Lights mounted on Ceiling?
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Equipment
Forum Description: This is the place to ask question about reef equipment.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=45978
Printed Date: July 29 2026 at 3:49pm
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Topic: Lights mounted on Ceiling?
Posted By: Jerrick
Subject: Lights mounted on Ceiling?
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 11:49am
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Okay I have a weird situation.....I am doing a little bit of a wall built in tank...What I have is an older home with slanted ceilings upstairs so the top of the tank will have about 1 foot clearance in the front and since the ceiling slants about 6 inches or so in the back....Then I will be building a false wall out to the front edge of the tank...I am wondering if I can mount my lights, on the slanted ceiling....the lights would be slanted and centered so around 10-8 inches from the top of the tank.....I have 2- 175w MH and 2- 30W Blue Actinic lights.....I think I would paint that section of ceiling with high temp paint...I used Green Sheetrock to help with the water evap..... Can I do this? I also was planning to have a small fan blowing through to help keep it cool....there will be a front but no sides or back for the hood, so it should not trap the heat as much as a normal hood....I can post a picture if you need more visual...let me know what you think! ------------- www.jerricksfinejewelry.com |
Replies:
Posted By: sukie
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 12:42pm
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Maybe I'm confused. . but how would the lights be slanted??? Where's Dion??
------------- http://sukie.mt-wudan.com/ - My Blog |
Posted By: Jerrick
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 12:49pm
I did a quick google sketch to show you what I mean....
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Posted By: Jerrick
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 12:55pm
| I would flush mount the lights right to the ceiling the back light will be much closer to the water level possibly 6 or 7 inches I don't want the MH that close so I thought If I flush mounted them to the ceiling it would give them a bit more distance.....Sorry so confusing.....the top Actinic would be further away from the surface but maybe only 11 inches or so should it should be fine right??? |
Posted By: Jerrick
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 1:09pm
I want it to look something like this when it is all DONE!
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Posted By: Luckedout
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 1:20pm
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Why would you flush mount them? You'll lose a lot of light that way.Why not just hang the front end with some chain or cable then the light is perpendicular to the water and you don't lose light. ------------- -Ben 90g Mixed reef www.body-balancechiropractic.com |
Posted By: Nick801
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 1:21pm
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if you where to mount the light completely horizontal how high would they be off the tank? I'd try not to mount them on an angle if it was me ------------- http://www.reefinsanity.com" rel="nofollow - www.ReefInsanity.com http://www.facebook.com/ReefInsanity" rel="nofollow - www.Facebook.com/ReefInsanity 801-680-4676 |
Posted By: EvanB756
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 1:21pm
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I agree with luckedout, is there a reason you don't want to do a hanging kit or something else? ------------- 90gal display w/ 30gal sump. |
Posted By: jwoo
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 1:59pm
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Like others have said use a hanging kit, and make the front cables longer then the back so that it's hanging even. If you are worried about too much light at 6 inches I wouldn't be. The only worry there would be heat - buy a cheap clip on fan to run across the surface of the water to cool it down.
Having the light at an angle is going to loose you a ton of light and might even stress the fixture unnecessarily. ------------- None at the moment Soon: 72 Gallon Bowfront |
Posted By: Jerrick
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 2:00pm
| I am just worried that they would be to close to the water...it might be as close as 5 or 6 inches... I was told you want a min of 9 with the MH.... |
Posted By: Lewy
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 3:25pm
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with the angle you are purposing the light will be directed out through the front of the glass. Is there any space behind the sheet rock you can cut out to make it more square to give you the 9 inches you want? ------------- 40 gal w/ 20 sump |
Posted By: sukie
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 3:48pm
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Can I just say thanks for the picture. . it really helps!!! I wouldn't worry about 5 to 6 inches for the water.
------------- http://sukie.mt-wudan.com/ - My Blog |
Posted By: Jerrick
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 4:03pm
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Well If you don't think 5 or 6 inches is not to close to have the light then I will hang them level!!! and I put up the sheet rock....not room I screwed it directly to the roof joist beams.... How close are everyones light hanging??? Ever had a fish splash and have a bulb explode? I had a Freshwater tank that had a red tip bard that loved to splash the water and if the lights would have been exposed I know they would have exploded he could splash water across the room!
