How much heat do MH and t5's really put off???

[newbreefer316]

Sorry if this topic has been discussed but I'm really starting to get into SPS and am looking at putting together a 72x30x24 240g display. I am strongly considering a MH/T5/LED (just for blue pop) combination but I've only ever ran LED's so I'm not sure how/if to prepare for the extra heat.

Is there a general consensus on how much the temperature raises when using the MH lamps? Should I just count on needing a chiller and set one up from the beginning? I generally keep the house around 72 but we get all 4 season where I live.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Mh heat will depend on the reflector
It not only heats ambient air , but the ir is projected.

T5 don't project IR quite as much, it mostly produces ambient heat. And heats the air around it. So closer to the tank, the new heat transferred.
Ati has a thread here on it. I belive the tubes working temp is 180 degrees. That's at the tube.

@DSC reef runs a t5 mh tank.

 

[DSC reef]

I like to keep the reef at about 77-78 degrees so I run a chiller. I live in Florida so we keep our a.c. running at 70-72 all day. If I had a better quality fixture I'm sure heat would be a little better. Depending on where you want your temp at or where you can keep it steady IMO will determine if you need a chiller. Fans can work wonders, just not in the house were currently in.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I like to keep the reef at about 77-78 degrees so I run a chiller. I live in Florida so we keep our a.c. running at 70-72 all day. If I had a better quality fixture I'm sure heat would be a little better. Depending on where you want your temp at or where you can keep it steady IMO will determine if you need a chiller. Fans can work wonders, just not in the house were currently in.

For my own info. That would be an 8 degree difference above ambient , and would include pumps contribution to heat.

Have you ever tried not running the chiller to see what it does ?

 

[DSC reef]

For my own info. That would be an 8 degree difference above ambient , and would include pumps contribution to heat.

Have you ever tried not running the chiller to see what it does ?

I did, once it hit 82 I got nervous. I will say that since I upgraded to the eflux pump and a gyre power head the chiller comes on a lot less.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I did, once it hit 82 I got nervous. I will say that since I upgraded to the eflux pump and a gyre power head the chiller comes on a lot less.

Thank you.

 

[DSC reef]

My chiller seemed to never shut off when I had 3 mag drive pumps going with marineland powerheads in the display. Lol

 

[andrew james]

Ive found that a fan of appropriate size blowing across the water’s surface is enough to offset the heat of MH lights.


Currently i use a 48” Giesemann Spectra over my RedSea 425xl. My house temp is set 75 and my tanks temp is 78.5. I use a fan controlled with my Apex pointed at the water’s surface when the temp reaches 79 the fan turns on. Its able to keep temp stable and only really turns on for several minutes per hour.

 

[newbreefer316]

I'd be looking at a geisseman spectra and I currently keep my tanks around 78.6, I would run it a little higher if I could keep it stable without a chiller but if I need cooling then I'd probably go chiller over fans since the tank will be the focal part of the basement.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

My chiller seemed to never shut off when I had 3 mag drive pumps going with marineland powerheads in the display. Lol

And folks look at me funny because I have 3 instant read thermometers.
I
I'm a reefer. Hello.

(An Ai sol is 97 degrees one inch from the fixture and 160 inside the fixture)

 

[jda]

Different bulbs have different IR levels. 20K Radium and 14K Phoenix are lower than some.

I have a fan turn on with the lights and never have heat issues. Other than June, July and the first half of August, I don't use a fan at all and the heat keeps the heaters from running as much. The room is about 62-65 - we like it cool.

If you have an open top tank with a fixture, or just a well ventilated hood, then heat is not really a problem unless you live in a desert or Florida.

 

[newbreefer316]

Thanks for all the replies. Definitely some things to think about.

 

[billwill]

My bigger problem with halides was the ambient heat going back into my house. I don’t have AC. If you have AC, all of the above fan ideas do work fine. But if your chiller is inside the house, it’s putting more heat back into the room than the lights do. Your AC needs to be strong enough to overcome all that on top of the normal load.

 

[JOKER]

I run a Hamilton Cebu sun 72". You can feel the heat if you are close, but the fans supplied actually keep the fixture cool. You can lay your hand on it with lights running, and its actually not that hot. I am running 250 W radium, and ATI T5 (2 Blue+, and 2 Actinic)

 

[A. grandis]

My chiller seemed to never shut off when I had 3 mag drive pumps going with marineland powerheads in the display. Lol

Mag Drive can be placed out of the water.
That's what I had when my halides were here. Berlin skimmer with Mag drive and fan. Good times!
Grandis.

 

[A. grandis]

I run a Hamilton Cebu sun 72". You can feel the heat if you are close, but the fans supplied actually keep the fixture cool. You can lay your hand on it with lights running, and its actually not that hot. I am running 250 W radium, and ATI T5 (2 Blue+, and 2 Actinic)

Some say the fans are noisy. What do you think? Pics please? Do you run chiller? Whats the temp?
Grandis.

 

[kinetic]

I had (have, for sale actually) a 48" Geisemann Infinity (polar white, custom ordered from germany) that ran two 250 DE halides and 4x T5's. That thing got hot. I live in SF Bay Area, and the winters the chiller never needed to turn on, but during noon, it would kick in for a little while. I set the temp pretty low (77 - 79). It puts out QUITE a bit more heat than my current LED setup, but it also has some incredible output and the shimmer is just fantastic to see.

The Infiniti uses a lot of passive cooling and has no fans. It was silent, and bulbs lasted just as long.

 

[aabjones888]

I use 2-250w halides and 4-t5's on a 80 gallon and it raises my tank 1 degree. My house temp is set at 70 degrees. My sump is 55 gallons so I believe it's big enough that it keeps my temp down. Imo it matters on where you live.

 

[A. grandis]

I use 2-250w halides and 4-t5's on a 80 gallon and it raises my tank 1 degree. My house temp is set at 70 degrees. My sump is 55 gallons so I believe it's big enough that it keeps my temp down. Imo it matters on where you live.

That's a very good point!
Grands.

 

[alton]

When I ran 3 x 250w MH on my 300 my house ac was set at 75, my tank at 77. If the tank got to 79, the controller would turn off one MH, at 80 the other two. I used external pumps, except for my skimmer pump. Most do not realize that internal pumps will raise the heat of the tank more than MH. In the summer I would cut back on running the MH to 3 to 4 hours a day, leaving the leds on for 8. Coral growth never slowed. Once it got cooler I extended the time, I never had a heater in the tank. I love having full leds because I can now have glass tops cutting my evaporation into one tenth. My electrical savings? Notta / nothing. I now run all my leds 9 to 10 hours in the summer, next summer I will cut them back and see if that helps without hurting the coral. The following shows my old setup