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Lights and tank overheating
I have a 20 gallon high tank, which is currently lit with a Perfecto 24"
SHO fixture sitting on a glass canopy. Now that the weather has been
getting warmer, I've been noticing that the heat generated by this
convection-cooled fixture is causing my tank temperature to rise about 3-4
degrees over the heater setting in the late afternoon (and the weather
hasn't even started to get hot out yet). So it will jump from 78F to
around 82F. Clearly, 4 months of this is going to be bad for my fish!
I've been thinking of just buying a 24" shoplight from the local hardware
store, and hanging it about 6" over the tank (to minimize heating, and
also so that I can still have room to get the cover open). I'm a bit
worried that this won't be enough light (I'd also order some 24" Triton
bulbs to maximize light intensity). The plants are h. difformis, h.
polysperma, c. thalictroides, crypt wendtii, and Java Fern. I think these
would all do well at 2W/gal, but I don't know what effect the extra 6"
elevation of the lights will have.
Does anyone have any other suggestions for keeping this tank cool in the
summertime (other than moving it into the basement)? My apartment can get
up to around 85F during the day, and I don't have A/C. I've also been
thinking of shifting the lighting cycle so that the lights are only on in
the morning (say 4AM to noon). Would leaving the cover open provide
enough evaporative cooling to make a difference?
Paul