Elevation Options ?

[depthC]

Since ive upgraded my lighting on my 10g standard hood with a 2x13w kit im in need of ideas on how i should elevate the hood. This is the picture of what the hood used to look like, here, old inc. hood . .

Now ive upgraded it this is how it looks : here, upgraded flo. hood .

As you can see the two balasts are mounted on the back. I originally didnt want to do this but i didnt have much of a option. So i did it, put it on my tank and a while later i noticed a buzzing comming from the new balasts. Well since i didnt give it much thought the balasts or at least one was right next to the filter outflow. So being paranoid i took out the hood and havent used it since. I want to upgrade and make my own wood hood but i wont be able to do it till spring since the equipment isnt available. So this is my situation.

I got myself a glass 10g tank filled it with shultz, cut myself a piece of plexiglass and put it on the tank. Then put the hood on the plexiglass, plugged it in and admired what was soon to be a running tank. Well after a while i got caught up and left the light on and to be honest i was surfing mft. Well i went upstairs and found that the plexiglass warped because of the heat. Heh, my bad again i dont have the hood vented at all yet.

Here is a visual to help you understand. As you can see the hood sits flush on the plexi and its not vented.

So i plan to cut a few holes in the sides to provide some ventalation. But being as i am i dont think that will be enough to stop the plexiglass from warping again. So i was thinking of elevating the hood some to help dissipate some more heat and avoid warping the acrylic again. So any ideas on elevation? I thought of one or two small pieces of wood to elevate it and one in the front to avoid the light from reflecting off from the acrylic. Any more ideas?

- depthC

[Shakey]

What about switching to glass instead?

I tried non-tempered glass, tho it was dirt cheap its too fragile. I been lazy but I am wanting to check out glass stores and see if I can get "tempered" glass for the cover, which is usually thicker and not so darn fragile.

With that you will have no worries at all about your bulbs warping your cover, and I have it feeling will be "considerably" cheaper then the glass lids you see at the pet store, as things sold specifically for fish tanks seem to be marked up astronomically compaired to the same thing not marketed for a hobbist application.

[GulfCoastAquarian]

Plexi is going to warp, heat or no heat. It just doesn't have the rigidity to maintain a planar surface on it's own. You can cut some supporting strips, maybe, and glue them to the plexi to try and stiffen it, but inevitably, it's still going to end up bending a little.
Shakey's right - get a glass canopy. Most pet stores sell them for that 10g for about $10-$15.