MH distance from water

[brucesly]

Hello again.
This has been prolly asked a million times but, what is the ideal distance from my light to the water. I'm running right now a MH 250w pendant. How far should it be from the water?

Thanks!

[brucesly]

Hello again.
This has been prolly asked a million times but, what is the ideal distance from my light to the water. I'm running right now a MH 250w pendant. How far should it be from the water?

Thanks!

[brucesly]

Hello again.
This has been prolly asked a million times but, what is the ideal distance from my light to the water. I'm running right now a MH 250w pendant. How far should it be from the water?

Thanks!

[Sk8r]

9".

[jdieck]

There will be no stright answer, first insure that the hot glass, bulb or lens do not get splashed, second adjust the distance depending on the reaction of your corals, If browning, loosing color or darkening lower it, if little polyp extension when lights on, too pale pastel coloration or too much geends rise it.

[bertoni]

That depends on a lot of factors. If the tank isn't overheating, and the corals are doing well, the lamp is fine as is. Lowering the lamp will increase the light intensity and might cause more heating of the tank. Raising it does the opposite. Some experimentation might be needed. :) I have run with MH bulbs anywhere from a few inches to more like 8 inches or so off the water.

[Entropy]

I ran my last set up (2x175w SE's) 3.5 inches from the water surface and never had a problem (about two years). My current setup is about 8 inches off the surface. It will depend a lot on your reflector and your light needs. You might have to adjust it up or down to get the best light spread (and also side to side if you have multiple bulbs).