Heat from lighting

[dusterdan]

I am as some of you are aware starting to set up a 29 gal. I have a 175 watt medal halide and 72 watts of power compact. The lights will be installed in a wooden canopy. Will the heat from the lights raise the water temp? The canopy is mostly open on top so some heat will be exhausted there. Wondering what you all think about if the tank tempeture will go up. I am thinking about doing a 20 gallon sump, would that be enough to cool things down. I know I probably don't need a big expensive chiller, just wanting to she what everybody thinks.

 

[Chris]

Look at jhnrb's photo gallery and you can see how he installed fans in his canopy to keep things cool.

 

[jhnrb]

if the top is adequately open you will need a fan to blow over the water to circulate heat out and cooler room air in. and also a fan over the sump. these fans can be timmed to come on when the lights are on or for time needed to keep things cool. hope this helps. my canopy is completely closed in. i would recommend the ice cap 3" fans. a little more expensive but temp sensitive the hotter it gets the faster they run. good luck.

 

[SCreefer]

those lights will definately raise the temperature of your tank water.

get a few pc fans and an old pc power supply and wire them to exhaust air from the hood.

 

[jhnrb]

Not to be on the other side of the issue, but, with an open top you need to pull air in from the room and let it exit out through the opening. this will give you the max cooling with fans. the air should be moved just over the top of the water line. see my gallery but remember my canopy is completely closed. if it were open in the back or top I would have not installed exhaust fans. hope this helps.

forgot - i used computer fans on my last system/ 125 reef and was not satisfied with them. i recommend you only use fans designed for saltwater environment or designed for the aquarium trade such as from a hydroponics shop. you can get a nice 4" fan for about 21 dollars or less. 3" are cheaper, or you can use the ice cap fans as i mentioned earlier. good luck