lighting advice please....... sorry its long :(

[kimura]

i've been meaning to upgrade the pitiful output on my 240 gallon tank for quite some time. with all the recent talk of lighting i figured i'd ask for advice while people are on the subject. i've tried many bulbs and the ONLY bulb that i am confident about is hagens power glo. i can grow anything with that and it usually only takes one bulb in my other tanks. i'm looking to leave half the tank dark, partly for the loaches and partly for my ghost knife so i only need one side lit.

now the problems: this was a custom cabinet that is absouletly beautiful. i traded an extra laptop i had to a cabinet maker for a beautiful peice of furniture. unfortunately there was a comunication problem with reguards to the canopy hight. there is only 3.25 inches of clearence from the glass to the inside of the lid. so most standard lighting fixtures wont let the hood close.

i've tried to retrofit lighting but most of those kits are power compacts and i cant fit a power glo into them. i've even taken lighting sets apart but still had issues with getting reflectors to fit properly. hagen recently released some T5 power glos and that sparked my interest. i want at least 4 of them with reflectors so i can get the most for the electricity bill.

the other issue. i live in central california and in the summer it easily gets over 105+. the tank got up to about 86 this year until i started running the ac during the day. i actually lost a prize angel in another tank due to heat. so how can i deal with temperature in this tank? it has a wet/dry suited for 200 gallon tank with a quite one 400 as the return pump. on the other side is a fulval fx5 and one small power head.

i usually dont close my canopies during the summer but it looks better when they are. how hard is it to put fans into the canopy? i know there isnt much air flow because the back is sealed, although i made a few holes for some venting but im sure its not enough. where can you find appropriate fans for this purpose?

sorry that was a screen full. if you arent to tired from reading i'd appreciate some advice. thank you very much.

[jones57742]

the other issue. i live in central california and in the summer it easily gets over 105+. the tank got up to about 86 this year until i started running the ac during the day.

kimura:

I will start with your comment above first although set forth subsequently in your post.

Maybe this has something to do with yall's general energy but more specifically electrical energy costs as in West Texas when the daytime temperatures reach 72F the A/C comes on.

Your are asking a question the solution to which is not possible due to nature.

Efficiency in lighting is determined by the ratio of electromagnetic radiation emmited by a lighting system which is beneficial to fish/plants with respect to the that emmited which we can observes as heat.

As no lighting system is 100% efficient heat is generated by all.

If the ambient room temperature is 78F and the aquarium lights "are turned on" the tank water temperature will rise.

My best guess here is that
Personal Computer fans will help.
These fans are very quite yet very "potent" with respect to the generation of air motion.
Install one of these fans sucking at one end of the canopy and the other blowing at the opposite end of the canopy.

I really do not know the most efficient lighting option but I do know that Power Compact lighting with two lamps can be utilized without the "built in fans" being on but with no heat which I could feel. (I will need some photographs in order to ascertain the problem with your existing PC's.)

A alternate is an aquarium chiller but I understand that the purchase as well as the operation cost of these is significant.

The last item and one which I have not had to use but am prepared to is placing one liter bottles into which water has been induced and which are frozen into the tank.

TR

[kimura]

thanks for the reply. to keep the temperature down i lowered the heaters a few degress to ensure they never came on, i ran the lights for abut 7 hours instead of 10 and kept the canopy open. on bad days i did put bagged ice cubes in the wet/dry which melted very quickly. the 2 liter is a good idea too. i didnt notice too much difference but im sure it helped. its not an issue if i run the air all the time but that can result in a 300= pge bill ;(

i realize light gernates heat and its unaviodable but if i can find a fixtue that makes good use of reflectors i can get the most light with the least amount of power/heat. that said i guess i answered my own questions.


so does anyone know where i can find a 4 foot t5 fixture with reflectors thats 3.25 inchs tall or less? and