MH in small spaces... 3 inches over water

[rmanecke]

Hi guys. My tank is not nano, but, has some nano like challenges. I have an acrylic hood, 36 inches long by 20 inches wide and 5 inches high over a 60 g acrylic tank with a center brace.

I will post pics if it will help.

Anyhoo... I am thinking about putting two 70 watt MHs in this hood, with the hopes of keeping some clams eventually and maybe some SPS.

http://nanotuners.nanocustoms.com/nanot ... ucts_id=39

I would position them on either side of the center brace... so they are hopefully not going to cook or crack the brace. I have three 3.5 inch icecap fans in the hood, which do a nice job with the four bulbs that are there now.

Here are the questions...

1. there will only be about 3 inches clearance from light bulb over water. Is this doable? Will the light disperse well enough? How does this work out in the 70 w MH nanocube customs?
2. UV glass will be needed between the bulb and water. Where can I get some UV glass for a DIY project like this?
3. What about the acrylic hood. Will it melt? Is there any heat sheilding material I can put in above the bulbs?

You guys were the inspiration to get me this far, even though my tank is a little bigger than the 24 JBJ that I was first planning.

I will post pictures as soon as the diatoms move out... I promise!

TANKS

 

[sadielynn]

1. there will only be about 3 inches clearance from light bulb over water. Is this doable? Will the light disperse well enough? How does this work out in the 70 w MH nanocube customs?

I wouldnt go that low and I am not sure that it would work well in a nanocube

UV glass will be needed between the bulb and water. Where can I get some UV glass for a DIY project like this?

perhaps reefman23 can tell you where he found it also he did a write up on it in the lighting section

3. What about the acrylic hood. Will it melt? Is there any heat sheilding material I can put in above the bulbs?

to my knowledge it will still melt with it being plastic HTH :mrgreen:

 

[rmanecke]

Yes... that is what I thought... but I became inspired by one of the nanocustoms modded lids with a 70 watt MH built into that little plastic hood.

I will look for that write up!

Thanks

 

[sadielynn]

that may warrant a phone call to them to speak to Chris to see what they did to keep it melt safe :mrgreen:

 

[reefman23]

Can you hang the canopy? Check out my link... http://www.nanotank.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2794 ...this would defeat the height problem.

How tall is the tank? If it is over 16" tall or so, i would suggest considering the 150 watters if you want clams/ SPS.

Two MH on a 36" long tank is fine...it should disperse well enough.

As far as UV glass goes, I have been told by a couple people who actually construct MH fixtures that tempered glass is all that is needed...especially if you go with a bulb like the Coralife or Astralux (I have this one) that have a UV stop built into the outer glass shell of the bulb. You can also go with a product like Lexan which can be bought at home depot...it blocks UV and as a high heat resistance (around 400 degrees F i believe). If you go with a plastic material like acrylic, you will wan to make sure that you install a couple fans or else the material can warp and appear wavy from the heat.