Metal Halides

[barramundi]

Hi All,

Thinking of putting in 2x150w metal halides to replace all the t8 power glo's i have in there now.
It's a 6x2x2,how high above the surface of the water do you have to mount them? My wooden hood is 130mm above water, can i cut out holes in the hood and mount the halides in it?

Thanks John

[ILLUSN]

i think the recomended minimum is 200mm, but any of the reef boys will be able to help you out.

[aquafrogstuff]

I would go 300mm to give you more clearence to get into the tank to do maintenance, cleaning etc etc.

I would be very careful about mounting MH in timber sheeting as the fittings get very hot. This means your timber may distort or discolour if its painted. Most MH fittings are containined within a metal housing to help dissipate the heat. This is an important part of how the fitting works as a whole. I've seen DIY efforts where the fitting is mounted in a timber frame, but my opinion is that this looks tacky and detracts from the appeal of discus in a nice tank.

[barramundi]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info,i have done some read up on mh and planted tanks.
The thing is it's a very nice planted discus tank and sits in the lounge,the wife's not to keen on anything ugly to spoil the look of it or the lounge.Just want to get away from the 5ft double,5ft single and 2x4ft doubles that sit under the hood now.

Thanks john

[AHC]

Hi,

2 x 150w on a 6ft tank will give you dead spots of light (unless you hang the lights so high that the point light reflects out enough - which isnt realistic). Unless you want the dark spot, you will be best off with 3 x 150w as 1 MH will give you a light spread of about 2ft. Maybe a 2 x MH + Fluro combo?

If your handy you can make a nice curved DIY casing but put the time in. Otherwise you may have to buy a professional MH that wont make the tank fugly.

[barramundi]

Thanks AHC,

Just bought a 6ft -3x150 mh + 4x54w t5's + 4 54w moon lights all in the one nice casing.Should be here next day or so,early xmas prezzie from wife as she did not want to take a chance of me having some eye sore dangling from the ceiling in the lounge :D

I'll post pic of my 1st try at aquascape when i set light up.

John

[AHC]

Nice one John. Congratulations.