MH pendants on top of canopy?

[Nucem]

I have an oak canopy with 12" clearance inside it. I have 2 reef optix III MH pendants. If I mount them inside it only gives me like 7" clearance from bottom of glass to top of acrylic tank. That would be to close and cause heat problems right? MH are 250watt DE 14k Pheonix. I was thinking about cutting square hole on top of canopy and just sitting them over the hole. Would this be ok? Or would I need some type of spacer to keep MH directly off canopy? Any advice, suggestions, or Pics would be great. TY

 

[Witfull]

my concern is light spread. with a few good fans in the sides of canopy heat will be a minimal issue.

what is the length of tank?

 

[Nucem]

5' long tank that has a max width of 18" that cuts back from hex.
So you think 7" clearance with couple of fans would ok?

 

[Witfull]

yeah, but you will have shadows on the ends of the tank..not such a bad thing,,but you should be aware of it. average MH has a 24" spread.

 

[Nucem]

Here's a silly newb question for ya. What would be the best way to mount the pendants? With the MH pendants length going perpendicular or parallel to the tank? to give the best possible spread. _ or I

 

[Witfull]

perpendicular gives a better spread.

 

[Charlie97L]

i would also suggest painting the inside of your canopy white AND using some reflective metallic paper on the top. that will help extend your light to the ends of the tank that are shadowed. works great in my 58.