Help! Too Hot!

steven's un

steven's un

Member
Im unable to keep my lights on without the temp. reaching up to the upper eighties(87-88). I know this has to be way too hot. Would buying the icecap fan help lower the heat enough. The temperature is perfect w/o the lights(and i have vho!) Should I maybe get two fans? Also, if anyone has one, Does it just mount on the inside of the canopy? It seems that there isn't enough room with my vhos up there, but then again I can't find out the dimensions. Please help. Im worried
 
footbag

footbag

Active Member
I would get two 4" computer fans and wire them into your hood. Does your hood have any openings? If not, one fan should be pointing into the hood, one out. If your hood has openings in the back or top, you can run both fans in.
 
viper_930

viper_930

Active Member
An additional fan in the canopy won't keep the tank cooler, just the lights. Oh wait, do you have a glass top on the tank, or just open?
 
steven's un

steven's un

Member
I do have glass tops, but ive taken them off and it doesn't help. The canopy is only open in the back and limited room is on the sides. Are the fans from radio shack noisy and how big are they?
 
texasranchers

texasranchers

Member
My fans from RS are so quite that I open my hood to see if they are on. Catalogue # is 273-241c, model # is E89061, 115 vac, 60 Hx, 20w. About 4.5", easy to install. I replaced one of ours while hubby was at work. This is the used fan that came with a used hood that we had to improve on. I believe the replacement was under $10.00 just 3 or 4 weeks ago.
 
steven's un

steven's un

Member
Yeah, I went to radio shack earlier and saw those but im not sure if i want to deal with all the wiring(basically cuz i dont know how to do it) . THanks though. Would fans reduce heat that much so a proper temperature can be maintained? About how much does it cut off your temp?
 
ty_05_f

ty_05_f

Active Member
what fans do is increase evaporative cooling which is pretty effective, but you will have to top off more often.
 
msd2

msd2

Active Member

Originally posted by Steven's UN
so i guess the glass tops definitely have to go.
that will help for sure, maybe a degree or two. But that still leaves it way too high. Seriously if you can squeeze it out of ur budget a chiller I would say is ur best route. My tank used to run about 83 and I got it down to 79-81 now. Here is what I did:
1. pulled the glass from the top
2. adjusted a powerhead to agitate the water on the surface
3 took the top off the sump and put a clip on fan over it
3. got an external pump for my sump
This all helps but really no substitute for a chiller. My only concern is w/the fans on the water is the noise they create and also the salinity changes since my auto dosing system is still being finished up.
good luck!
 
steven's un

steven's un

Member
I really like the radio shack idea if anyone can tell me how to wire them. Im not really rushing to get a chiller, so dropping 30 on fans doesn't sound bad.
 
skirrby

skirrby

Active Member
wiring up the raido shack fans is simple.. i just did it this past weekend... what i did was take some old power cords, or you could buy knew ones. and use these to make your harness, they work good and it makes it so you can plug it right into the wall.
coming off the fan is 2 wires,,, if you use a regular old power cord, wire nut one of the wires from the cord with one from the fan. then the other from the cord with the other from the fan.
next cut the end off the power cord, leaving a good amount of room before the plug.
do the same as you did with the first fan, except now, take the left over part of the cord with the plug on it, and wire nut that in with the wires your connecting to the fan.
electrical tape over all your connections really good for obvious reasons.
basicly you wire from the plug to the fan, and from that fan to the other fan.. very simple. if you have any further questions i can take some pics tomorrow and post them for you
 
texasranchers

texasranchers

Member
Squidd, We know. Shocking isn't it. That is why the first weekend we had it we basically removed everything and re-wired. I don't know how the other person was using it like that. Still it was a good deal...all we wanted was the sump and plumbing.
Steven'sUN, Yes, it is that simple.
 
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