Ballast Placement in Canopy

[nottheone]

Newbie question,

where do most people put the ballasts for the MH and VHO's? My canopy is approx. 6x2x2 (for a 180 gal. tank) I have 3 MH, and 2 VHO.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[Reefdaddy1]

Well I have niether, However I placed them on shelf I built above the lights. This way I can vent and cool with a fan. . I have a open back Canopy so it made it real easy to access the ballasts incase anything went wrong.

 

[phljess]

As far as I know most people do not put ballasts inside their canopies, too much moisture due to evaporation. I would try to put them somewhere else on the outside of the tank or in your stand. Especially, MH ballasts and VHOs because they are usually rather big if they are magnetic. I guess you could mount the ballasts to the outside of the back of your canopy. You could also mount them to the wall behind your tank.

 

[jwreffner]

I second that...don't put it in the canopy. I put them either under the tank or on an outside wall next to the tank stand.

 

[Gobie]

Metal halide ballast get hot, you want to keep the heat out of your tank. Donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t put them in your stand they should go beside the tank.

 

[GROSSR]

I mounted my on the top of my canopy. On the outside. 1 ICE Cap 250mh 3 DIY electonic Ballasts overdriven

Rich

 

[nottheone]

Thanks for the responses/input everyone. they are electonic ballasts (ice cap) so i hope that will keep heat down. i'm just trying to figure a way to do it in a functional, yet appealing to the eye way.