Lowbray Metal Halides

[Aquascaper]

Well, i've had the unit for months and have finally got round to mounting it properly. Now need to get the upgraded bulb and we're all set

Before:

After:

Slightly yellow tint due to a 4500k bulb being used, this is being replaced with a 20,000k bulb shortly
Unit is set at 20" above the water surface but I may reduce this to 15" depending on the results with the new bulb.

 

[Navarre]

looks great!!!
What a change halides can make!

 

[blout]

wow that looks so much better cant wait to get my halides

just noticed this is your 1000 post

 

[Salt Freak]

looks awsome cant wait till i have enough money to get the halides i want

 

[amstar15]

wow, 20 inches off the tank. I have mine about three inches from my waters surface. the canopy i have my halides and actinics in wont allow me to go any higher. the water temp stays constand at 78 degrees. however i am getting alot of water evaporation. i do not have a glass/plexi glass lid on my tank. would it bother things if i did put a glass lid on my tank since the bulbs are only 3 inches from the waters surface. i have two 175 german 10k bulbs and 2 40 watt blue actinics.

navarre is right. as soon as I got my halides I fell even more for my tank. I like the reflections and rippling effect it gives off. Your carpet looks likes its water to. makes everything look so much more crisp. Your set up looks nice.

 

[Salt Freak]

your definitly suppose to have some type of canopy over the tank.

 

[amstar15]

i have the glass for the top of the tank should i just add it back on?

 

[ostrow]

3" = way too close.

20" = way too far. You are losing PAR and wasting your electricity, not to mention the price of your ballast and bulbs, with that distance. You should cut that nearly in half, at most to 12" above the surface.

 

[Navarre]

your definitly suppose to have some type of canopy over the tank.

Do you mean a hood? I dont have one over mine. the problem with halides is that they really do increase the watrer temperatures. if you use a hood then temerature increases. Evaportion is the tanks natural way of keeping cool so its really nothing to worry ovr. Also, adding an extra layer of glass between the halides and the water surface will drastically cut down the light reaching the corals. with condensation on the plates you will very quickly get salt creep or algae growing on the glass and shutting out the light.

Im afriad this is the main trouble with halides, they are the solution to the problem of sucesfully keeping hard corals but this also means the risk of open tanks and fish can jump out.

 

[Navarre]

I think you have done the right thng aqua with the height of these lights. They are 400w if i remember correctly? and the tank has not used halides before. Having them this high initially will help stop the corals entering light shock. over the coming weeks simply drop the halides down a few inches at a time to increase the light they are used to. this will provide minimal stress on the corals.

You should be aiming for 12 inches as Ostrow has mentioned

COngratulations on your 1000th post

 

[amstar15]

well as i as able to raise my lights 6 inches off the water. this is the is highest I can go with the wood canopy I have over my tank. what is the benifit of having them up higher. my corals show no ill effects of the bulbs being 3 inches above the waters surface. I did however move them up to 6 but thats my limit.

 

[Navarre]

heat is the most obvious problem. these lights kick out huge amounts of heat and this will (in some cases) push the heat of the tank up far too high.

Also, the UV light given off by these lights might harm the corals at such close proximity. The glass covering the halides housing should protect the tank from harmful UV light, but of course there is always the risk that harmful UV might leak out and being so close to the tank might cause problems.

Lastly, salt creep might lower the amount of light getting into the tank at this height.

if it works for you though then feel free! I personally feel that 6 inches is the better of the 2 options.

 

[Aquascaper]

Cheers for the replies guys

As Navarre has mentioned (and perhaps I shoud of) the MH is 400w and as this is the first 'dose' the tanks had I have purposely left it a little high. Eventually the light will be lowered until the optimum height of 12" is reached. As it is a lowbray unit with the ballast removed and setup remotely there is a lovely big space inside the unit which I will be mounting some cooling fans to draw air off the bulb.

Now just the stand to finish