Cooling dual 400 halides

[Electrobes]

I have a friend with an 80 gallon reef tank. He is in the decision process of purchasing a dual 400 watt halide ballast. He currently has 4 110 watt vho's and 2 halides (175 watters). With this purchase he would have two 400 halides and 4 110 watt halides. The problem is cooling... how would he be able to do it, if he could do it at all? Any and all suggestions are welcome, plus if you have real experience with this issue, I'd love to hear about it just to know what to semi-expect. Thanks!!!!!

 

[captivereefs]

400 watters over an 80; i would say a chiller is almost required. You could try fans but they are going to have to be big and you'll need alot of them!

 

[jamal-188]

Seeing that you live in flordia even if your house stays nice and cool all summer I don't think fans will do enough with that much heat.

 

[Electrobes]

well how about this... can a PFO 400 dual watt ballast fire 175 watt or 250 watt bulbs without actually harming the bulbs (i.e. over powering them) etc? thanks!

 

[justDIY]

ok, so 800 watts of MH and another 440 of VHO ... that's a lot of light for an 80 gallon tank!

if it's possible to trade off some lighting efficency for the sake of keeping cooler water, it might be advisable to build the light fixture in a contained box (wood box lined with insulation and sheetmetal, sealed with a pyrex glass window... lourved vents on the sides would let fresh air in

pyrex is known for it's ability not block UV rays, and it takes heat real well.

with this sealed box, you can now install a dryer vent kit, and put a fan on the end of it, venting the hot air outside or someplace other than the tank area. this will keep conductive and convective heat from getting into your tank... radiant heat can't be helped, but the spectra of the bulb should be tuned to not generate too much infrared radiation.

advantage of external venting is you can have a mother of a fan on the end of the duct, and just put it somewhere that noise is not an issue (like through the wall into the garage or attic, etc.

 

[Electrobes]

Okay thats prob not happenin' but my friend would still consider getting it for future use if and only if the ballast could support 175 watt or 250 watt bulbs without hurting them.. and should he get a larger tank in the future... he could then use the PFO ballast to its true potential... but the question remains... will the ballast not overkill 175 watt and 250 watt bulbs?

 

[cj10488]

only if the ballast could support 175 watt or 250 watt bulbs without hurting them..

Most likely you will ruin 100.00 bulbs the minute that you turned on the power to the ballast.. a 400watt ballast will ONLY fire a 400w bulb safely... To place a lower wattage bulbs on the ballasts would not only be a Fire hazzard but also a waste of money unless you like blowing things up lol.. I know its not the answer you were looking for but its probably would be what happened..

HTH<
James

 

[Electrobes]

heh oh well poo