Metal halides in a canopy

Ok someone has just offered me 2 175w metal halides retrofit kits, with pendants also. and ballists. My question is would these be ok to mount in a canopy for a 72g bowfront? If so should i use both 175w metal halides? or just 1? the bulbs are 14k. Only thing in my tank is softies (Shrooms, Keynas, Gsps, Xenia) Im not wanting to burn my softies up, but would like to start getting into some sps and lps.

 

You should be fine running both bulbs. That will give you just under 5w per gallon. 14000K bulbs aren't as PAR intense as 10000K bulbs. Start your acclimation at 1-2 hours to see how they react to the light, then increase the light by 30mins every 3rd day. If you can move your corals down to the sand, it will help them adjust as well.

 

Well i would suspect it would be alot better lighting than what is on it now. 4bulb t5 ho
216w. But now i will have to build a canopy lol! Luckly i can find out the info on bowfront canopy builds right here!!!!

 

Steve – not only brighter, but more attractive light in my opinion.

Retrofit’s and pendant generally equate to no shielding – if these are in a canopy near your water they need to be shielded or you risk a shattered bulb…..and they will shatter with one drop of water, every time !

Lion, tigers and bears? oh wait…..green stars, xenia and shrooms – oh my !

 

to be honest i ran my bulb about 7 inches off the water and was not shielded, and like you said i was always super nervous about water hitting the bulb and boom!! but on several occasions the bulb got splashed to no ill affect. my heart stopped a few times but other than that. i did have 4x80 cfm fans blowing across it at all times but i still don't think that would save it. and im not trying to say it won't happen i'm just saying it didn't happen to me for some reason.

 

Ditto, but I also run fans

 

I am just about to repeat what I have read over the years…no first hand experience.

Unshielded bulbs can break, cause permanent damage to your eye’s and burn your fish and corals that are normally protected from the UV rays by more water than our tanks provide.

 

interesting i thought that was only true with hqi

 

oh, are we talking mogal's here?

 

i was referring to moguls as far as getting hit with water i don't think steve ever said which they were though