Temperature at 83!

[adadkins1]

I recently upgraded my bulbs on my 20g high from 2x 13 watt to 2x 23 watt CFL bulbs. Before the upgrade, my temperature stayed in the upper 70's. However, I just noticed that with the bigger bulbs, the water temperature is getting a bit too high for my comfort. What should I do in order to keep away the heat, but keep my med. light plants happy?

 

[Da Squid]

A good strong fan is the best solution. Set it to blow on the light and take away some of that hot air. Ideally, you could build a little shelf near the tank but otherwise just angle something as best you can.

In times of emergency I'd remove my glass covers on the tank which helped a great deal. Of course this is VERY dangerous because now you've got live electrical equipment sitting just above open water.

 

[mfdrookie516]

You could put a small computer fan or two on the fixture as well. If you had one pushing air in and one pulling out, that would bring a lot of heat out.

As far as the worry about removing the glass lids... that's not something I've ever worried about. I dont run lids on any of my tanks. All aquariums NEED to be on GFCI circuits, whether they're built in or added in via a plug. I would never plug aquarium equipment in to a regular electrical plug.

 

[adadkins1]

I decided to go ahead and swap one of the 23's for a 13's. I will watch what the temperature does over the next couple of hours and update if I have any more problems. Thanks for the advice!