125 lighting

[rwag]

I will be upgrading to a 125 in a couple of weeks.
I have 2 175 mh that I would like to use in addition to a 250w in the middle with two 165w vho
actinic running along the outside. Was wondering
what everyone thought about this. Also the tank has a center brace,would it be ok to put a 250w directly above the brace? other than diminishing
some of the light transfer would their be any other drawbacks. Also last but not least how tall
should I have the canopy made? I was going to make it 10" but maybe I should make it 12? TIA
Ryan

[organicreefer]

sounds like a pretty good plan to me,i would make the canopy at least 12 inches if not 14.you want the bulbs at least 10 inches off the surface of the water imo,(ok at least 9)figure the bottom of the bulb will be about at least 4-5 inches from the inside top of the canopy ,cosidering mounting a reflector ,socket and bulb size itself.

[rwag]

Any body have any bad experiences placing 250w
mh above a center brace? Approx 6-8" away?

[organicreefer]

the tank /center brace will be fine with the light at 6 inches,but youre water will get heated up...........if you dont mind higher temps/swings, or have a chiller no prob.