[APD] RE: Water Temp/Chillers?

["Steven Pituch" <spituch at ev1_net>]

 Vic said,
>my 55g tall tank temp to 80deg F. in prime time. The house temp is around
>70deg. I think my 192w of Coralife lighting are getting things heated up in
>a hurry. (No canopy, they just lay atop the tank).

That's a lot of Watts (4x), light and heat. My limited experience says that
lights should never have to raise the tank temperature by any more than a
few degrees over the room temperature (unless you need to do so in an
unheated room).  Raise the lights an inch or so.  Make sure there is an air
space between the light enclosure and the cover glasses _if_ you have one.
Is there a fan in the housing?  If not, putting a few vent holes on the top
of the light fixture enclosure will produce a chimney effect and vent the
hot air around the lights upward.  (Sort of like a cooling tower at a
nuclear power plant.)   If the ballast is in the enclosure you've got to get
rid of the heat.  Heat-wise, its better if the ballast is outside the
enclosure.

This may not apply to your situation, but glass greenhouses capture sunlight
and trap heat.  If you have a tight coverglass that gets hot it will heat
the water and trap the heat so it doesn't escape.  (Sort of like a
residential solar powered hot water heater.)

I'd would do anything to avoid using a chiller. (sounds expensive, and sort
of like a refrigerator).

Steve Pituch

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