Lights might cause overheating

maxx

maxx

Member
Hey there, I just got my lights hooked up last night FINALLY! (96x2 PC's on Actinic lbue the other 10,000k white) I had them on for about five hours and noticed buy the fifth hour the water was 80 degrees (It's between 73-78 without lights). I have one of those floating mercury thermometers, and I was gonig to go to the hardware store this weekend and buy a digital theremomater (I cant see to good :)) Now Im going to run them for about 7-8 hours. Now if it gets to warm what do I do?? And what is the maximum temp a 60 gallon reef tank can be?? Thanks for the help, sorry so long. Later.
Maxx
 
andymi

andymi

Member
I would say that 76-80 is typical for a reef tank. I would suggest the following:
1. Get a fan to help blow some of the heat the lights generate out from under your canopy.
2. Create more water movement at the surface which will help increase evaporation, which in turn keeps the temperature low.
3. Maybe run 1 set for a while, then start the second set and run them on timers.
Do you have A/C? Last thing would be to try and keep the room as cool as possible.
--Andy
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
How low are your lights to the tank top.....I run 4x65 pc&2x110vho......with little heat rise due to lights....but my lights are approximately 6-8 inches above the water level with a open top(no cover on tank top)......
 
burnnspy

burnnspy

Active Member
My tank runs from 82-85 with no problems because I don't have AC, but I do run a small fan.
BurnNSpy
 
frenchman

frenchman

Member
A small fan works very well (you'll be surprised about it) but of course you have faster evaporation - and a bit more salt everywhere. If you can lift up the lights off the water, it could help too. ;) And by the way... BEWARE of mercury thermometers...
 
maxx

maxx

Member
Ok its been 4 hours since I turned on my lights and the temp is about 83 degrees. Tommorow Im going to leave them on when Im at work athen test teh temp when I get home, If its over 85 then later this week Im going to suspend my lights about 4-6 inches from the top, I hope that will do the trick. Right now there about 2-3 inches from top. Thank you guys so much for the help
Maxx
 
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