I just set up a rough double bulb fluorescent light fixture(T12) which i am planning to hang from a temp canopy, the thing is, i want to know if any possible spray from my bubble wall comes in contact with the bulbs will it cause any major problems o the bulbs or the fixture? The bulbs are open and i do not have access to a 3ft spalsh guard. I have attached a picture of exactly what the fixture with bulb looks like, other then the pic having only 1 bulb mine is exactly like it. The set up leaves the bulbs roughly 2-5" above the water level.(i don't have it hanging at the moment so i don't have the exact height)
I had a SW setup similar to that for the past year or so, and never had any problems with spray affecting the light or its fixture, so you should be fine. Could be that i just got lucky though...
Are you saying that there is no glass tank cover? If so, that's too dangerous for my level of risk acceptance regarding my own safety. I'd either hang it a good foot above, or get a tank cover. And in either case, I'd put the fixture on a GFI circuit. The cover will also help prevent fish from jumping out, as well as evaporative water loss.
Yea sadly that's pretty much exactly what i'm saying, i don't currently have a glass lid big enough for this tank(36"x12") and i was also thinking of just hanging it higher up but i read somewhere that the higher it is from the water level the more light is wasted, and i have a planted tank and i need my light. Right now the bulbs are 3" from the water level and i've been watching them like a hawk to see how much water comes in contact and so far it seems to be tiny amounts of spray from my bubble wall. Any ideas are welcomed due to the fact that i'll be at work tomorrow and don't want to be all freaked out worrying about my precious tank. If i raised the lights up to like 5" or so will enough light still make it to my plants? The tank is 16" deep.
What you can do for now, if you have the fixture on chains, is to put an S-hook into each chain, high up. Then, when you need to put your arms or tank tools into the tank, you can raise the fixture up high, and put the lower end of the chains into the hooks. That will help avoid the risk of touching the fixture with your wet arms or tank tools.
Great idea and it might be a bit more practical then what i have been doing, whenever i need to do anything major(water change, plant moving) i just took the whole thing off of the tank and set it on the floor. The thing i was worried about wasn't so much me being wet and touching the lamp but just of any possible water spray from my bubble wall contacting the light while i'm at work and causing some kind of damage. I know with fluorescent lights the closer you can get them to the water line the more light that reaches the plants, and yesterday i had it at 3" but now i have raised it up to close to 6" just to be safe, at least some light might reach my plants.
Thank you to everyone who offered some advice or an opinion on this because i was kinda freaked out about the smallest amount of water touching the bulbs and maybe shorting everything out, but it seems until i can get a glass lid this will hold out.
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