a little lighting "what would you do?"

[Harleyguy]

Today I purchased a new 200 gallon Perfecto tank, stand, and canopy. The tank is 48"x36"x27" and I only have about 8" (vertically) inside the canopy. Originally I thought about doing 2 400W Lumenarc III reflectors, but after doing some checking... they are too tall (8.5"). I would love to use only 2 400W MH's, but I just don't see how I can do it. Any suggestions?

[Red_Six]

I had a similar problem with my hood. I ran pc lights for a while. They work great but the color is just not the same as the halides. I finally switched to halide lights by doing a custom install using 2’ x 2’ reflective aluminum sheets and a glass canopy over my tank to protect the lights. I am very happy with the results and everything has worked out great so far.

BTW I was already running a chiller so heat is not a problem.

[aastretch64]

You can do one of three things:

Use and open top design.

Buy or make a new hood.

Use T5 lighting.

[hogall]

This was my two choices:

1) 250W Metal Halide HQI Parabolic Reflector with Lens
Dimensions: 11"L x 6"W x 3"H

http://www.aquacave.com/250w-metal-h...lens-1537.html

2) LumenBright 3 MINI Mogul Base Reflector by CoralVue
Dimensions: 16" x 16" x 7" H

http://www.aquacave.com/lumenbright-...lvue-1938.html

Since I order my hood with an 10" height; I went with Lumenbright 3 Mini. 3 inches space still very tough to get my hand into the tank. If have to do it over, I would consider my first option HTH

Dennis

[Harleyguy]

Well what I decided to do was have a new canopy made that will be 15" tall and give me 5"from the bottom of a Lumenarc III to the water. I figure I can get away with 2 400W MH's and suppliment with T5's and a couple of VHO's (for color). Before you ask....Yes I will be running a chiller, although I'm not sure what size just yet.