New lights, how high?

[lorenk]

I have a pair of 250w MH lights that I want to install in the hood of my 55g.
Current clearance of the bulbs from the top of the tank is only about 1.5 inches and I know that's way to close. I already cooked a plastic spoon I forgot on top of the glass lid.

So I'm going to modify the canopy and raise it a bit. What's the optimum distance between bulb and top of the tank?

Thanks in advance.

 

[reeftankjunkie]

They should be between 10 and 12 inches above the water line.

 

[ouling]

If heat is not a problem-my situation.

I drop my 800W worth of lights from 10'' to 1'' off the water. The bulbs are 3'' off the water, the par meter couldn't read that high so I can't tell you about my par

 

[reeftankjunkie]

ouling;74989 wrote: If heat is not a problem-my situation.

I drop my 800W worth of lights from 10'' to 1'' off the water. The bulbs are 3'' off the water, the par meter couldn't read that high so I can't tell you about my par

And you could also use them to heat up a pot of soup in an emergency.

 

[victor626nj]

mine are 8inches of water line and the bulbs are 10 my temp has stayed at 78 but i only had them on for one day

 

[jefft]

My 175w is 4 inches above the water on my 29g.

 

[lorenk]

Going for 8-9 inches. We'll see how it goes.

 

[linda lee]

balagan;75297 wrote: Going for 8-9 inches. We'll see how it goes.

ummm...