another lighting question

[[email protected]]

I have a home made hood with Ice Cap 660 ballast 3 110w actinic white
bulbs and 1 110w super actinic bulbs over a 75 gal tank. I dont have
a reflector built into the hood. Is that really necessary? Also, I
use the glass canopy the tank came with. Is that a good idea? Does
the glass interfere with the intensity of the bulbs? Corals just dont
seem to grow like I want them to. (soft and hard) no sps
Any thoughts

[Steve Sells]

Adding a reflector will increase the light levels getting into the water.
As it is now, about half your light is being wasted.

Steve
> wrote in message
> I have a home made hood with Ice Cap 660 ballast 3 110w actinic white
> bulbs and 1 110w super actinic bulbs over a 75 gal tank. I dont have
> a reflector built into the hood. Is that really necessary? Also, I
> use the glass canopy the tank came with. Is that a good idea? Does
> the glass interfere with the intensity of the bulbs? Corals just dont
> seem to grow like I want them to. (soft and hard) no sps
> Any thoughts

[LarryT]

If you are using URI bulbs they have a built in reflector...so I wouldn't
expect a huge gain in output if you installed reflectors. If not...you
should consider it.
> wrote in message
...
> I have a home made hood with Ice Cap 660 ballast 3 110w actinic white
> bulbs and 1 110w super actinic bulbs over a 75 gal tank. I dont have
> a reflector built into the hood. Is that really necessary? Also, I
> use the glass canopy the tank came with. Is that a good idea? Does
> the glass interfere with the intensity of the bulbs? Corals just dont
> seem to grow like I want them to. (soft and hard) no sps
> Any thoughts

[Marc Levenson]

Yes, you are cutting your light intensity (PAR) with the glass covers. They
need to be removed.

Marc


wrote:

> I have a home made hood with Ice Cap 660 ballast 3 110w actinic white
> bulbs and 1 110w super actinic bulbs over a 75 gal tank. I dont have
> a reflector built into the hood. Is that really necessary? Also, I
> use the glass canopy the tank came with. Is that a good idea? Does
> the glass interfere with the intensity of the bulbs? Corals just dont
> seem to grow like I want them to. (soft and hard) no sps
> Any thoughts

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[buccaneer]

As for the reflector adding one wont hurt,But if you must have a cover on it
there are several companies that make a low lead glass cover that allows
more natural colors to flow though.Oceanic I believe is one of them and I
know of at least 2 others you might even check with your local glass shop to
see if the can order you some Low Lead Glass and cut you some custom
covers...

> wrote in message
...
> I have a home made hood with Ice Cap 660 ballast 3 110w actinic white
> bulbs and 1 110w super actinic bulbs over a 75 gal tank. I dont have
> a reflector built into the hood. Is that really necessary? Also, I
> use the glass canopy the tank came with. Is that a good idea? Does
> the glass interfere with the intensity of the bulbs? Corals just dont
> seem to grow like I want them to. (soft and hard) no sps
> Any thoughts