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400W MH too much?
- Thread starter Rainman
- Start date
It looks like a hanging fixture so I assume you're going to run an open-top setup? Will your tank have a sump? Is the room the tank will be in climate controlled? If so, by mounting the light about 10" - 12" off the water and running a fan over your sump for cooling you should be able to manage the heat.
If the room the tank is in isn't climate controlled and it gets very warm at certain times of year, or the humidity gets really high (which hinders evaporation and therefore evaporative cooling) that may be a problem.
IME some corals do better in lower lighting conditions, so I disagree with the statement "you can never have too much light". What do you plan on keeping in the tank? IMO this will basically determing what lighting will suite you best.
HTH
If the room the tank is in isn't climate controlled and it gets very warm at certain times of year, or the humidity gets really high (which hinders evaporation and therefore evaporative cooling) that may be a problem.
IME some corals do better in lower lighting conditions, so I disagree with the statement "you can never have too much light". What do you plan on keeping in the tank? IMO this will basically determing what lighting will suite you best.
HTH
Sorry, I just noticed your tank specs are in your sig...
IMO a 400 watter is probably overkill on a 20 gallon tank unless you're mainly into high-light SPS and Tridacna sp. clams.
Also, with a total system volume of only 35 gallons I'm not sure how high you'd have to mount the light to manage the heat without a chiller...
IMO a 400 watter is probably overkill on a 20 gallon tank unless you're mainly into high-light SPS and Tridacna sp. clams.
Also, with a total system volume of only 35 gallons I'm not sure how high you'd have to mount the light to manage the heat without a chiller...
yeah, but they're nice and cheap-ish. I am concerned about the heat issue. I'm in the dry tropics of Australia where it's been about 32 for weeks now. The humidity is currently pretty low (20%) but will climb as summer kicks in with a venegence.
The room has a fan and currently on hot days I have the fluro tube with a remote ballast on top, but the hood removed and the overhead fan on. This seems to work.
The thing is, I have another, smaller room with a fat air con in it. I'd like to move the tank in there but the girlfriend doesn't want the tank in their because it has our working desk, computer, spare bed etc... in there.
I could then use a thermostat device with a probe in the tank water to turn the air-con on and off. We'll see I guess.
The room has a fan and currently on hot days I have the fluro tube with a remote ballast on top, but the hood removed and the overhead fan on. This seems to work.
The thing is, I have another, smaller room with a fat air con in it. I'd like to move the tank in there but the girlfriend doesn't want the tank in their because it has our working desk, computer, spare bed etc... in there.
I could then use a thermostat device with a probe in the tank water to turn the air-con on and off. We'll see I guess.
Best way to keep the tank cool is going to be through evaporation... I have problems with my mh's heating the water of my tank (75 gallons, 250w double ended halides for lights) as well. Without a/c I don't think this is a wise plan for you. Definitely go with a lower watt mh for this tank. Also, make sure you have cooling fans on hand and plenty of top off water readily available to keep things nice and cool for your occupants.
i might need some help on this issue too, maybe not though. i have a 75 gal that is gonna have 2 250watt HQI MH and 2-110watt VHO. the house i live in has central AC, and if it's hot out the AC is on. also the lights will probably be hanging about 10-12 inches off the top. i want to go open talk, but have a cat and am worried about the possible trouble of him trying to jump up onto this thing. hopefully the cat isn't that nosy. what do you think would i have any problems with the open top? how about if i want to go with lids? would a fan over the 20 gal sump be enough or not?
thanks
ben
thanks
ben
Canopy... mount lights in canopy, have 4" cooling fans inside canopy drawing air out and place screens on top of tank, instead of glass or plexiglass shields to allow for evaporation and keep the tank cool. This keeps my cat off the tank and keeps things cool inside the canopy. You can see a general design for this in my canopy. Pic is posted at the bottom of the first page here.
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=33283
Feel free to ask any questions about my setup. BTW, I have the 250w HQI DE pendants over my tank and I love them. Awesome lights.
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=33283
Feel free to ask any questions about my setup. BTW, I have the 250w HQI DE pendants over my tank and I love them. Awesome lights.
do you have supplemental lights in there too? VHO or PC? i think that the canopy probably would work best, where did you get yours, and about how much did it run you for the whole setup? i haven't bought the lights yet, but i was gonna this week. maybe if you have a good recommendation i'd get them elswhere.
thanks
ben
thanks
ben
No, I don't have any supplemental lighting at the moment. I use 10k bulbs and for now, this seems to be enough for lighting, but I also have only a couple of coral residents. These two corals, an encrusting porites and a baby blastomussa wellsi are doing amazingly well for having been hitch hikers on live rock and fully bleached when they were added. The whole setup, pendants, ballast, bulbs, canopy, cooling fans and additional moonlight was around 1,000$
The lights are the 250w HQI DE fixtures from sunlight supply, which are available from http://www.inverts.com I highly recommend these lights from sunlight supply. Canopy was a custom designed thing from a company over in Seattle which I have forgotten the name of, but you could probably build something similar for less money than what I paid for it.
The lights are the 250w HQI DE fixtures from sunlight supply, which are available from http://www.inverts.com I highly recommend these lights from sunlight supply. Canopy was a custom designed thing from a company over in Seattle which I have forgotten the name of, but you could probably build something similar for less money than what I paid for it.
thanks, i just sent them a email and will see what they have to offer. our neighbors at work build custom cabinets, what would be a reasonable price for them to build something for me? i don't want to overpay them for a specialty item. or would it be pretty simple for them to make?
It's basically a big wood box, with a mostly open back and two holes cut in the sides to accomodate fans, also extra wide doors on the front...
I paid around 300$ for my canopy, that should be a fairly standard number for a custom canopy depending on materials used.
I paid around 300$ for my canopy, that should be a fairly standard number for a custom canopy depending on materials used.
PeeJ, which link do you mean, the one to my tank? You need to scroll down to the bottom of the thread on my tank to see how I have the lights and canopy set up. I started out with pc's on the system, and upgraded later to mh's, there are pics of both on that thread.
J.
J.
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