How far above the water?

[Moe_K]

I'm trying to fit my 400 watt MH lamps above my tank, but under my stairs.
How far above the water should the bulbs be? I'm running Iwasakis off a PFO dual ballast. I might be only able to manage 6" on clearance on the left side. Will that be a problem?

 

[bobbravo2]

I used to have my two 400s about 3-4" above the water, it was not a problem. The only downside is very frequent cleaning.

HTH

 

[Mike A]

Moe, is the area well ventilated ?

 

[Moe_K]

Moe, is the area well ventilated ?

It will be. We're going to put some fans and exhaust tubing in there, vented to the outside. One intake, and 2 exhaust; I think.

 

[Lam]

I luv mine at 6". I have to clean my bulbs every couple months when I forget to put on my glass shields. However, when the shields are on, I have to clean the glass every few weeks because they hang about 4" above the water

 

[Jim Tansey]

My 250 watts are 6 inches from the water surface to outside surface of the bulbs, no problem they don't even get any salt spray.

Regards,

Jim

 

[RobboT]

I believe Sanjay said 9" last August or so I recall being told.
As long as the heat isnt an issue I dont see why 6" would be OK though

 

[Ifferfish]

Moe,

Keith just set up my new 400 mh's. They are about 6 or 7 inches from the water. As long as you vent them somehow you should be fine. I am finding alot of heat from them and it is making a difference with the water temp over the 180 (about 2 degree's). We will be setting up the chiller this weekend. Other than that and algae on the glass, everything else LOVES them!!!. Even my hair algae! LOL Will work on that this weekend too.

 

[Aquaman_68]

I wish I could lay mine 2 inches from the surface. You get mad color the closer the bulbs are to the surface. Just worried that water splashing on them may cause them to explode from the temp difference. I say for safety sake not to put them any closer than 5 inches. by the way.....That vent setup your constructing will do the trick with heat related issues of the tank temp.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

My 250's are less then 9" from the water, I think around 6-7"