who uses metal halides without a chiller?

[jck9]

building a canopy for my 90 gal and want to add a mh retro kit but do not want to get a chiller. are there tricks? is it possible?

[Rick2203]

i have a 250mh with 2 75w vho's over my 58g and in the summer all i do is run a clip on fan over my sump in the summer time, in the winter my temp stays at 78 constantly

[fishboyy]

i ran 2X 250watt halides on a 90 8 inches above he surface with NO fans open top and my temp was 81-82 all year round on my 24 pod i have a 250watt HQI pendant with one fan and the hottest i got was 82.6 soo dont go over 250 watt bulbs and i think you will be fine

[scapes]

I have an 80g bow w/ enclosed top. I upgraded last summer to a MH retrofit kit w/ 2x150w & 2x54w t5's. I got QUITE hot in the summer months since it's very hot here in Alabama, so what I did was have lights come on at night and off during the day. Hottest it got doing that was maybe 82. I'm on regular schedule now for winter, no problems at all. Oh, I didn't use fans either

[Toddrtrex]

75 gal ( 30 gal sump ) 2*250 MH + 54*2 T5, clip on fans over sump.
58 gal ( 20 gal sump ) 1*175 MH + 96*2 PC, clip on fan over sump, one over tank
29 gal ( 10 gal sump ) 1*250 MH, clip on fan over sump

Now that it winter the fans almost never come on. During the summer they do the job.

[rbursek]

2 250w MH 2 96w Actinics, I have a computer fan to cool the lights above the glass lens in my hood for the winter time, summer time I run the same style fan below the lens when the MH are on. The hood is sealed sitting on the tank.
Bob

[LobsterOfJustice]

You'll just need a few fans. One evacuating the hot air out of the canopy, and maybe blowing on the water surface of the tank, and one blowing on the sump.

[lilred1995vette]

I have a 215g without a chiller, running 3 250w mh and 6 39w t5s. I just have 8 fans and temp stays at 78-79 always yr round. House stays at 70 btw though.

[pledosophy]

150w on 30g tank. Light is about 8 inches from the water. No chiller.

Do have open vents on the top of the canopy with a fan pointing up and out. Heat rises.

Tank sits a 75F.

[bdif]

4 X 250 on a 240 with completely closed canopy. I use a 6" inline inductor fan that exhausts all air through the wall to the garage.

[jck9]

thanks alot guys. so i guess il just need some fans. thanks again

[Sk8r]

My regular light kit has one blowing in, one blowing out [computer fans] and glass on the bottom: no heating issues even without central air in a 90 degree summer: just add a fan in the sump area. With central air, no sweat at all.

[Bax]

Having central air is the key.

I do not have it in my offfice and must run a chiller.

[tangers]

I have 3x 150w hqi plus 2 96w actinic over my 125. I have two fairly high cfm fans( I think 100+cfm) hooked up to my ac jr with heater also and tank stays at 78.5-79.5 at all times.

[kirblit]

I run 3 250w MH on my 125 that has a canopy and I don't use a chiller at all or have central air. I have 4 6"Clip on fans that are controlled by my RKII and they keep it constantly 78-79 even in the summer when the house actually reaches 85 or so the fans do the job. I have one in the sump and two that blow on the water surface and one that sucks air out. I also have 2 4" IceCap fans on either side of the canopy that blow in whenever the lights are on. Given it does evap about 3-4 gallons/day in the summer.

[usmc121581]

I have 2-25o wMH and 4-65w Actinics, and dont run fans EVER. My tank doesnt get over 83 all year round. I think it depends on your house if you have central air and the region were you live.

[xtm]

I don't know about a 250-watter but I've had a 175w on an old 55G that ran fine.... even on a hot SoCal summer.

[mile sq. reefer]

2 x 150w lamps on a 55g and my temp stays between 77-80 all year.

[PogoMonogo]

I run 700+ watts of light on a 90g with no chiller, but i dunno man, a canopy is gonna make this hard imo. I just have a current outer orbit on legs, with no canopy. That canopy is gonna trap a ton of heat.

[steelhead97]

If it gets too hot what you can do is freeze some of your tank water and place it in front of your powerhead to drop the temp, i've never could understand spending the extra for a chiller.

[PogoMonogo]

Sometimes stuff is expensive. I couldn't imagine constantly freezing water and putting it in my tank. Sometimes spending money is unavoidable, atleast if you want to do it right. Depending on the size of the halides, the canopy is going to create the need for A LOT of ventilation. The ventilation is going to increase evaporation. You might have to compensate for several gallons a day evaporation. Its definitely doable, but your tank won't be able to be left alone (vacations, business tripes, ect). Probably have to set up an auto-top of system, atleast I would.

[JENnKerry]

We have 3-250 watt MH's and 4x96 actinic PC's on our 125 and don't use a chiller. The only thing we do in the summer is change our time for the halides to come on/off. They come on much much earlier before it gets too hot during the day. The tank might only go up a few degrees but not much. Plus we put on one of those clip on fans which helps.

[landlord]

90 gallon tank with 2 400 watt MH in LMIII reflectors. These guys sit 12 inches from the water and I can keep the tank under 82 with one rather noisy 8 inch fan. I am in between chillers at the moment but it can be done. I don't recommend it for the reason that when the house temp swings, so does the tank, fanns are also dust magnets that need periodic cleaning, PITA. The piece of mind from the chiller is worth every penny, it's just tough to give up that much coin. I remember saying the same thing about setting up a robust ATO. Glad I did that too.

FWIW --landlord

[jetta]

If anything I use my Halide for heat. My tank is in a room that is usually kept around 60 degrees. It's a 250 watt MH. With a 300 watt heater and the halide my tank stays right at 75 degrees.

I will be adding another halide when I get my tax refund. We shall see if it adds too much heat.

[LobsterOfJustice]

It also helps to have an open back on the canopy, and ventilated top. Mine is essentially a front with 2 doors, 2 sides, and a 1x4 across the top which I screwed my reflector into. The back is open, and I stapled some plastic window screening across the back to keep jumpers in.