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MH lighting, suspension, direction
> From: krandall at world_std.com
> I'm getting ready to set up the 100G "long" tank that I "inherited" last
> summer.(finally)
...
> 4. This tank is going in my livingroom, and I want people to be able to
> sit comfortably nearby without being blinded by the light. Any suggestions
> on the best way to keep the light headed into the tank and out of the rest
> of the room?
I recently had experience with this & was looking for an opp to share
it with the group. I bought a metal halide pendant from lighting
liquidators in Canada from a tip by Steve Pushak. (Great deal, by the
way, much less expensive than mail-order aquarium suppliers). The one
problem with the setup was that they did not attach the bulb at the
appropriate depth in the reflector, and the light came out in a
"donut", hitting everything except the inside of the tank! Doing some
quick ray-tracing on paper, I determined the bulb should have been
mounted about 4-5 inches further up into the reflector. After that
adjustment the light is now being directed straight down into the
tank, we are no longer blinded by it, and the fixture is doing OK at
18" from the tank.
So, I guess my suggestion for keeping the light in the tank is to use
a deep pendant fixture (or in your case, fixtures).
- Erik
---
Erik Olson
eriko at wrq.com