MH in Oceanic Hood?

[misael]

I recently purchased an Oceanic 215g tank with the original Oceanic stand and hood from a local pet store that went out of business. My goal is to replace my existing 120g, which currently uses two 250w PFO HQI MH pendants and some VHO lighting. I'm curious if anybody has had success with installing MH pendants in this type of Oceanic hood. The pendants are 5 inches and the clearance between the hood ceiling and the water will only be about 7 inches, so I realize this will limit light spread and will likely increase heat transfer to the water.

I thought briefly about cutting holes in the top of the hood so that the lights can be recessed a bit, but that will obviously not look as pleasing from the outside. Removing the top of the hood altogether and hanging the lights above doesn't appeal to me either, due to the amount of light I expect will escape into the room.

Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

- Misael

P.S. The tank looks like the 215 cherry tank listed here: http://www.oceanicsystems.com/products/ultimate.php#

 

[Anonymous]

I think you have answered your own question. The heat will be an issue at the lower height and you will see the lights if you cut holes. It's a choice you need to make on if you want to use it, buy/make a different one or alter it to fit your needs.

 

[aculross]

I have an All-Glass 120 with stand and hood that look very similar to the Oceanic. I have 2x 175W MH and 2x65W PC in the hood with some exhaust fans. Yeah, the MH create heat but I wouldn't want to disturb the look of the stand/hood combination. Do you have the tank in an A/C room? Any chance of adding a chiller to the setup?

 

[misael]

I do use A/C and the tank will be on the bottom floor, which is the coolest room in the house. I don't currently use a chiller on my 120, but the MH are in a custom hood w/fans and sit about a foot above the water. I was hoping to get by without a chiller, but I understand that may be necessary.

aculross -- May I ask how much clearance you have between your MH and the water? Aside from extra heat, are there any other challenges with this setup?

Thanks,

- Misael

 

[WRASSER]

Well you might have to buy a bigger hood

 

[aculross]

My All-Glass looks a lot like the Oceanic so I bet the clearance is very, very similar - I bought a retrofit hood from Champion Lighting Supply some years back with the MH and PC and the distance from the lights to the water (I have a couple of glass "tops" that cover about 2/3 of the open water to protect the lights a bit) can not be more than 6-10 inches.

My tank is basically a FOWLR and some softies. I have A/C in the room that the tank is in but no chiller. On hot summer days that tank can reach 84 for a couple of hours. At this point I generally shut down the MH. I suspect this would be bad if I had SPS, but I"ve been pleasently surprised by how little it seems to affect my inhabitants (the high water temp.)