Eclipse 3 gallon overheating problem

[SueG]

Looking for help on how to modify an Eclipse 3 gallon lighting system.

Without a heater, the water is hitting 80 degrees from the ballast. Is there anyway to reduce this heat or modify the lighting system to reduce the heat?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[thatmagicguy]

Short of cutting the top away on both sides and putting a small fan near it I don't know any way. 80 degrees isn't too hot but you might want to keep the light off during the day if you are not there. If you can put a small fan near the tank and just prop open the lid by a half inch it might help. Not alot of options with a lid that has the filter in it. Bill

 

[blasterx]

The fan will do the trick, but youll get water evaporating a lot quicker. Something which I am going to try is mounting a CPU heatsync to the metal heat shield to draw out heat without causing so much evaporation

 

[jsoong]

You could raise the hood up so there is a gap for air to pass through. I am not sure how to make that look good tho!

Another way is to change the light ... have the ballast external to the tank, but that is an expensive way to go ....

 

[blasterx]

Yeah the ballast on mine is external, I think you'll find that it is the lamp that really generates the heat not so much the ballast.