retros in canopy or MH hood

[mufflerguy]

Which type of lighting do you prefer?
I want to make an educated purchase on 2-250w MH w/ 2 PC actinics.
I know retros hidden in a canopy look better but hold in more heat, and full hoods , like the PFO shimmer hood, allow leakage of light into the room because they hang.Please help me with any thoughts or opinions .
Thanks ,Matt

[VaderWS6]

Build your own hood. As for metal halide, this is a good system http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=PFO250DW65R&Category_Code=PFOr Add 2-4 VHO actinics w/Icecap ballast and you're set. :)

[Reefadict]

I have a 250w. MH in the PFO steel pendant ( the square one )
I built the stand and canopy so I just cut a hole on top of the canopy that was slightly smaller than the dimensions of the pendant to prevent the pendant from falling through. Then I just allow the pendant to sit directly on the canopy without any hangers. I also keep a small fan on top of the canopy to keep the pendant cool. It lights the tank up pretty good with very little dispersal of the light. My thank also stays around 80 F (+-1F) year round without a chiller( in summer the a/c is on to cool the living room. Attached is a picture from about June. You will see that I had it on 2 x 4's. This allowed me to get air flow under the light but I got tired of the 2 x 4 look so I just set the pendant right on the canopy.

[Reefadict]

I forgot to add that on the inside of the hood I have 2-65watt. PC's They are arranged in a way that they dont get in the way of the MH. The MH I use an Icecap 250w ballast, A Sunburst 12,000k bulb in the PFO pendant. Im thinking of removing the PC's and adding another MH setup except in the 400w set up and I will probably go with a radium bulb. Here is a better picture of the tank stocked for anyone who is interested.

[MiddletonMark]

If you're handy at all ... just build a canopy to fit it.

I have a 175w + 2 x 55w PC actinics ... just got a reflector upgrade [pfo parallel!] ... and that's my project for the next two weeks. Not that hard to build a suitably tall canopy, leaving the back and part of the top open [reflector will block any light].