Need help to raise lighting?

nickbuol

nickbuol

Member
Haven't been around these boards for a while, but I knew that I would get some great help and ideas for all of you.
Here's the situation. I have a 30 gallon XTall tank (species tank for seahorses) that I've been "test driving" for a while. (I like to set it all up with lights, water, etc, fully cycle it and still et it run to get the pods growing, etc, and to see what is going to happen with the temp, etc.) Anyway, it is just too warm. I can't keep the temp down. It has two 55watt PC lights attached to the homemade canopy. I would like to raise the entire canopy a few inches to allow for more air flow and room for attaching a fan to the back side. I have been told that this will do wonders for the temp. Our larger tank has a chiller in it, and I would hate to spend the $$$ on a chiller for the 30 gallon unless I really need to.
Any easy, yet secure way to put some sort of "legs" or something on the canopy and get it to actuall be above the tank and not on the tank? Any other ideas are welcome that will help to cool the tank.
Thanks!
Nick
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
I think it would be worthwhile to build another canopy with the fans built in.
Is there any way to connect your 30 to your other tank? If they share enough water the 30 will stay cool without fans.
Another way to cool water is to build a sump and point a fan at the water in the sump. I understand that a sump may not be an option for a 30 gal though.
 
nickbuol

nickbuol

Member
I've thought about re-making the canopy, however, I don't have the stain anymore that I used for the canopy and the stand. I don't remember what color or anything I used, so it would be difficult to match.
I wonder if I could just cut out a square "hole" on each side and attach 2 fans, one blowing in and one blowing out.
What do you think about that? If that works, then I wouldn't have to modify much at all. This would provide air flow over the lights, but not much over the water itself.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
You really need to blow air over the water to reduce the temperature. Even though the air above the water is hot it doesn't really transfer much heat into the water. The heat comes from the light energy being absorbed by the water.
 
nickbuol

nickbuol

Member
OK. I went to Rip-Off Shack and picked up two 3" fans, hooked them up under the hood, and wired them up. They blow slightly downward towards the water, and sem to push a good amount of air. I will see what happens over the next few days and let everyone know.
 
nickbuol

nickbuol

Member
OK. Now after 1 full day with the fans running, the temp is a constant 74 degrees, and I put a heater in the tank for the first time to make sure that it didn't go lower! This is a 10 degree drop from the almost constant daytime 84 degrees. Since this will be a seahorse tank, and they reportedly do well in 72-78 degree temps (the species that we are looking at) this just saved us a few hundred $$$ over buying a chiller!
Thanks for all of your help. Now I think that I will set up something similar for our larger tank.
Nick
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top