DIY Hood and Lighting question

[bergie33]

NooB here. I have a 55 gallon (48x13x18) tank and built a 16" tall hood. I want to do DIY lighting, and was going to use two MH bulbs and two actinic T5 lights. Will I have enought space (13" width) to fit those (not sure width requirement for each bulb)? Can the T5's be up high like the MH bulbs and give good light to the water? I was thinking of mounting the MH bulbs about 10" above the water, and use two 175w MH bulbs and two 65w T5 actinics.

[crvz]

You can mount the T5 high in this situation... you're just using them for aesthetics and not worried so much about light output. You should have enough width, but you may have to get creative with the MH fixture. There are a few that are in the 9" range, and T5 reflectors are in the 2.5-3" range.

[chrischris]

ya you should be ble to fit it in there depending o what type of reflector you want to use