Retro Metal Halide Question

[revhtree]

The tank is 125g 6ft long. I am ordering (3) 250w MH Retrofit Lights. The Canopy Is only about 5-6" deep. 3 Questions.

1. I know that 6" to 12" off the water is a good start. but I do not have enough room in my canopy for this. What do you suggest?

2. How would you mount the lights? I dont want to go straight in to the canopy because it is pretty thin and I would not have enough area to screw it in. Would you build something to set in the Hood?

3. I know I will need fans in the hood, but can I get away with cutting in the back of the hood maybe two fans, or three?

TIA!

 

[Phyl]

1 My canopy is also only 6" deep and by the time you mount the light it is about 1-2" off my glass. Build a new hood. An unfortuante option, but the only one I could come up with.

2 I took a piece of plywood and screwed it to strips of 1x1 so that it looked like a "table" (though very very short ) measured to fit inside of the support beams in my hood (roughly breaking the canopy into thirds). Then I mounted the MH to the ply and then screwed through the 1x into the sides of my canopy. Worked out great. What I'm doing now (until I get my canopy finished... procrastination is killing me) is that I prop it open so that the lights are further above the water. Otherwise they'd be WAY too close.

3 I don't have fans yet...

 

[RLG2182]

Hmmm... I could build you a canopy out of whatever wood you wanted... but it would have to be shipped from CA.

I built mine with 6", but now since I'm looking into MH, I'm realizing that I have to build a new one. Don't want to risk burning anything up!

 

[revhtree]

Good points...

What about building an add on to connect to the exsisting Hood? I could match the wood and stain. Add some trim and BAM! What do you think?

 

[RLG2182]

Very possible, very easy. Just as long as it's the same wood & you could match. What type of canopy is it? I.E. how does it open? From the top like a huge lid is the easiest. You'll have problems if it opens from the front (unless it has cabinet doors).

I would add on the wood & brace it with flat metal brackets & hiding the seam with a simple bead of moulding that matches the rest of the tank. My problem is that I thought I would be nifty and have mine open a different way that doesn't allow for such an add-on. *smacks himself on the head*

 

[revhtree]

Here is a pic of it....kinda..

It has a matching peice that lifts up and will hold itself vertical. The main part has to be lifted off.

 

[revhtree]

Ok got off my lazy boot and took these pics.

I need somethin that will be easy to get into to target feed corals and clams!!

 

[Phyl]

The problem that I would have had is that if I made the canopy say 6" taller I'd need a step ladder to target feed my corals (my tank is 24" deep already plus 5 for the canopy to where it opens). We decided to do a canopy with a hinged front so that I can get into the tank easily without having to be 10' tall. Unfortunately, for us, a total rebuild was necssary.

 

[RLG2182]

Eeeeeeeek... that's a tough one to work around. You could try to match the moulding with the same kind, or have it custom made... but yeah, it would be rough to match that exactly & find matching wood grains. :? I would just rebuild it, but that's just me

 

[maxamillion]

just a side comment... BEAUTIFUL TANK!!!!

 

[ellisz]

Looks awesome. I added a topper to my canopy when I added the halides. My first canopy was 5 1/2" off the water. I added a 1x10 to the top so my lights are now about 9" off the water. The bulbs will hang a bit.

My canopy was not so intricate though. There is a few places on ebay eith decent canopy prices. Might need another road trip

 

[gooyferret]

Well for my 125 gal i made mine outta 2x2's and 1/4" plywood still not completed yet but almost there (just have to put the doors on) Mine has doors in the front so i can easily access the tank for feeding and cleaning. I made mine 12" high and went and bought 2 fans that costed $5 at walmart....the cheap ones that are all plastic throw the base away and take off the front of the protective fan cover and fasten it on and presto you have 2 different settings high and low and plenty of cooling for the halides. HTH