questions about MH

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brad3314

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
163
Location
Tasmania, Australia
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I got my 150W MH today as you can see from the pic above.
I was unsure what height to mount it at currently i've got it at about 1.2ft from the top of the tank and it's not as bright as i thought it would be.

would lowering it fix this ? and what would be a safe height to lower to ?

also i was dissapointed at the colour of the light it almost makes my water look a greeny yellow colour but looking at the light itself it is white, would getting a higher kelvin rating globe change the colour much the current globe is 10,000k
 
6" should be high enough without heat issues. I assume your tank is 36" long and you placed up higher to light the full tank, with it 1 1/2 ft high it's about 37+ in to the bottom of your tank which is too far to serve it's purpose of lighting your corals. You will probably need another one.

Noticed your tank is fully covered which can lead to carbon dioxide build up and decrease your oxygen and ph. Yes a higher kelvin rating will give you bluer color.
 
tank is custom made and is 29.5in long and yeah there is a reason for the cover i have a goby which constantly tries to escape.
what kelvin rating would you reccomend that would be best
and also if i could cover it with something that still allowes it to breath can i still have a canopy over that ?
 
You can cover the tank with egg crate which you can get at lowes or home depot. I think a 14k would do just fine for what you have in the tank. It looks like you have a pretty good mix of lighting on the tank and 14k would work well. HTH
 
this probably sounds silly but has any one got a pic of this egg crate stuff i'm not sure what it is exactly

i've put the light down a little lower which brightens it up a bit

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would 14k put out alot more blu spectrum than a 10k would ? because i'm not real keen on having my tank water looking yellow like it is
 
great thanks for the links
if i was to just take off the back glass lids and leave the front ones would that be good enough as i need something for the other light to sit on
 
Half a tank covered is no problem IME. I have half covered myself without any issues.
 
I agree Brad. I am acclimating my tank for a HQI setup and went with the light diffusers used in commercial buildings. You can ge them at most any hardware store and the work great. For the first few days you may want to double up and kind of stagger them, then after a few days take one off then the other. I would also move your light a lot closer to the tank!!! Good luck!
 
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