MORE MH light questions

[Anonymous]

I know these get tiring, but...

I am planning a new tank - 65gal AGA. It's 36" long, with a center brace.

I think the center brace prevents me with going with one central bulb, say 400watt. I think I want to go with 2 250watt lamps, and I am leaning toward a 20k radium so I don't have to supplement actinics.

The thing I'm worried about is, will two lamps fit in a 36" canopy? If not, I think I may consider two pendants, but I'm not crazy about all that light spilling out.

Show me your 20k radium tank pics! I would also like to see 10k to see the difference.

 

[chns0289]

You can surely fit two halides, but you'll probably need some method of keeping things cool

 

[chart]

i have a 45H gal with a single 250w 6500K and 2 36" VHO URI actinics...the coloring is ok, it's a little yellow but maybe i need to get used to it...i just upgraded from all VHO to the MH & VHO combination. there is a slight shadow in the center of the tank, but it's not really that noticeable.

The heat is a little bit of a problem as my tank gets up to 82-83 after the MH has been on for a while...the bulbs are about 7-8" off the water. i will probably add a fan or two to the hood to try and cool things down a bit. i probably wouldn't go with 2 MH...if you do, go with a lower wattage setup to help keep the heat down...


-chris

 

[31-2c]

On that size tank, I would go with 2 175w MH. If you think you are going to upgrade to a bigger tank in the future, then go with the 250's.

As for how to mount it, Check this thread.

http://www.reefs.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=032887

I built something similar to this for my system. (1st set of pictures) It allows you to have an open top tank without all of the light spilling out around the tank. I built mine with only 3 sides, leaving the back open. This helps with the heat problems. I built mine so my lights sit about 7" off of the top of the tank which puts my MH about 9" off the water surface. The only light that comes out is reflections of the water surface onto the wall behind/above the tank, which I like.

David

[ February 23, 2002: Message edited by: 31-2c ]

[ February 23, 2002: Message edited by: 31-2c ]</p>