perpendicular vs. parallel MH setup

[herpsandreefs]

Why do many reefers mount lights parallel to the tank. It seems to me that if the light is perpendicular to the back of the tank one would utilize a lot more light. With the reflector in an arc shape, it seems a lot of light will come out on sides of bulb so why not direct lenghtwise instead of width wise?

 

[Anonymous]

Depends on the reflector. Different ones are designed to be perpendicullar and others to be parallel. IIRC most SE's you mount with the bulb perpendicular and DE's go parallel.

 

[herpsandreefs]

I just purchased two spider reflectors, perpendicular?

 

[Anonymous]

Well the bulb itself would benifit from a perpendicular mounting (atleast the SE moguls) because there's a little less glass to go through at less of an angle. The problem is that most reflectors are longer than the bulb, and as such more benifit from reflection is gained from a parallel mounting.

At the end of the day though, it's probably not that much of a difference to lose any sleep over.