Pointing fans at water to cool it down... which direction?

[corrado33]

Hey guys, if you've read one of my prev threads you probably know I'm building a hood for my tank. I'm putting some fans in, just in case the temps ever get too high. Anyway, should the fans be pointed directly at the water, or should they be pointing across it? Should they be parallel with the water level or perpendicular? Or, should a mix of both work? At a 45* angle maybe?

I've tried searching, but all I find is "point a fan at the top of your tank".

 

[BigJim]

Either way works. Personally, I'd place them at either end of the tank and set them so one blows in, parallel to the top of the water, along the length of the tank, and the other sucks the air out of the hood.

 

[corrado33]

Either way works. Personally, I'd place them at either end of the tank and set them so one blows in, parallel to the top of the water, along the length of the tank, and the other sucks the air out of the hood.

You read my mind. Coming from a hobbiest computer building background, it's always good to have a solid airflow path. Thanks, onto installing the fans! Unfortunately I have to cut into my beautifully stained wood to do this. Didn't really think that I needed fans until my tank got up around 82ish the other day. It's alright, I'd rather get it right now than have it wrong later. I'll make a build thread about the hood eventually.

 

[BigJim]

How about cutting into the back of the hood? You can do the same kind of intake-exhaust setup with the fans on the back of the hood. If your hood is completely covering the tank, removing a panel or making a vent in the hood may be all you need to do.

 

[corrado33]

There was actually more room on the sides than there was on the back, so I just did it on the sides. Look forward to the build thread... it'll have something like a hood with lunar cycle moonlights, daytime lights that dim when starting up and down (as to not scare the fish), and uh... yeah I can't think of anything else. Oh yeah FANS!