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Posted By: bstuver
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 4:14pm
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Is the light you have an all in one or is it a DIY one? I wouldn't worry about the light being that close either, mine have rarely been any further than 6" on my halides in the past. ------------- Jackie Stuver "wait these aren't the happy Hawaiians oompa doompa godly heaven on your face zoas? I dont want them then. lol!" Ksmart |
Posted By: P.Kapp
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 4:20pm
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My light is a 6 bulb T5 fixture, and it is about 8" from the top of my tank. I think with 175w halides you should be good at 5 to 6 inches. It would be cool if you could mount the wires that hold the light to some kind of slide rail system on the ceiling. That way you can move the light all the way to the side towards the door if you need to get in the tank and do some maintainence ------------- Preston Kapp 210 Gal Reef |
Posted By: Luckedout
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 4:42pm
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6" should be ok. You shouldn't have fish splashing them.
------------- -Ben 90g Mixed reef www.body-balancechiropractic.com |
Posted By: Jerrick
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 4:54pm
| Preston I like the Idea of slide rail???????? got me thinking?????? that would be great! I will have to see if I can engineer something. |
Posted By: SGH360
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 5:00pm
| if you are worried about the water splashing on the MH. Get a T5 setup much safer if any water splashes. If you want MH get HQI model, the come with Tempered glass. I had alot of water splash on the glass during the day mainly cause of water agitation by the powerhead. Easy to wipe off, and smaller bulbs compared to the mogul base, same lighting |
Posted By: P.Kapp
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 5:10pm
What originally came to my mind was something like what we would see in a heavy duty drawer, like these. But i think there would be limitations to how far they would slide... So I looked online and found a picture of what looks like would be more heavy duty, and not as restrictive as to how far they would slide. I could be dead wrong though...  ------------- Preston Kapp 210 Gal Reef |
Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 6:24pm
| My 250 watt MH fixture has hung 6" from the water for more than 2 years now and I have had no problem with it at all. |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 12 2011 at 11:48pm
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Besides heat which we know how to remove by having a fan blow across the water (not across the lights), the other problem with having a light fixture too close to the water is the shadow at the ends of the tank. The reflector is made to give a triangle of downward shining light. A fixture must be high enough to light the top ends of the tank or else it just looks well,...strange. My preferred method is to hang the lights. I buy inexpensive chain and secure it to the ceiling with a screw into the rafter or a molly bolt into the sheetrock. I put "S" hooks at the end. The light fixture has a short chain securely attached to it. The S hook is crimped on the short chain of the light fixture. The fixture can then be unhooked and moved up and out of the way when I am working on the tank, yet is still giving light to the tank so I can see what I'm fragging. Maybe I have a pic...yes, see the loop of cable that goes around the wood frame and the extra chain hanging down past the S hook.  Here is an end shot. As you can see, this same homemade light fixture was used on two different tanks from 2003-2007. Two 175W MH were later added to the center of the fixture below. I am using the same principle on my present tank if you would like to come see it.  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 13 2011 at 12:09am
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Looking again at your drawing, I can visualize the setup. Personally, I would not enclose the fixture. I believe that fixture is made to look nice as it hangs above the tank. With the light fixture enclosed and too close to the water, I can promise you that you will have heat problems. You will end up opening the door to let heat escape and that will look worse than hanging the light over an open top tank. Also, earlier, your thought about cutting the cast iron drain...not good. There is probably a better way. What is it you are planning to drain? Let us help you figure this out to avoid problems that you can't even imagine at this point in your learning curve.  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Dion Richins
Date Posted: January 13 2011 at 7:54am
Hmmmmm....Working? I agree with all that has already been said. Angle "Bad" Hanging "Good."
Full extension hardware will slide the complete distance of their size. IE: 22" will slide 22" However. There is a weight issue when used on their side so use the very heavy duty units. I have set up tanks with sliding light but always with the hardware mounted correctly. ------------- http://www.customaquariumfurniture.com" rel="nofollow - Bad "censored" Cabinets Best quality in the valley! He is one sexy bald guy, even with out a finger!(MAC) |
sukie wrote:Posted By: Jerrick
Date Posted: January 13 2011 at 11:16am
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This is behind the solid wall around the corner after you walk into the wall I broke out...  TThis is the wall I removed and the wall the tank will be on! |
Posted By: Jerrick
Date Posted: January 13 2011 at 11:23am
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You can see the vent pipe in the first picture.....I don't think that I will cut it....I was just thinking it would be nice to have a utility sink in that room I am going to see if a new drain pipe and water can be plumbed up there somehow....might not worry about it for now maybe a future item i could add.....need to worry about the tank first.....Mark I see that your lights are angled....is it okay because you have to angled together??? I possibly could get another fixture and do this????? |