[gramesy777]

i got my canopy installed now..pics coming soon. I am starting to think my canopy might be too tall now tho. The canopy is 20 inches tall and the lights are about 15 inches or so off the water. Is this too far from the water for two 175 watt metal halides over a 45 gallon tank? My corals dont look to happy since I made the switch from compacts. I have 2 actinic fluorescents and the halides are 10k daylights....i think im switching to 20k daylights because the tank looks kinda yellowish..i dont think there is enough blue because the halides are brighter than the fluorescents.

[gramesy777]

i am alos wondering if maybe my halide bulbs arent very good....i bought them off ebay and they arent a big name brand. They might be crappy bulbs...i got two bulbs for 50 bucks. It would probably have ben better to get good bulbs at full price

[NATIVEVAMAN]

It seems that everyone wants to go with 20k bulbs and then add actinic supplimentation.I have to agree that they make a tank look great.But its pure blue light and gives some pretty poor coral growth.While some may consider this a silly recomendation,why not use 6500k supplimentation and add back some red and yellow color?most consider the 14k level to the stand alone level for all light sources.

[gramesy777]

Will the corals still grow with 20k bulbs? I already purchased them...maybe that was a bad idea. I can alwasys return them and get 14k if you think this would be better

[gramesy777]

besides the bulbs....is my canopy too tall? Is having the lights 10-15 inches off the water alright? It seems to me a lot of light is going out the back and not being focused on the tank.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Most people put metal halide 10 to 12 inch's off the water.It wouldnt be to difficult to drop the lights down a few inch's with some sort of framing.I would certainly add two good fans to the canopy.Since you have an open back on the tank you might want to add some kind of screening to prevent jumpers.

[bnhaus]

My MH is about 10inch from the top.

If the light looks yellowish with a 10k bulb I would question the brand.
10k usually is more white than yellow.

20k's are blue.

The look is a preference

[gramesy777]

yea the bulbs were an cheap brand as i said...i just bought 20k Ushio XMs today

[gramesy777]

are xms good bulbs? I have heard good things about coralvue bulbs as well....which is better coralvue or xm? I want to the best bulbs since ive already spent a ton of money on this project

[gramesy777]

oh btw....the fans are on the way, they just havent arrived yet for me to install them. And im thinking about putting a reflective tarp across the back to help keep the light in the tank and not flowing out the sides

[IceMan]

15" off the water is fine, you have 350 watts over a 45 gallon tank, leave them up it will help with the heat.

[gramesy777]

okay good...i didnt wanna deal with fixing the canopy lol it took me a couple weeks to build and Ive loaded over 600 bucks into this project....luckily i didnt have to buy the wood and most of the hardware for the actual canopy. I'll make a post in the diy forum for you guys to see my work...its pretty sweet

[gramesy777]

im also lucky my dad has thousands of dollars in shop equipment so i could do anything i needed to haha

[Jeremy0322]

Where did you get the fans and what type were they, I am in the market..i think..lol

[gramesy777]

i got my fans online...i searched google shopping for the best price. They are Coralife Aqualite 3 1/8 Cooling Fan Kits. they come in a little bigger ones too...like 4 inchers

[gramesy777]

the website i ended up buying from is SeaCorals.com

[Jeremy0322]

Thanks a bunch

[gramesy777]

yea sure...i'll let you know how they are...i should get them tomorrow or monday

[gramesy777]

pics will be coming eventually when i get around to it lol