MH lights over plastic cross pieces???

[Rhodes19]

Hi All,

I will be putting 2 250 mh over my 180 for now and want to have an even spread of light into the tank. The problem is there are 2 plastic cross supports that the lights will be hanging directly over. Has anyone ever done this and if so, what where your results/experiences. The biggest thing that comes to mind is the possibility of melting or deteriorating the plastic cross pieces. Ideally I should have a light over each 2' opening but I'm not there yet. I currently have a mix of some sps, some lps and some softies. I plan on going sps/lps tank with some clams and maybe a nem at some point. Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Here is the tank when I brought it home.

Here are the MH I'll be using. They are lumen brite fixtures on coralvue HID ballasts.

Thanks.

Chris

 

[Schwa]

I would put each light over the 2 outer openings. If you center them over the braces the most intense part of the bulb will be over the brace and you will be essentially wasting your money by even firing them up. You will get good light spread throughout the tank even though the middle is not lit. I would position your SPS on the ends and put your LPS in the middle section since these are generally lower light organisms anyways. You have excellent reflectors and this should not be a problem. I would venture to guess that you will not even notice any lower light in the middle of your tank but you may see a slight shadow from the braces under neath them. I have 1 250w phoenix in a crappy generic reflector fired by an icecap eballast over my 65 and have it hanging over 1 side of my tank and it truly lights the whole thing but obviously the intensity on the opposite end is not as high but this also gives me a zone for lower light stuff(shrooms,micromussa,trumpet coral) I have my SPS on the brighter end from top to bottom. I am planning on getting another 250 in the future but it works for now. I hope this info helps. I am envious I wan t abigger tank soooo bad

 

[DaveK]

The best thing to do would be to go out and get another 250w fixture and put one every 2 feet.

No matter what you do, you can not completely eliminate the shadows that will get created if you use only 2 bulbs. However, you can make some choices to keep the shadows out of the eyesore category.

I see several possible options with two bulbs.

You could, as mentioned in the previous post, put a fixture over the center of each opening on both sides of the tank. This is ok, but you'll have a dark area in the center. IMHO, this is not the best choice.

Another alternative would be to place the fixtures over each of the end openings of the tank, but more toward the center. This will make the center a little brighter, but you don't get something for nothing. You'll have a tank with comparatively dim ends. I'd consider this an ok choice if you want the light as even across the tank as you can get with two bulbs.

My personal choice would be to place one fixture over the center opening centered, and the other over one of the other openings, centered. This would give you a dim end of the tank. Aquascape that dim area with items that don't require intense light. Make it look like you set it up that way on purpose. You could also place any other type of lighting over this dim area. This also has an added advantage. If you want to add the third fixture, it's an easy install.

 

[rgfast]

I like both options above though you might think about the two 250 to the outside with say 14ks an then add a 400 center with 20k

 

[Rhodes19]

Schaw, DaveK, and rgfast,

Thank you all for your feed back and excellent points. My ultimate goal now that I have some MH is to have 3 250 MH and place one over each 2x2' opening. I'll play with having one over each end and try the middle and end set up and see how it looks. At some point I want a nice clam to put smack dab in the middle so placing the light over the middle and end may be the way to go. I have 2 smaller T5 diy lights I can place on the other end until I can get a 3rd 250 and I can keep my softies there.

Schaw, having a bigger tank is nice. I knew it would take more $$$ to run so I am working on it in steps. Probably just as well, it has given me more time to research and lean what I really need to do and get and save me $$$ in the long run.

DaveK, actually, "I did it on purpose" is my normal excuse!! LOL I do need to work on my rock scape. It has gotten better but then I see other folks tanks on RS and am just in awe of what they have done.

rgfast, I thought of a 400 in the center but I can't imagen what the electric bill would be. Frankie had 2 400 MH over his 120 and it was an absolute knock out. If I ever get into high end/high light corals I may up grade to the 400 at some point.

Thanks guys I really apprciate your help.