Quite a Lighting Pickle

[Saltyfish]

I read just about every comment and you really answered your own question.

You are unwilling to change the tank or the light for one reason or another. You want to be able to sell the tank some day so you do not want to modify the tanks brace too much.

Here is my two cents.

No matter what you want you are going to have to choose to replace the tank or the light and I dont mean just to get better lighting in the center of your tank.

MH lighting get very hot, if your MH is right over that brace it is going to heat up and break off one day.

If it was me I would change the light. Get a MH that has two MH on each side of the brace. With a 46 bow front I think you could get away with two 70W DE HQI lights. If you are on a budget I would look at a T5 set up.

 

[nsamouroux]

It should be just as strong, I've seen a number of people replacing plastic cross-bracing with clear acrylic. To be safe, use cell-cast acrylic instead of extruded or the plexicrap from Home Depot / Lowes.

In response to people's fears about UV degradation (most recently Trido), that shouldn't be an issue at all with mogul base / single end bulbs, because the glass envelope surrounding the lamp itself is a UV shield. On double-ended bulbs, they have no glass shield so the fixture should have some sort of glass cover. This cover will filter the UV, so you just have to worry about heat melting the brace if it's too close.

 

[Scooterman]

Not all UV is eliminated, so the affect my take longer but it will in time.

 

[nsamouroux]

True enough, but I doubt there would be any short term effect (a couple years? Should be long past upgrade time by then!). I took too long to post that however so I didn't see the other posts prior to mine, if she doesn't want to modify the tank (safety, resale value, etc) then the only real option is a different light unfortunately as Saltyfish stated. Two lights would be ideal, maybe trade the current fixture in for something else or keep the fixture since it seems like a nicer one and rig up some sort of retrofit.

 

[Ellylove]

This might be a stupid question, but if I put foil over the brace ill it block the UV light?

 

[Scooterman]

This might be a stupid question, but if I put foil over the brace ill it block the UV light?

I'm sure it would, might heat it up more though. LOL
I guess this is a pickle, I'm sure you'll figure it out whatever you do, just take your time & do the best you can with it. Keep us informed. Ideally two mh over the top would work better, I'd do two 150's on it but that is another deal of money, so maybe dealing with the brace isn't so bad, foil may buy enough time for later when maybe you'll want to go larger or different on the tank. Whomever said this was a cheap hobie was way wrong LOL!

 

[nsamouroux]

With a decent fan / air flow or distance between the bulb and brace heat won't be an immediate concern, but as Scooter mentioned it will weaken over time and the tank will start to sag / bow until it eventually bursts a seam. The foil cover will probably save you from any potential degradation of the plastic by UV light (another longer-term concern as well if your bulbs have a glass shield on them or the fixture).

Scooter, you're exactly right :lol:. I don't think I've ever heard the word "cheap" associated with saltwater aquariums in any good way. When setting up my new system I sort of stopped keeping track or counting expenses once I reached the 5-zeros mark DIY, used equipment, frag swaps, club memberships, etc are all very good ways to control costs, but everything is a balancing act!

 

[Ellylove]

The glass cover I had was pretty warm directly below the MH, but the brace itself was barely warm (before I put the foil on). There is about 5 inches between the light and the brace so 'm not really worried about the heat. I've decided that I don't HATE the shadow. The actinics light up that area so I might do a cool florescent ricordia or zoa in the shadow so they get more actinic light. For now, I am putting foil over the brace to block the uv rays. Hopefully that will help keep it from getting broken down and brittle. Thanks for all the input you guys!

 

[nsamouroux]

I never thought of using tinfoil on the aquarium. Usually I put it on my head to block the mind control rays from the Mothership. It'll be especially important to keep them out of my mind this weekend with all these eastern Worshingtonians infiltrating the LFS. They can smell fear :lol:

 

[Skimmy]

there was a guy in corvallis, OR that would put foil pie pans on certain power poles, to guide the signals from the mother ship to him...ingenious!!! ...lol
and no foil on your head...