heat & lighting question (1 Viewer)

[cope]

I seem to have a constant temp of 83 degrees... I have been adjusting the heator down daily... so today I unplugged it.... it is still at 83...

the lights I have are coral life compact... two bulbs "U" shaped... blue and white...

are the lights making the heat?

the light is sitting right on top of the lid... should I raise them and hang them from the ceiling? or should I get a chiller.....also the lower part of the cabinet seems warm when I open it up.... no ventalation... should I drill a hole where the pump motor is at... it is a Little giant pump....

Lights and pump are the only thing I know of that would generate heat... my other tanks here stay at 75-78 with no heator


one note: I had a clown fish jump out of the tank.. found him this morn,... I have a top on it... he found the only spot to jump thru....I though most of the salt tanks I have seen do not even have a top... making me think that jumpers where not an issue

 

[jdeveaux]

Put a fan on your sump to help with the heat and raising the light a bit would help too. I have a top or canopy on all of my tanks.

Most fish can and will jump at some point. Sometimes it will just be because they were startled.

A good deal of you heat is probably coming from the little giant pump. It is fan cooled but it is heating the air in your cabinet and some heat is transfered to the water as it is pumped through.

Be careful with cutting vents. Make sure your not damaging the support structure of the stand.

 

[Hanson77]

He may have been chased by one of the damsels that you have in the tank. Makes me think that I might need to break out the glass top for my tank now.

 

[cope]

Well today I went and got a bigger light... I have it on Legs above the tank... I removed the cover.... Now my water is staying around 78.5 way better than the 83 it was the other day.....

 

[goby1kanobi]

Good deal-Cope your coping.

 

[cope]

is there a difference in the metal halide for fish tanks and the metal halide you can get at Home Depot?

 

[curtisandrachel]

yes.. i'll let someone with a bit more knowledge share those differences, but I believe they have to do with color spectrum, kelvin etc

 

[chriskb3]

There are several differences between the halides from HD and the ones specifically made for aquarium use.

First, like said above, the bulbs sold in HD are not the correct spectrum.

Second, The "barn light" housing/fixture isnt the correct reflector for a reef tank application because they are designed to spread diffused light wide across the ground where as aquarium reflectors should focus all the light down into the water.

This pretty much leaves only one componet that is useable from the Home Depot lights; the ballast. I wont speak for all, but I believe all of them only use magnetic ballasts.

Magnetic ballasts arent bad per se, however, they are heavier, louder (humm when running), and sometimes run hotter than the current aquarium technology standard of electronic ballasts.

There are tons of options in aquarium lighting, and most of it is quite affordable in relation to the grand scheme of things.

Hope this helps.