metal halides and heat

[zheka757]

as much as i love metal halides over my tank, summer time in Florida (like now) i have hard time keeping water temp under control as well as house A/C cant keep up from heat coming from the tank/lights. my water is 80F in the morning way before my lights turn on, and by 5p.m. water temp almost is 83F. Also a/c cant stay at 75 thanks to halides.
I have a way to put a divider for my fish room. but I'm afraid it will heat the water even more since house ventilation will be blocked off for fish room. hate the idea of putting chiller since i will need a huge chiller for my tank, like 1.5 hp chiller or more. already have a fan blowing over the tank. didn't have such problem with leds. but at same time don't want to go back to leds ether.

 

[Jason_MrFrags]

Have you considered running reverse cycle? Tank lights on during the night.

 

[zheka757]

Have you considered running reverse cycle? Tank lights on during the night.

thank you for reply! Wow never heard of going this way. Since I also have t5s over my tank, I turned MH to only 4 hours. I'll see what happens with house temp. and tank temp. And run t5s for rest of the day.

 

[rtparty]

There is only so much you can do when living in a super hot and humid environment and running halides. A chiller setup outside is one of the better options sadly.

I ditched my halides for AI Blades 4 months ago and have been thrilled with the results

 

[RedoubtReef]

how big of a tank is this and how many halides are you running that a 1.5HP chiller is required?

 

[MarineandReef Jaron]

I have a 1 horse chiller on my tank. I don't need the chiller but the worst tank crash I ever had happened when my AC broke and took 2 days to fix in the middle of the 120-degree Arizona summer. I lost all my corals which is why I now have a chiller.

The chiller will solve your problems and maybe where you wind up in the end. There are other reasons to have a chiller in a hot area than simply avoiding lighting heat which can help you justify the cost.

 

[zheka757]

how big of a tank is this and how many halides are you running that a 1.5HP chiller is required?

4 400w over 8ft long 400g tank. Also the room where this tank is is small. Also my total volume of water is 500galons. also 8 t5's and 4 led strips.

 

[zheka757]

Up until May I had no problems of this kind, I had my house temp set at 74 all day, and it was enough to keep my tank water no higher then 82. But then June kicked in and my a/c can't keep up. House temp goes up to 78-79, so does tank water temp goes up with it

 

[MarineandReef Jaron]

Another option is to install a portable AC or minisplit in the tank room. When I had halides the room was completely uncomfortable.

 

[Reefing102]

Is there an exterior wall? Instead of an AC, if you put up a wall, could install an exhaust fan that blows outside

 

[nereefpat]

What's the temperature in the room?

 

[zheka757]

What's the temperature in the room?

So this room is small 5x10' I measured metal helides have being off for 3 hours already. And when I measured room temp, it's at 82* ceiling at 85. During peak hours of MH, room temp can go as high as 90's
Here is picture of whole room, in a ceiling I got exhaust fan on 24/7. And on a side of the tank I got fan basically also 24/7 on

 

[zheka757]

Is there an exterior wall? Instead of an AC, if you put up a wall, could install an exhaust fan that blows outside

Thank you for reply, already have o e in a ceiling

 

[jda]

If you have selectable ballasts, then switch to 250w over the summer. You can also stagger the 4mh where 2 run at a time.

I doubt that you can, but you can turn the tank temp down to 73 or 74 with the heaters.

One of those mini AC 110v AC units that vents to the outside might be in your future. They are a few hundred dollars and store out of the way in the more cool months.

I would have a chiller, even if you never use it. Bad things can happen in warm climates, even if you have other types of lighting. Put the chiller outside. At least freeze some RO in some bottles to float in the sump if you need to.

 

[Reefering1]

2 suggestions... ceiling fan to keep room air circulating and chiller so you don't hit 90* if house a/c fails. Coming from another mh user in swfl. I keep the house at 78 in summer, tank(180g) stays between 78/79 (with 1/3hp chiller). I also keep a generator in case of power failure and a window unit in case of a/c failure. Fans only do so much with this kind of humidity. I feel this is necessary halides or not. (Full disclosure= closed canopy w 2xhqi and 3 hydra64s)

 

[Reefering1]

Frozen bottles of water is also a good idea for short term temp drop. I keep 6g in freezer, good for a couple degrees drop while activating emergency protocol

 

[Kasrift]

thank you for reply! Wow never heard of going this way. Since I also have t5s over my tank, I turned MH to only 4 hours. I'll see what happens with house temp. and tank temp. And run t5s for rest of the day.

I hadn't heard of this either but funny enough I had mentioned this to another person in a thread on phytoplankton culturing where I have my lights on overnight since the Poseidon reef system has the LEDs wrapped around the glass and it gets hot enough to make "burn holes" in the plastic on the inside of the glass. I've found that running it overnight works best and regulates temp.

I don't have halides or live in Florida, but the other suggestion would be to just get an individual AC unit (those box type ones that vent out a window) maybe since that might be cheaper than a chiller and just direct it at your lights like you do your current fan.

 

[Reefering1]

I think halide intensity will be hard on the eyes, to look at during the night hours(when it's dark outside). Especially 4x400w!!

 

[Reefering1]

I also use a inkbird to shut MH off if temp hits 81*

 

[zheka757]

If you have selectable ballasts, then switch to 250w over the summer. You can also stagger the 4mh where 2 run at a time.

I doubt that you can, but you can turn the tank temp down to 73 or 74 with the heaters.

One of those mini AC 110v AC units that vents to the outside might be in your future. They are a few hundred dollars and store out of the way in the more cool months.

I would have a chiller, even if you never use it. Bad things can happen in warm climates, even if you have other types of lighting. Put the chiller outside. At least freeze some RO in some bottles to float in the sump if you need to.

i do have selectable ballast. and this is not hurting bulbs/ballast by having 400w bulb in it and turning it down to 250w?