How far above the tank should lights be?

[SirCharles77]

Is there a suggested min and max heights the lights should be above the top of the tank? I am in the process of designing and building my own hood for my tank and I was wondering how height I should hang the lights from it?

It have a 105g tank and am installing 6 Sunblaze light strips in the hood.

Right now my hood is probably going to be about 8" tall above the tank and that would put the center of the bulbs around 7" above the water level.

Any suggestions?

[reefnetworth]

depends...will it have a fan sysyem? will it be suspended or resting on the tank?
either way you choose, i would suggest one fan pulling in air, one pushing out air on the opposit end of the hood to help keep the water temp lower.

suggested hight would be 7"-8" from the water surface.

[SirCharles77]

It will for sure be a rest on tank hood. And it will be made of wood to match teh stand. It will also have an open back wich will help with air circulation. But I fan is a good idea. I hadnt thought of that yet.

[NINEONEONE]

I would like to know as well.

[billdogg]

The inverse square law states that if you double the distance, you get 1/4 the intensity. OR, if you reduce the distance by 1/2, you get 4 times the intensity! The closer your lighting is to the water, the more energy is put where you want it. The limiting factor is, in most cases, heat production. Using fans to push cool air in and allowing it to exit out is the best way to cool things down. If you use the fan(s) to pull hot air out, they tend to quickly corrode.