Lights help

[rah_reef]

Hello,

I have 2 ai hydra’s 32 installed in a canopy with a roughly 4 inch square cut in the canopy for heat to pass out and the light cables to go out of the canopy. It’s around 4 inches on all the 4 sides.

My lights are 1 month old. One of them flickers for a few seconds then runs normal and again after approx 3/4 minutes it flickers and then works normally like a charm. Ai hydra customer support has not yet responded which sucks.

Now pls advice if that square is fine or I need a plastic fan of some kind installed in the canopy for the lights or no need at all. Installing one will be a pain because there is live stock in my aquarium.

The aquarium I am talking about is a rimless one which looks beautiful. The only reason I installed the canopy is due to light spill because back then it was in my bedroom but now I have moved it in my hall. The mesh used to do a fine job in keeping the fish inside too.

So pls advise, if I need a fan or abandon the canopy and go rimless for the betterment of the lights. Those are really expensive lights and I don’t want to cook the lenses, Lol. I put my head inside the canopy to check on the rocks last night and I felt warm air on the head emitting from the lights. I also want to add that both the fans of the lights are working well. I have already done the hard reset and restarted the lights via the hydra app.

Sorry for the long message but need help and guidance.

Also pls let me know if I need 1 Ai Hydra or 2 of them so I can keep one back as my back up if it’s not needed. It’s a 75 gallon longish cube. I intent to keep fish, soft corals and sps towards the top. This is an old picture. The new one has a canopy with hydras and a lot more rock work going towards the top of the aquarium.


Thanks.

 

[HankstankXXXL750]

I have 3 32’s on a 5’ tank so I would think you need at least two on the tank especially with it being that deep.

as far as the heat, as long as the fan opening is at the hole in the canary I would think that would be ok. However you might want some clearance between the light and the canopy. 1/4-1-2” ought to be enough just so there is some air movement in there.
I have an AI 32 over the frag portion of my RedSea S1000 sump and when I am working in there it is really warm when it is on, so I would expect it to be warmer under the canopy. One issue to consider is will the light’s heat cause your water temp to be too high during the summer. If so I would do away with the canopy vs having to run a chiller.

 

[rah_reef]

Thanks for the reply, the hole is actually on the back wall of the canopy from where the wires go out and the lights are on the top wall of the canopy mounted on a wooden bracket of sorts so yes there is room for the hydra fans. I am attaching a pic. Pls advice. Also any suggestions of that flickering since you have many hydras. Thanks for the help.