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250 wt halides

i ordered a halide system that has 2 250's with t5's....i was happy when i fell asleep last night until i woke up out of a dream with the word chiller on my mind. do any of you use this setup without a chiller? or have i just screwed myself?
thanks, Len
 

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Fan over the sump should mitigate much of the heat. Good luck!
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
I don't think you screwed yourself. You just have to be much more careful with the temp. When you get the fixture just be very observant of what the temp is when you have the lights on. Summer can be a problem but as Phyl said a couple of fans can be a big help. You can also cut the light cycle down which helps.
 
unfortunatly, if i kick the dirt outside i hit water...i just have a crawspace under the house. i was thinking a fan across the top of the dt and one on the fuge. there is a ceiling fan directly above the tank also. thanks for the replies phyl and cod. if i have to get a chiller, i will, but ill give it a whirl without one. i think the biggest issue is gonna be the battle of the thermostat with my wife this summer ;D
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
If you don't have one you might want to look into an auto top off unit (ATO). With all those fans running, you may have a lot more evaporation then you are used too. You can go manually and check salinity daily, or get the ATO and have it done for you.
 
cool! by the smiley face i assume you were pleased with the overall service and everything? for the price of the fixture im getting i cant beat it. i think the only thing i may change is the t5s and use blue+ or maybe add a fiji. hopefully the 15k bulbs are not too blue
 
You should be ok. Run some fans, def get an ato and see how it goes. Have your lighting schedule start later in the day too. Plus you can have t-5 come on, then mh for 5-6 hrs then t5, Should be ok, just have to play with it after its set up
 
I am running a 55gal sump in my basement for my 90gal tank. I have 2x250 watt HQI and as long as I leave the AC on in the summer I am ok.

John
 
thanks for the answers. i did however, cancel the light order due to not being able to find the manufacturer online with avaliable replacement parts. so, i am back to putting together an 8 light t5 on the tank with a mix of aquablue+, actinic+, fiji purple and 6500k. ive seen too many nice tanks using just t5s and work too much in the summer months to worry about heat issues. at the moment my tank has stock bulbs that come with the nova so i cant wait to get my new fixture and bulbs. should be here tommorrow!
 

magic

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Twisted

You more then likely saved your self the cost of a chiller. I have 46 bowfront that I added a fixture with 2 150w MHs and 4 T5s. My summer temp spiked to the point where a chiller was the only option. I tried a fan across the surface only brought it down a couple of degrees and the evaporation was almost 2 gallons a day! Set the AC Jr to turn off the lights when the temp went above a certain level and all that did was cause the tank to go dark.

Bob
 
thanks guys, i feel bettter about my decision now. i didnt want to battle my wife over the thermostat this summer. it is a battle i prolly woulda lost. my tank and corals, i believe looks pretty killer and all ive used since the beginning is a 4 lamp nova with stock bulbs and a 36" glo with 2 cheap actinics. so, with another 4 lamp and 8 quality bulbs, my tank has gotta get even better. im pretty anal about water chemistry and flow since i do it for a living with pools so i really understand what an article i read meant when it talked about flow and balance were more important than lighting because my present lighting is not anywhere near suffice.
oh, do i need to acclimate with the lights a bulb at a time? or can i replace all 8 and shorten the cycle?
 
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