Lighting question sort of....

[fishman]

Im in the process of setting up a 100 SW reef. I am running an icecap 660 ballast with only 2 white atinics and 1 (blue) bulb-110 each. (might eventually go to the 4 bulb max) The question is the canopy for the tank only sits about 4-5 inches off of the water. This goes for the bulbs as well. im not worried about the water/bulb situation so much as I am the heat that comes off of the bulbs being they are right next to the water. Any suggestions for a siuation like this? The guy that had it before me said he never had any heat issues and used the same lighting set up. Plus the lids to the canopy are on top at each end of the tank. I guess I could put fans (cut them) in on the opposite side of the lids or in each end...Let me know if I am missing any other points as well that i should consider..
Thanks

 

[ReefGuru]

Heat is not as much of an issue as people make it out to be. I had 6 watts of gallon VHO lighting at one point lying on top of the glass that covered my aquarium (I did not have a canopy and got retrofits for free). Even with this gross transgression I did not overheat, because I kept my evaporation high. My suggestion is to try it, and monitor the temp (mine rose to 76 from 72). If the temp stays below 79 (as mine is now with metal halides), all you have to do is set the heater to the max so you do not get fluctuations (its not so much the high heat that kills corals but the day/night fluctuation that does, as the ocean only fluctuates +/- 5 degrees between winter/summer.) If it does go higher, you still have PLENTY of things that you can do before resorting to a chiller. First, place a fan in your stand. Yes thats right the stand. It is MUCH better to put it there than in the canopy. If you put a fan in your stand and leave the top of your sump as uncovered as posible, what you will end up with is a lot more evaporation. and evaporation is the best cooling mechanism for ANYTHING. Most mammals do it, and we are even using evaporation to put out fires, and cool down nuclear power plants. If its good enough for a nuclear power plant, its good enough for our reefs. Finally, if that is not sufficient when (and I do mean when, not if, because everybody who is serious about reefs eventually does) get metal halides, if that does not work, try put one or two into the light. With that combination you will doubtfully ever overheat.

Andrej

 

[ReefGuru]

Re-reading this I wanted to clarify that you should use your heater to keep the water a steady temp.

 

[fishman]

Nice...Well I will not worry about it then. I do have doors on each end of the canopy so this is a plus, but I hate to leave them open as its tacky looking. Plus the guy that had it before me had the glass tops which Im for sure not going to do. I will take your advice and get a large fan for the stand and keep the sump open as possible. Im building a sump so I can design it anyway I want to.
And yes I know what your saying about the heater...
Thanks