My lights are here for my DIY Hood...

[bergie33]

Not sure where to mount the balasts, how high to mount the lights, and if I should put a piece of 1/4" glass to shield the lights.

It is for my 55g tank. The hood is 16" tall. I have two 54w actinic T5s and two DE 150w MH reflectors, which have glass shields.

I was going to mount the lights on a crossbar, about 10" above the tank, leaving about 5" above them for airflow. If I put a sheet of 1/4" glass below the lights, will that allow me to put the ballasts in the hood above the lights? Or, should I mount the ballasts on the back of the hood or under my stand?

I got the kit from hellolights.com.

[tims]

you only need the glass for the MH which have them.
the ballasts if they have enough cord , should be away from the water if possible.

[bergie33]

anyone else?

[Loverotties]

I mounted the ballast on the back of my stand.

[bergie33]

Also, Not sure about mounting the lights. It seems that if I mount my MH and T5 on the same surface, that the MH reflectors will cause shadowing of the T5 lights. THe MH reflectors are a lot taller. Do I need to mount the MH and T5 so that the bottom of the reflectors are at the same level to avoid shadowing, or am I over thinking this?

See the attached pictures to see what I am talking about. Maybe moving the T5s to the very outside edge of the hood will help, but I thought having them away from the edge would be best. I don't know.

[bergie33]

Anyone else?