Does anyone have bare bulbs above water?

[ashdavid]

All my tanks have nothing between the bulbs, distances ranging from 1 .1/2" to 4" and on my main tank 3'. As Daveedka said ,worry about the klutz factor, b/c I have actualy droped a whole light fitting turned on in the water while working on it, I got some DIY home electric shock treatmeat,LOL. Then again used to pull all my powerheads out of the water by the cords until one of the cords pulled out of the powerhead, more DIY electric shock treatment,LOL.

 

[sumoschro]

Yea I just dropped my hood in my aquarium about an hour ago....

Thank god the light was unplugged.

So long as you don't have jumpers or butterfingers, you're probably ok. I dont have anything between my light and tank on my 2.5, 3, 10, or 29....But If you're worried about the klutz factor, you could put bars on the top where the lights wouldn't interfere, and that would help prevent droppage/DIY electroshock therapy. As far as condensation goes, it depends on how hot your bulbs get, how close they are to the waters surface, and if there is any space for air to get in and out of the tank, such as holes in the back, etc.

 

[Matak]

Ok, I think I'm getting the picture. A little on the :OT: side here, but are black ghost knifes and clown loaches jumpers parchance?

 

[daveedka]

That's interesting Dave, as you have what I consider aggressive fish. Are there any leapers in your tanks?

The aggressive tank has abut 5 inches of clearance and with the 115 being so tall the fish tend not to venture to the top a lot. Occasionally a guppy bounces off of the lights in any or all of my tanks, but I coubt they hurt anything.

As Daveedka said ,worry about the klutz factor, b/c I have actualy droped a whole light fitting turned on in the water while working on it, I got some DIY home electric shock treatmeat,LOL.

The part that I find simply amazing is how when you drop a light fixture in the tank. you will naturally reach out a grab it as fast as possible without ever thinking to unplug it first. Thank goodness for GFCI's. They limit the shock Therapy to small doses.
Dave

 

[ashdavid]

The part that I find simply amazing is how when you drop a light fixture in the tank. you will naturally reach out a grab it as fast as possible without ever thinking to unplug it first. Thank goodness for GFCI's. They limit the shock Therapy to small doses.
Dave

What happened was that I was cleaning the algae of my 200g and instead of not being lazy , I tried to squeeze my arm through a small gap between the light fixture and the front of the tank, so as I was cleaning the glass I bumped the light fixture and it moved to an angle so as it fell in the tank with my arm still in there, naturaly the shock scared the crap out of me and I jumped out of the tank knocking the other light fixture into the tank,LOL(that one was switched off luckly).

 

[Leopardess]

In the 55g, I don't have anything separating the bulbs from the surface, but the distance is over a foot.

If I could avoid having anything between them (read, glass covers) I would. In the planted tank side of the hobby, it's very common to have the lights direcly above the water.