Lighting height question: Saltwater Reef Aquarium

[Djtonton]

Not sure if this is the right area but I added metal halids to my system and have mouned the lights how do u know how high or low to set them from the tank?? I attavhed a pic of my lights

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[DSP]

What size tank,what size lights and what kind of reflectors? i like keeping my metal halides around 10-13 inches from the surface of the water,At that height i dont have to worry about the lights heating the water.So i dont need to use any fans or anything.But it also depends on what coral u plan to keep,how much light u have over the tank and whether u have good reflectors imo

 

[DSP]

But to answer your question,If you have plenty of light over the tank,I just raise the halides high enough to where they wont heat up the water.Thats just what i do cause i dont like having to add fans lol

 

[Djtonton]

Ok so i have (2) 250 lights with 4 t5 bulbs. Right now i keep mostly zoas, chalices, acans, and would like sps if not thats okay.

the tank is 120 gals with a 40 gal sump.

Not sure what type of reflectors they are someone gave me these lighs.

 

[Djtonton]

But to answer your question,If you have plenty of light over the tank,I just raise the halides high enough to where they wont heat up the water.Thats just what i do cause i dont like having to add fans lol

haha nice i was having problems mounting the lights so the right side is actually screwed into the wood so its going to be tough to get them lower but i can make it happen if i need to

 

[Djtonton]

I thnk all i need to do is move the metal halides lights in a few but it seems to be okay. I mean it looks like more light than the original 4 t5s i had over the tank. and they were right ontop of the water.

 

[DSP]

ok cool,And what kind of bulbs do u have? Anywhere from 7-12 inches should be fine to hang the light.See what gives ya the best spread over the tank and doesnt heat the water.I wouldnt go lower then 7 inches personaly because u will start having heat issues.2 250 watt halides is plenty of light over a 120

 

[Djtonton]

i bought the bulbs awhile ago ill see if they have any label on them

 

[Djtonton]

looks like the t5s are 18-20 inches over the water then the metal halides are 15-16 over the water

you think thats tooo high?

 

[Djtonton]

I am going to build a sort of box around the lights to keep from the light leaking.

Iam going to put a front and sides on it

 

[DSP]

Yes thats a bit high imo.If you plan on keeping sps coral to then i would def lower them.Try them at around 10 innches imo.I bet it gives ya perfect spread across the tank and plenty of light for the corals.And no heat issues

 

[Djtonton]

Yes thats a bit high imo.If you plan on keeping sps coral to then i would def lower them.Try them at around 10 innches imo.I bet it gives ya perfect spread across the tank and plenty of light for the corals.And no heat issues

Thanks a lot i really appreciate all the advice ill try to get them lower somehow lol

 

[watdachuck]

When I was using dual 250w MH's I usually kept them around 12" above the water, but had them around 8" due to a smaller canopy at one time. I agree with the comments above, heat is the real enemy here. You won't lose much of the intensity where the light is traveling through the air mostly when it is penetrating the water.

 

[Djtonton]

Okay i think im going to leave them where they are. see how it works out. It sucks because my t5 ballast just died so im working on getting another ballast. if its not one thing its another!!