MH bulb burnt my eyes

I at first thought I got salt dust in my eyes because I woke up with a salty feeling in the middle of the night.

Then I realized after 2 days that it would get better during the day, but when the MH bulbs would shut off on the tank my eyes would get irritated and eventually prevent me from falling asleep.

Has any one had this problem?

 

Are you staring at the lamp? Mogul based lamps have some UV protection, whereas HQI does not, if you don't have the UV shield over it and you stare at the lamp you will damage your eyes.... Its like staring at the sun or an Arc welder.... When I was younger in shop class I was dared to stare that the MIG/TIG welder without googles, and being one to not turn down a dare, and thinking the teacher was BSing I did stare at it... I now wear glasses, before that I had better than 20/20 vision, the optomitrists were always amazed... Not the case now.... Your eyes and lights are not to be fooled with, if it still feels like sand in your eyes you DEFINITELY did damage, anytime you feel grainy in the eyes that is a sign of damage. Go to your eye doctor as soon as you can and until then QUIT STARING AT YOUR LAMPS!!!!!

 

They are the double ended lights and they only have protection on the bottom, so every time I open the hood, the un shielded side view of the bulb is exposed. One of my eyes is starting to feel better, but I think the other one which feels like sand is in it is still hurting because I rubbed it. Im wearing uv protective glasses now and used eye drops because the veins in my eye were visible.

Im going to put some more glass to protect my self from the uv on the sides of the bulb.

 

HQI lamps should be in a socket that covered by a UV shield, I don't know what you mean that only the bottoms are covered?
A lamp is seated in the socket.... the socket is covered by a reflector, so you only see one side of the lamp, that side is covered with the shield.... How do you have these lamps mounted?

 

You mean your HQI's have a suspended peice of glass under them but are viewable form the sides? That sounds dangerous - one splash of water (just a drop) and it will explode...then ther eis always the eye issue to boot. Can you post a picture of this set up?

 

I just bent the reflector down but before you could see the bulb

 

I know DIY is fun and you can save money but BUY SOME REFLECTORS!!! SLS sells some cheap ones that don't even have a aluminum case around them....

Not only are you wasting light and energy, you are putting yourself and your reef at risk!!!

Go to sunlightsupply.com, cheap out their reflectors then find a dealer to get them from....

 

Wow.. That doesn't look safe at all... With the lights like that, you don't even have to try to look at the light.
My girlfriend is an ophthalmologist, therefor she stresses on eye protection, $400 sun glasses etc.
Exposure from these bulbs could cause retinal and macular damage which will eventually decrease vision. You should get these bulbs covered and guarded properly.

 

It sounds like you've experienced UV exposure to your eye(s). Hopefully whatever injury you've sustained will pass, but it might be a good idea to go to an optometrist and tell him/her that you've been exposed to the UV radiation emitted from an unprotected metal halide lamp, and go from there.

Sorry!

 

That's not safe at all. You can buy a cheap set of reflectors that would be better than what you have now. It will direct more light towards your tank, and protect your eyes as well. UV damage can be severe. One splash of water and the bulb could explode, also causing a fire hazard.