Who runs halides without a chiller?

reefaholic33

reefaholic33

Member
My lfs is setting me up a retro system with 2 250 watt halides and 2 t5s. They swear and swear with a well setup fan system I will be able to keep it cool. Right now with two small fans and t-5s I can cool it about 1.5 degrees warmer than room temp. So if my house is about 74-75....I have a crazy fan set up and the new lights do you guys think I can keep it under 80? Who has a setup like this? Give me some info on your fan setup please. I'm gonna have some blowing the water and sucking the air out the top and back of the canopy.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
I have run 2x 250watt 20k MH's over a 55g. reef without any aeration!
I'm fixing to put those halides over the top of a 30g long! haha. (there will be two fans though!)
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
I have a 225g with 3 250w mh lights...I do not YET have a chiller..I just bought the clip on fans for aquariums..2 with 4 fans each...They are not on yet, so I do not know if they will be enough, BUT I can tell you that the few warm days we have had, my tank temp has shown it...in the summer I probably will be need in a chiller (hoping these fans will work tho)
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
I run 2 - 250w and 4 t-5's. The canopy has built in fans but was raising the temp of my 90 to 84 degrees by the end of the day. I added two small cpu fans to blow across the water under the halides and that does the trick for me... fans are on a timer with the halides.
 
reefaholic33

reefaholic33

Member
Wow alot of quick replies...thanks for the input. I feel alot more secure now.
Hey Jackri - what size is your tank? I'm gonna have the same lighting as yours pretty much. Mine is 120
 
reefaholic33

reefaholic33

Member
Jackri- nevermind read it again and saw it's a 90. but hopefully thats good for me that you can keep your 90 safe with those lights hopefully 30 extra gallons will help with the same light setup.
 
stanlalee

stanlalee

Active Member
150wx2 over 30 gallon but an open top (fixture or pendants) makes it much less of a concern. Still very doable in a canopy with good fan cooling (heat evacuation is more like it) just expect to get alot of evaporation. you'll probably heat up a little near the end of the light cycle but realistically anything up to 85deg isn't going to harm anything. you should expect to have to run somewhere in the low 80's
 
gman08016

gman08016

Member
I have 3-250 mh's and 4 48"t-5 on my 150.Only thing i run in the summer is a 8" fan on top of my sump.Highest temp i had in the summer in 83 degrees.
 
saltfan

saltfan

Active Member
3- 175W MH over 125g, 2- 4" fans running with MH at all times, my heaters even kick on. Bulbs are only 10" off the water surface.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
I have 2- 250w MH, and 4- 65w PC's over my 55g ran for several years with no fans then after I added a Mag 9.5 for my skimmer started having some heat issues. Installed two fans blowing accross the top of my tank and now the my temp remains a constant 80deg during the day but my heater has trouble keeping up at night, temp will drop to 77deg. I am going to put the fans on my temp controller so they only run when the tank is too warm.
 
mr_x

mr_x

Active Member
my system consists of 4 tanks plumbed together, but over the water are 3 x 250 watt halides, 1 x 400 watt halide, and about 350 watts of fluorescent lighting. the total volume is 400 gallons. no chiller. the water stays at 80 degrees. one 12" fan over the main tank (195 gallons).
btw- 400 watt halides over a standard 75 is just a waste.
 
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