LED Heat reduction

[earman88]

I have your typical 10g tank with a marineland reef compatible LED fixture.

Does anyone have any bright ideas for negating its heat effect on my water? The only thing I can think of is to somehow raise it off the water. Right now it probably sits about 3 inches from the water so it's no wonder it raises my temp about 2 degrees in the day.

But I'm not even sure how I could raise it.. I might just have to do some fancy rigging...

 

[Bifferwine]

Buy a cheap clip on fan from Walmart. Clip it to the side of the tank, and have it blowing across the surface of the water, between the lights and the tank. It should drop the tank's temps by a few degrees (but you will see more evaporation than before).

 

[FishyReef]

And you'll have to watch the temps carefully. I have a small fan that blows across the top of my tank and if its not super hot and humid outside, then the temp can fall rapidly and too far if I don't catch it. The heater kicks in, but not before its fallen a few degrees and my corals don't seem to like that type of rapid change! There have been too many times that I'll leave the fan on thinking things will be okay only to return home after work or get up the next morning to find that the temp dropped from 83-78 (I try to keep it around 80 this summer). My tank is now really showing the effects of this type of swing. And you'll need to top off with fresh RO/DI (not salt) daily with the fan.

 

[Bifferwine]

Set the fan on the same timer as the lights. That way the fan only runs when the lights are on. That will keep the temps more stable than relying on yourself to turn the fan on and off.

 

[earman88]

Thanks ladies.. I'll see what I can find at Lowe's today.

 

[FishyReef]

That's a good idea Biff. For me, the heat issues aren't lights related so that won't help, but that should work for you Earman since the lights seem to be the source of your temp problems!

 

[earman88]

I was also thinking about setting two of the small square fans on top of my fixture. Since the whole unit gets warm I was thinking this could constantly dissipate the heat upward.

 

[FishyReef]

Is that the new marineland w/ integrated timer? I thought that unit had some sort of internal fan. If the whole unit is getting hot, it might be worth contacting the manufacturer about it, because something might in fact be broken with the fan mechanism inside the outer casing.

 

[Northstar24]

My (higher powered) LED's aren't even warm to the touch, are you sure that fixture is actually heating up the water in your tank?

 

[earman88]

Is that the new marineland w/ integrated timer? I thought that unit had some sort of internal fan. If the whole unit is getting hot, it might be worth contacting the manufacturer about it, because something might in fact be broken with the fan mechanism inside the outer casing.

Nope this one is just the original Marineland Reef Capable LED.

 

[earman88]

My (higher powered) LED's aren't even warm to the touch, are you sure that fixture is actually heating up the water in your tank?

Yeah I am certain. Looking at reviews, it seems other people had a problem with its heat as well.

 

[FishyReef]

Are you able to mount it any higher off the tank?

I still find it odd that its heating up so much and would still recommend contacting the manufacturer - they might have a fix for it.

 

[earman88]

I'll play with it during the next week and see what I can do.