulbs.
The downside is that turning the bulbs perpendicular means that your canopy will end up being fairly deep (front-to-back). Moreover, if you are going to supplement with actinics, then these bulbs will be pushed fairly close to the front and back of the tank (unless you are using short, perpendicularly oriented PC's).
As to height, good reflectors should reduce the impact of this variable. In other words, placing the bulbs at a heigth sufficient to dissipate heat (8"-10") should be fine if your reflectors are still directing the majority of the light back into the tank. Increeeasing the height of the canopy will help achieve this.
FWIW, I found that the parallel positioning of my fairly closely spaced (16") 400watters was throwing a lot of light onto the front glass of my 36" tall tank (the plan dimensions of the tank is 78" x 32"), which was decreasing the clarity of the glass (I have 1" laminated glass, which is sensitive to light refraction). Turning the bulbs perpendicular improved the situation by reducing the amount of light on the front glass and by giving be a more consistant level of lighting across the tank, enough so that the tank is well illuminated by only 2 of the 4 bulbs.
The downside is that turning the bulbs perpendicular means that your canopy will end up being fairly deep (front-to-back). Moreover, if you are going to supplement with actinics, then these bulbs will be pushed fairly close to the front and back of the tank (unless you are using short, perpendicularly oriented PC's).
As to height, good reflectors should reduce the impact of this variable. In other words, placing the bulbs at a heigth sufficient to dissipate heat (8"-10") should be fine if your reflectors are still directing the majority of the light back into the tank. Increeeasing the height of the canopy will help achieve this.
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