Nano Cube Condensation

[WALD0123]

I've had a Nano Cube for a little over a month now. I recently took out the stock lighting and put in a Hamilton 2x28 watt retrofit. I'm just a little concerned about the condensation in the hood. There seems to be a ton of it, especially after the lights have been on all day. I'm a little concerned because I noticed some rust on my reflector and clips when I took out the stock lighting. I'm guess I'm just wondering if condensation is a big issue if so, what can I do about it? Thanks for your help, I'm a beginner to nano tanks and wouldn't have been able to get off the ground without this forum.

 

[Juck]

Hey Waldo,

I have a fan mounted on my cube (blowing air in),,, it's been there since day one and I don't have a condensation problem,, maybe that's why? I got the fan online and the AC adapter thing at Radioshack.

The adapter has variable voltage on a sliding switch so I can make the fan work harder when it gets really warm. I have 37w in my hood and I'm just able to keep the water temp at 80 on hot days,,, with 56w I would think a fan is necessary during the summer.

Go on,, tell me you already have a fan in there. lol

 

[WALD0123]

Thanks Juck, I actually haven't put a fan in yet because I was waiting to see what the temperature would do with the lights. As of yet, I haven't seen an increase in temperature under the lights really at all. Maybe from 78 to 79 but no more than that. I'll still probably have to get one in the summer though. Do fans really help with condensation? If so, I'll put one of those Radio Shack 60 mm computer fans in there as soon as possible.

 

[SaltyMist]

Juck:
Are you finding your fan very loud? I just installed a cpu fan off of my canabalized old motherboard, and didnt use a variable adapter, (just cut the cord off of an old 900mhz phone that doesnt work anymore), so Im assuming that my CPU fan is going fullblast, which makes for a very unpleasant sound.

But Im just curious if you managed to find a quiet fan at fullblast which is probably where mine will have to be in the summer months.

 

[Juck]

Saltymist,

The fan isn't terribly loud,,,even running it at full-tilt it's barely louder than the powerhead.

Check the volt/amp rating on the old phone chord,,,,if it's way beyond the rating of the fan then it will probably burn out sooner rather than later.

I ordered my fan online at:

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdet ... er=259-124

These seem like decent quality fans and they're pretty cheap,, I bought 4 but so far I'm still using the first one. They're rated at 12v/150mA so get an AC converter thing rated similarly.

As I mentioned earlier, I got my converter from Radio Shack,,, it's actually a 12v/300mA unit but it works fine. It has a sliding switch on the front starting at 1.5v and goes up to 12v,,, adjusting this switch makes the fan go faster or slower,, I usually have it somewhere in the middle,, the fan is completely silent on all but the highest 2 settings.

Here it is online:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?c ... 273%2D1662