Guest reeffoto January 23, 2004 Share January 23, 2004 I now have 3 halides to put on my 150 gallon. The problem is placement. I wanted to put one in the center which is right above the center brace. Due to it being plastic it tends to melt when hot. What options might I have? I would prefer not adding another halide and putting 2 on each side of the brace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelg January 23, 2004 Share January 23, 2004 what sort of wattage are your fixtures? You could do 2 island stands with the center open for the live rock. Thus you wouldn't need to worry about it, and gets away from a straight "wall" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest reeffoto January 23, 2004 Share January 23, 2004 With 2 islands I wouldn't need the 3rd light which I already have oops. But from that Idea I came up with an idea without totally tearing everything out and rebuilding. the left side is low on rock and corals, so i may do something and slope down right to left with most of the intense lighting on the rock side of the slope where all the corals will be but enough lighting over the tank to even it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest reeffoto January 23, 2004 Share January 23, 2004 With 2 islands I wouldn't need the 3rd light which I already have oops. But from that Idea I came up with an idea without totally tearing everything out and rebuilding. The left side is low on rock and corals, so I may do something and slope down right to left with most of the intense lighting on the high side of the slope where all the corals will be but enough lighting over the tank to even it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest reeffoto January 23, 2004 Share January 23, 2004 I discovered a flaw in my plan. If I dot his I will have to much empty space on the rock and it will not look as full as it does now. Wait that's a good thing because now I can add more corals, just have to do it without the misses noticing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest va_reefman January 23, 2004 Share January 23, 2004 If the center brace is only few inches wide you can use a PC reflector to cover it. It may block the light a bit but it should work. HTH, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 23, 2004 Share January 23, 2004 I forget the dimensions of the 150. I would tend towards using two MH fixtures if it is around 48" wide, spaced evenly over the main openings. Just push the wattage up as needed. If the tank is 24" deep, 250watt bulbs may be enough. 400watt may be really cool to fill in space if it is a really wide tank. s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelg January 23, 2004 Share January 23, 2004 Most standard 150's are 6 feet- there are some rare oceanics out there that are 5x2x2- but these are not common. I'd say put a 250 in the center- leave it open (some light will get through). and go for the open space in the middle for lower light demanding corals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller January 24, 2004 Share January 24, 2004 If you put a 250w halide over that center brace start the timer. When it goes ding.........your center brace got brittle, broke and the tank is starting to become the latest rage... a "bowfront" and by the way, a bowback. :D Consider putting 2 on one side of the brace and one close to the other 2 on the other side of the brace. Then place low light corals at the now "slightly" lower light end. Just a thought, Chip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest reeffoto January 24, 2004 Share January 24, 2004 It is a 6' tank. The Halides are 2 250 watt and 1 175 watt. I decided to put 1 250 and the 175 on one side of the brace and the other 250 on the other where some of the corals requiring less light are located. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 25, 2004 Share January 25, 2004 I know it's a bit late of an idea, but what the heck... I think this is where PFO Parallel reflectors might be a real help. They mount along the length of the tank, not across the width. That said, you could put (2) 24" PFO Parallel reflectors in w/400W lamps. This would spread the light rather effectively along the entire 3' segment on either side of the tank. I used these on my 4' long 90G using 250W bulbs and am quite impressed with the light coverage. s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest reeftanklfs January 25, 2004 Share January 25, 2004 Hi guys: Nobody has asked this question yet, but how high are the MH bulbs over the tank. Maybe this is what's causing the plastic to melt. We've put 400's, 250's, and 175's over glass tanks, with braces, and acrylic tanks, and we've never had any melting whatsoever. We normally put them approx. 7"-8" off the surface of the water. Canopies that are 12" or taller will put the bulbs within this parameter. At our store, our front 75 gal. tank has 2x250 wt. 20k Radium bulbs, and the middle brace has no signs of melting. HTH Staff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest reeffoto January 25, 2004 Share January 25, 2004 Part of the problem was that it was to close. I hadn't noticed that the mogal for the 175 was taller than the ones for the 250's. It was sitting about 5 inches from the brace. I am in the process of changing the lights around and having them sit higher and putting pfo reflectors on the 250's. Thabnks for all the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller January 26, 2004 Share January 26, 2004 What are " pfo reflectors " anyway. I've seen it in this post. I now have 2 metal braces on my 220 because the plastic braces broke. The bulbs where not even over them in the 7 years I've had this 220. I believed the UV, the heat, combined made them brittle. Have seen this before, and actually heard the second of my braces go "pop" and it started to bow fast. My bulbs are 12" over the water surface but I'm dropping them to 8" with the new hood. That's what happened the me. So what are these pfo reflectors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tgallo January 26, 2004 Share January 26, 2004 pfo is a company that makes reflectors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest reeffoto January 27, 2004 Share January 27, 2004 How is a metal brace installed? I would rather install now before the brace gives way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller January 27, 2004 Share January 27, 2004 How is a metal brace installed? I would rather install now before the brace gives way. I took some angle iron and made braces and siliconed them in place. Then took the clamps off and voawla, no more bow. Worked for me and my hood covers it because I made it. Chip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 28, 2004 Share January 28, 2004 Traditional angle iron rusts quickly. Did you take any steps to protect your tank's water from salt etching the angle iron and getting rust into your tank? s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sph2sail January 28, 2004 Share January 28, 2004 What are " pfo reflectors " anyway.I've seen it in this post. I now have 2 metal braces on my 220 because the plastic braces broke. The bulbs where not even over them in the 7 years I've had this 220. I believed the UV, the heat, combined made them brittle. Have seen this before, and actually heard the second of my braces go "pop" and it started to bow fast. My bulbs are 12" over the water surface but I'm dropping them to 8" with the new hood. That's what happened the me. So what are these pfo reflectors? check out DIY MH Project thread. contains discussion on use of PFO Parallel reflectors and shows installed pics of them. s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller January 28, 2004 Share January 28, 2004 Traditional angle iron rusts quickly. Did you take any steps to protect your tank's water from salt etching the angle iron and getting rust into your tank? s I painted the heck out of it with "under hood" black paint. It didn't work as well as I had hoped so I have to keep it clean. Kind of like an enclosed "ship wreck". :D I cut back on the molybdinum also :p Bottom line......... It works great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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