metal halide heating issues

[rider]

ok, i just picked up some metal halides. i've got 2 250w on a 55 gallon. they are in the canopy. so, natural i have heat issues im going to have to deal with. Its a box type canopy. heres a picture of what im planning to do. yes, i know the drawing sucks. basicly i want the fans on the back, and im going to use a peice of gutter material to route the air to the back of the bulb. there will be one on each side of the tank. there will be a 3"x12" vent in the middle of the back of the tank toward the top. will this work ok, or should i put a fan blowing out in the middle. any ideas on this, or completely different ideas.



thx,

[rider]

ok, i just picked up some metal halides. i've got 2 250w on a 55 gallon. they are in the canopy. so, natural i have heat issues im going to have to deal with. Its a box type canopy. heres a picture of what im planning to do. yes, i know the drawing sucks. basicly i want the fans on the back, and im going to use a peice of gutter material to route the air to the back of the bulb. there will be one on each side of the tank. there will be a 3"x12" vent in the middle of the back of the tank toward the top. will this work ok, or should i put a fan blowing out in the middle. any ideas on this, or completely different ideas.



thx,

[Hop]

I squeezed your two threads together. And here is a free bump

[Loverotties]

I'd add more fans blowing over the water.

[wharyat]

That is actually almost the same way I have my canopy venting setup; same idea, different arrangement.

It works solely on convection, hot air leaves the top vent pulling in colder air across the bulbs. I actually don't run the fans in mine unless the tank temperature moves off of normal (all thermally controlled).

Pics of mine:

One of two intake fans.


Interior.


Top vent.

[rider]

ok, i have 2 10 inch 547 cfm fans. im going to have 1 blowing in and 1 blowing out. will that take care of the heat issue. im getting them for $15 each. let me know. thx,

[Hop]

Only way to know for sure is to run it and be ready to adapt

But it should be a good start, especially on a controller as wharyat indicated. I have a similar set up, but on a larger scale since mine is in-wall

[rider]

well, the fans were almost to much, but work great on a hot day. with one blowing in and one blowing out, it tured my canopy into a wind tunnel. with 1 fan on it actualy works well, but needs both on a hot day. im going to put one on a thermostat so when the water reaches a set temperature, the other fan kicks on. it sure was a pain to get those 10 inch fans inside the canopy with all the light and electrical.
thx, for the help guys

[aquawolf]

I bet it was a pain to get two 10 inch fans in there along with everything else. Congratulations! Do you have any pictures of the completed project?

[rider]

wasnt to bad, just had to take all the light apart in there. next time i take it off the tank ill take a picture. but its been about 105 degrees here, so its been helping out alot. bought them off a guy that took down an industrial server room. i got 3 of them for $50. not a bad deal when with the grill they sell for over $60 a peice. the corner of the metal halide reflector cover the very top corner of the fan. I had to put in some rubber gasket meterial to keep any vibration down. i still need to add in the thermostat, ill take pics when i do.

[aquawolf]

Sounds like a great deal and definitely the way to go with temps hitting 105 there.