deflux
04/19/2010, 04:36 PM
OK, so I'm building my in-wall 205g. It is 30" from front to back. Excluding the part covered by the rim, it is 27.5". It rests in the wall, so about 3" will be covered by the wall, minus the 1.25" covered by the rim, takes my "open" tank top to be around 25.75".
I have 3 MH reflectors that will house 250w 14K bulbs. They are LumenArc IIIs, so, 19.25" square and 9" deep. So, they take up 19.25" from the front to back, leaving me with approximately 6.5" to work with on the level with the bottom of the reflectors.
I want to put in 4 x 60" T5 for actinic supplementation, 2 in front and 2 in back. The reflectors for the T5 are Tek2s, so they are approx 3.125" wide. I can only fit 2 in if I'm lucky, going at the base of the MH reflectors.
So, knowing the MH reflectors are 9" deep, if I position them 6" off the water, that leaves me with about 14" from bulb to water surface. I could then nudge the T5s in just under the sides of the reflectors and probably fit all 4. This would have the T5s probably, what, 4" off the water? The problem I see with this is clipping the MH light from the reflector and it being noticeable.
The other idea I had was to angle the canopy where the T5s are to try to have them shine "backward" into the tank, but since at an angle, would give me more room. By canopy, I basically mean the wood the lights are mounted to that will hang from the ceiling, as it's an in-wall and nobody will see it but me.
I'd like to keep these reflectors and not cut them, but I'm wondering what the creative people out there can come up with. And maybe it's as simple as only putting in 2 T5s...
Thanks!
I have 3 MH reflectors that will house 250w 14K bulbs. They are LumenArc IIIs, so, 19.25" square and 9" deep. So, they take up 19.25" from the front to back, leaving me with approximately 6.5" to work with on the level with the bottom of the reflectors.
I want to put in 4 x 60" T5 for actinic supplementation, 2 in front and 2 in back. The reflectors for the T5 are Tek2s, so they are approx 3.125" wide. I can only fit 2 in if I'm lucky, going at the base of the MH reflectors.
So, knowing the MH reflectors are 9" deep, if I position them 6" off the water, that leaves me with about 14" from bulb to water surface. I could then nudge the T5s in just under the sides of the reflectors and probably fit all 4. This would have the T5s probably, what, 4" off the water? The problem I see with this is clipping the MH light from the reflector and it being noticeable.
The other idea I had was to angle the canopy where the T5s are to try to have them shine "backward" into the tank, but since at an angle, would give me more room. By canopy, I basically mean the wood the lights are mounted to that will hang from the ceiling, as it's an in-wall and nobody will see it but me.
I'd like to keep these reflectors and not cut them, but I'm wondering what the creative people out there can come up with. And maybe it's as simple as only putting in 2 T5s...
Thanks!