Anyone able to keep heat down on MH with just fan?

maury

maury

Member
I've been thinking about upgrading my MH lighting on my 210 to 400W, and maybe moving two 250W fixtures to my 55. Currently, I am only using a fan to keep the tank at 78, as it only has 4 VHO's on it. Has anyone here used MH and kept the tank temperature down with just small aquarium fans?
Also, if I were to upgrade my 250W bulbs/ballasts, what would you recommend? I am currently using 6500K Iwasaki's, and supplementing with 4, superactinic VHO's. I've heard a lot about double-ended HQI bulbs. Are they worth it? Should I go with HQI VS 'regular' 400W MH bulbs?
Also, would anyone recommend a shift from the 6500K spectrum? I have read that this is the spectrum that causes SPS corals to color up the best.
Thanks in advance again.
 
ncjetskier

ncjetskier

Member
I am assuming that you have a canopy on your tank?? I switched from 4-96 watt power compacts to 2-250 MH on a 75 gallon tank. Here is what I did. First I removed the top glass-lets much more light in and it DID NOT MAKE any difference in evaporation of water. Then went to radio shack and purchased two 4' fans (one blowing in and one out). There is very little heat generation in my tank from the MH. Hope this helps
 
maury

maury

Member
Yes, I have a canopy, but a shorter one. It's going to place the bulbs fairly close to the surface (4 inches or so). And there is no glass cover right now. I currently have an evaporative loss of 2 gallons a day. I'm sure that will go up a bit if I add another fan.
 
ncjetskier

ncjetskier

Member
Strange, but I loss about 1.5 gallons a day and my MH are maybe 6 inches from the water and two fans going during the time the lights are on. I only have my lights on about 7 hrs per day (IMO, no need to have on all day when I am at work).
 
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