Metal Halide 14k, Really blue.
- Thread starter DustinKeating
- Start date
Actually, i have a new question. The 250 watt is really hard on a 20 gallons temp (obviously), so i bought two computer fans to help cool it down. Now, i'm not sure how to mount them because i'm going open top due to the new pendant. What i want to do with the pendant is build a wooden enclosure "chandellier" type thing. I was thinking i might mount the fans in the enclosure, pointing down towards the open top...hopefully cooling the water. At 12"-18" will this have enough cooling power?
You're going to have to suck it and see as some other variables will be coming into play. However if you need to cool the tank with evaporation you should be aware your evap will go through the roof. You might want to investigate an autotopup.
What are you going to try to keep. If it's anything than clams and shallow water corals (sps, xenia, some softies) you will want to lift that bulb right up anyway.
What are you going to try to keep. If it's anything than clams and shallow water corals (sps, xenia, some softies) you will want to lift that bulb right up anyway.
"What are you going to try to keep. If it's anything than clams and shallow water corals (sps, xenia, some softies) you will want to lift that bulb right up anyway."
-Sorry but i dont quite understand what you mean by that, do you mean my bulb should be higher than 18"?
I actually got a float switch along with my bulb, although i haven't wired it up. I'll just have to keep it going manually for now (not for very long, this is getting tedious).
This brings up another question, are mounting fans cooling supposed to cool the halide fixture, or the tank? I know camaro said it should cool the fixture, but is it even possible to cool the tank via fans? If i touch the metal reflector/enclosure around the bulb it's obviously hot...now my question, is the tank being warmed just by radiant heat given off by the the light/reflector/heated parts? OR, is it by the heatlamp that's created by having a 250 watt bulb 12" above a tank?
-Sorry but i dont quite understand what you mean by that, do you mean my bulb should be higher than 18"?
I actually got a float switch along with my bulb, although i haven't wired it up. I'll just have to keep it going manually for now (not for very long, this is getting tedious).
This brings up another question, are mounting fans cooling supposed to cool the halide fixture, or the tank? I know camaro said it should cool the fixture, but is it even possible to cool the tank via fans? If i touch the metal reflector/enclosure around the bulb it's obviously hot...now my question, is the tank being warmed just by radiant heat given off by the the light/reflector/heated parts? OR, is it by the heatlamp that's created by having a 250 watt bulb 12" above a tank?
Well 18" is pretty high so I would imagine that would be ok, though you'll be getting a lot of lightspill I'd imagine. You should keep an eye on what happens though. To some extent 14K has less PAR and less brightness than say a 6500 so it will be less of a problem.
Cooling fans can cool both. By blowing air over the tank you can increase the evap and thus use some of that heat for the 'work' of evaping the water. The ansewer to your second question is both, but mostly by transmitting a stack of light into the tank, of which a fairly significant proportion is not reflected but converted from light energy to heat energy.
Cooling fans can cool both. By blowing air over the tank you can increase the evap and thus use some of that heat for the 'work' of evaping the water. The ansewer to your second question is both, but mostly by transmitting a stack of light into the tank, of which a fairly significant proportion is not reflected but converted from light energy to heat energy.
The auto top off is in the works, although overheating is still a problem as even though it's evaporating...it's still a little too hot. I'm building the enclosure tonight, so i'll cut some holes for the fans. As for tank oriented fans, they'll come as your standard room fan...oh well, nothing fancy.